We were feeling brave so went down to the Oriental Pier on the Chao Phraya River to go for a boat tour. Brave because the Chao Phraya River and surrounds is home to more con men, liars, theives and touts that the rest of Bangkok put together.
There are large official looking signs citing "official" prices but ignore these. Ignore also the touts that follow you around and deal direct with the boat companies. Eventually we settled on 1000 baht for a private boat for 90 minutes (down from 1400 baht) and headed off.
It is actually a great trip and you get to see the river up close, along with all the folks who live along the river. The highlights are a visit to Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn) and some of the smaller canals which run off the river.
The downside is the boat captains, who incessantly pester you to go to crocodile / orchid / snake farms, to extend your tour or give him a large tip. When that failed the guy dropped us off a few stops early then looked genuinely suprised when he got no tip.
As soon as we alighted some idiot with badge describing himself as a "Boat Captain" shoved an obviously old, yellowing reciept in my hand and demanded 20 baht "landing fee". Rest assured folks, "boat captains" brandishing yellowing old tickets covered in Thai writing are *not* actually employed to collected landing fees and yes, this was another scammer.
Watch out for these guys.....there were three of them but 10 of us and they backed down when confronted.
The Chao Phraya River is a great place to explore but be prepared to put up with a lot of BS as part of your trip there.
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