Discovering Sangkhlaburi

Posted by Mr Tuk Tuk on February 11th, 2011 filed in Top attractions, Travel destinations

Thailand has a number of top tourist destinations that receive millions of visitors on a yearly basis. However, one of the great things about Thailand is that there are actually some wonderful places to visit that, whilst not on the tourist trail, are still very easy to access and get around even if you don’t have a local guide or don’t speak Thai.

One of these great places is Sangkhlaburi. Sangkhlaburi is located in the north-western part of the popular Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand. Sangkhlaburi is a sleepy little town that doesn’t have that much to interest tourists in terms of huge and impressive monuments and statues like in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. However, it is an incredibly historical place and does have some very important structures and temples that are definitely worth seeing.

Sangkhlaburi was founded by Luang Phor Uttama, who is a particularly famous monk in Thailand. The village is a Mon village, which is one of the largest ethnic minorities living in Thailand. So this is a great place to go to really get a taste of Mon culture and their way of life.

There is an absolutely stunning handmade bridge that stretches across the lake at Sangkhlaburi. It goes for 400 metres and is the longest handmade bridge in Thailand. If you head down early in the morning you can enjoy the beautiful sunrise as well as the morning market that sets up on the other side of the bridge. The lake is also a nice place to take a leisurely boat ride and visit some of the temple ruins that sit around the edge of the lake.