Malaysia Info Guide
for Locals & Visitors

If it hadn’t been for Sir Arthur Phayre the beauties and mysteries of some of Asia’s greatest waterways might have remained the secret of those hardy souls who live along their banks.

As Governor of British Burma in 1864 Phayre founded the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, a naval task force of paddle steamers and barges which had previously been used to ferry British and Indian troops to the second Anglo-Burmese War in 1852.

[2]The company thrived until its 600 vessels were scuttled by rifle fire to prevent the invading Japanese forces making use of them after the evacuation of Rangoon in 1942.

But the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company has morphed into a new format, the Pandaw river cruise company which operates contemporary versions of the old river cruisers on the great Mekong and Ton Le rivers in Indochina, the Irrawaddy in Burma and from Sarawak to Indonesian Kalimantan along the Rajan river in Borneo.

Pandaw’s 300-odd kilometre journey up the Mekong from Saigon to Phnom Penh or further to Siem Reap provides the perfect introduction to a way of life pursued by the millions who live along the banks of the mighty Mekong.