Chantaburi - a multitude of options

Chantaburi has something for everyone. The province has great beaches, highlands with waterfalls and hot springs, remnants of gem mines as well several destinations for history buffs. In a temple in the city center, Buddha statues are kept in a building with a roof shaped like the helmet worn by the great Taksin who won Siam back from the Burmese.

Chantaburi was from where the general (later king) gathered his forces, built his fleet, and subsequently launched his attack on the Burmese. Later, Siam came under pressure from the expansionist French that didn't think French Indochina was quite large enough. French troops therefore marched up the coast from today's China and didn't stop until they reached Chantaburi. 

French-built "Chicken-shit Prison"

They occupied the territory until the king of Siam gave two of "his" Cambodian provinces to the French. The French combined incarceration of Thai prisoners with farming - there is a structure near Laem Singh, which used to have prisoners on the ground floor while the top floor was a chicken coop. Due to gravity, the prisoner were "showered" in chicken droppings, which they obviously saw as a great insult.

Beach destinations include Laem Singh and Hat Chao Lao (with Laem Sadet)

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2011/12/chantaburi-laem-singh.html


http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2010/02/chantanaburi-chao-lao.html

The road from Chantaburi city to Sa Kaeo city goes parallel to the Thai border with Cambodia and there are a couple of small "border markets" and lots of waterfalls along the way. The key destination in that area is Soi Dao.

Rolling hills near Soi Dao

Chantaburi - Khao Khitchakut 2

Access to the Khao Khitchakut is possible for two months each year, normally between Chinese New Year and Magha Puja day (roughly late January to March).

I reported on Khao Khitchakut two years ago.

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2011/12/chantaburi-khao-khitchakut.html

Drop point at top of dirt road. The trek begins from here.

The pilgrimage to Khao Khitchakut gets ever larger. While it was bad two years ago, it is now a total "circus". Fortunately, getting the two rides on pick-up truck to the top went quite smoothly. Many passengers seemed awestruck that it is possible to drive relatively fast on a dirt road - not something they are used to when shuttling around Bangkok in their air conditioned sedans - so they were recording the rides on their mobile devices. The road to the top is a dirt road, but it is relatively wide and relatively smooth. Although steep at places, it was a much better road than some of the tracks I've been on in Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi.  And it is simple physics that it makes it easier to drive up if speed (and thus forward momentum) is kept above 20 km/h.

You shall not walk alone

After driving 3-4 km from bottom to top, it is time to get off the pick-up and dive into the sea of people. The path leading up is mostly narrow and always cram-packed. Patience is required. After less than a kilometer, the track really narrows and gets steep. Obviously, this creates a bottleneck. After waiting for twenty minutes without moving more than a few inches, an experienced pilgrim (this being her fourth visit) remembered a short-cut. I and a few others followed her. We back-tracked 100 meters, veered off the paved but crowded track, sneaked in between some ramshackle shops, passed some temporary toilets, and there it was: a path in the forest leading up. It was a steep climb, but there wasn't any crowd.

Once up at around 1,000 meters above sea level, and back into the crowd, one has to walk from peak to peak to pray and to admire the various geological phenomena that to pilgrims appear to be related to Buddhist myths. For example, there is a stone pagoda, a rock that looks as an upside down monk’s alms-bowl, the hermit cave, and huge rocks that look like a turtle and an elephant.

Patience - it took around 40 minutes of standing in line before the rock was reached

The most famous / important destination is Lord Buddha’s footprint (at the foot of the rock pictured above). There the ushers (broadcasting via large loudspeakers) remind people that a 200 baht donation could (potentially) result in lottery winnings of 200 million baht. Not a bad rate of return. One also suggested other wishes one could make such as getting "Pancake" as one's girlfriend.

For a clue to who Pancake is, check out:

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2011/08/thai-nicknames.html

At other holy locations, the guys with microphones promised less - the promises ranged from 3 - 5 million baht - and nobody saw any irony in that Buddhists come to pray for material success in life when Lord Buddha teachings center on that craving leads to suffering.

Write your wish on a red cloth, tie the ribbon, and pray.

Another interesting praying location had several options for people, including statuettes of Lord Buddha and of King Taksin the Great. Again without the slightest whiff of irony, there were also several statues of Hindu gods that people could pray to.

Buddhists can pray to Hindu gods

If you like crowds and/or if you believe Buddha will make your wishes come true, a visit to Khao Khitchakut is a must.

Chantaburi - Chao Lao

Located east of Khung Krabain Bay is Chao Lao Beach. The beach is very beautiful and is popular among locals who come for picnics on weekends. It boosts brown sandy beach and shallow water suitable for fooling around.

Once upon a time - when I first visited - there were only a few resorts that all catered to Thai visitors coming down from Bangkok for a weekend. I was very impressed by the beach's white sand and clean water. But over the past five-six years, rapid development has taken place most clearly symbolized by that access to resorts (now fancy places with swimming pools and Wi-Fi) has been made easy by the construction of a modern new road complete with separate lanes for cars, mopeds, and bicycles.

DIRECTIONS: Coming from Bangkok towards Chantaburi, get off Sukhumvit when you see directions to road 3399. You can also take the backroads from Chantaburi city via Ta Mai and route 3352, but be warned that the one-way streets of Ta Mai can make passing through this town a bit of a navigational challenge.

The most scenic beach in Chantaburi is Khung Wiman adjacent to Chao Lao. The beach is flanked with pine trees while the water is clear and good for swimming. Next to Khung Wiman Beach is Khung Krabain Bay. It is the site of one of Chantaburi’s mangrove forests and to the Khung Krabain Study and Development Center under Royal Patronage. 


You can explore the mangrove forest via a 1,600 meter long wooden walkway and rent a kayak for paddling around, but don't expect to see any manatee apart from this concrete one.

Located opposite Khung Krabain Mangrove Forest is Laem Sadet Beach, which stretches for three kilometers. There are a few resorts on this beach and an aquarium has been opened.

Chantaburi - Laem Singh

Apart from Chao Lao beach, Chantaburi has many interesting sites to visit near Laem Singh, e.g., a local version of Seaworld, Khuk Khi Kai (chicken shit prison), temples, waterfalls, and a maritime museum. One of the most famous waterfalls is Phliu. The water falls 20 meters and at the foot of the waterfall, there is a pyramid and a statue in memory of King Rama V's beloved queen who drowned in a boating accident on the Chao Phraya River. 

A concrete path leads to the waterfall - passing places where you can feed veggies to gluttonous fish - but there are also nature trails in the area surrounding the waterfall (Phliu National Park).


One the road to Phliu, you can turn right off onto a small road  right. After you reach Wat Khao Ta Nim from where you used to be able to walk 400 meters up a hill to see a precariously balanced huge rock that is shaped like an old Chinese merchant ship. So, the rock is called Hin Sumpao Jeen. But last I was there, they had cut down all the vegetation on the hillside and seemed about to plant rubber trees, so now it may be that you will have to trek across somebody's plantation.

At the mouth of the road leading to Phliu (i.e., on Sukhumvit Road), you can stop and visit Wat Mangkon Buppharam to see a temple in Chinese style architecture.