From the New York Times (link)
The way it began, with a buffet laid out on deck and “Moon River” oozing from the loudspeakers, it could have been just about any Bangkok sundown cruise.
But this one was unmistakably different. Before the boat even left the dock the food disappeared, right down to the last slice of watermelon ” a Chinese favorite. Then the Western musical standards were quickly replaced with recent Chinese hits. And within minutes the passengers, all of whom were Chinese, were singing along.
Any doubts that this was a new day in Thai tourism were put aside as the ship set off down the Chao Phraya River under an exploding sunset. Every few minutes, when it encountered another boat laden with Chinese tourists ” and there were many ” the passengers hailed one another back and forth cheerfully, in their own language, of course.
