Sangkhlaburi

I headed here over a long weekend in May. It’s a bit of a mission to get to and it’s mostly known for a bridge. But what a bloody brilliant bridge it is!

It’s the second longest handmade wooden bridge in the world. (Where’s the longest? No idea.) It looks like it’s made from jumbled matchsticks and that it would topple down if you even looked at it in the wrong way. I’ve been told, and seen pictures to prove it, that the bridge looks pretty spectacular at dawn and dusk. Unfortunately I was unable to confirm this in person as it rained, or the sky was grey, nearly the entire time I was there.

Sangkhlaburi is very close to the border of Myanmar and is home to a mix of Thai, Mon and Karin people. The bridge was constructed by the Mon community. Cross over the bridge in the morning (if you’re lucky, you can catch the sight of someone jumping off the bridge into the water below…for fun) and you can visit the Mon morning market. Food is great and so cheap. If you’re early enough you can also see monks collecting alms.

Other than the bridge, you can take a boat to visit a few abandoned temples nearby. In the 1980s the old village was submerged by the completion of the Vajiralongkorn dam and now, in rainy season, these temples stand eerily in the water, half submerged. A boat cost me 400 baht for 1 hr 30 mins.

Another place worth a visit is Wat Wang Wiwekaram. This temple is a mix of Thai and Burmese styles. The golden chedi is pretty impressive to gaze at.

Although there’s not a lot of restaurants to choose from, I was pretty happy food-wise. I’m not actually sure of the reason but everywhere I went had a lot of vegetarian options (and didn’t seem to abide by the ‘no alcohol between 2 and 5 rule’!). It was also very cheap – my bottle of Leo beer cost about the same as a green curry, rice and a slice of chocolate cake.

Sangkhlaburi is a very chilled, sleepy town. Don’t go here if you’re after nightlife! But I really enjoyed visiting a more ‘off-the-beaten-track’ destination than normal. In the two days I was there, I saw only 7 or 8 other westerners. Although there’s a lot more Thai tourists it still doesn’t seem overrun with people. At least for now….