Wat Amphawa Chediyaram

With the Amphawa floating market becoming more and more popular as an more authentic alternative to the standard tourist target at Damnoen Saduak, I have used the opportunity to drop it a visit as well. Though I think it is definitely worth a visit, I instead write about the temple right next to it, which normally visitors to the market only notice as their parking lot. Since shopping isn't among my favorite pastimes, I had some time to spend while the family was still busy, and did some walking around the temple complex. It was quite surprising how few people I saw strolling around there, compared to the crowded market area.

Most beautiful is the main hall, which contains the large Buddha statue. While for me as a non-Buddhist the statue did not look any special, the murals on the walls were the most interesting thing to look at in the hall. The one behind the Buddha statue shows, if I am not totally mistaken, the former capital city Ayutthaya before it was destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. But not only the mural behind the Buddha is worth looking at, between each window it has one showing some historical or mythological scenes. It even has small signs under them explaining what it depicted - but sadly only in Thai, so I could not understand which one is the most notable of these murals.

But not just this main hall of the temple has something special to show, in a small and inconspicuous building is another Buddha statue, and more notable a large footprint. Light inside was a bit weak, so the photo turned out to be a bit blurred, I did not bring the tripod since most of the photos I do in Thailand are in the strong sun outdoors, when a tripod is only unnecessary weight.

The final building I entered is the courtyard, a walkway with the donated Buddha statues at the walls, and a white chedi in the middle. Though this part looked so similar to the ones I had seen in countless other temples already, here's a photo of the smaller statues.

Wat Bang Kung, Samut Songkhram

A sight which is also in the list of the "official" unseen Thailand sight is the temple Wat Bang Kung (วัดบางกุ้ง) in Amphawa district, Samut Songkhram. The main attraction of the temple is the chapel overgrown by a Banyan tree. Except at the behind, the roots almost completely cover the building so it is hardly recognizable as such. Thus the chapel is normally know as Bot Prok Pho (โบสถ์ปรกโพธิ์), ordination hall covered by Bodhi tree, even though the actual name of it is Bot Luangpho Dam (โบสถ์หลวงพ่อดำ).

Inside the chapel is a large Buddha statue, and of course every visitor is praying and placing incense sticks, rubbing gold leaves and so on.

However this chapel isn't the only important place of the compound. In fact, this temple is an historical significant place, as it was the camp of king Taksin during an attack by the Burmese army in 1768. However after the successful campaign the site was abandoned for almost 200 years, until in 1967 it was redeveloped by the Ministry of Education. However I did not read about the historical significance of the place before, so I focused my photography on the chapel.

The most easy thing to notice are the two rows of muay thai statues, there are also statues of soldiers in the dress of the 18th century amid cannons and bushes cut into the shape of horses, and in the middle a statue of king Taksin. This is all still right next to the chapel, but actually the temple extends on the other side of the street as well till the shore of the Mae Klong river.

There it has the pier to enter the temple on a river tour - which we did not do because for the Thai family it was too hot. The cannon above is next to that pier, protecting the temple in the past. As usual at all sights near a river or lake it has fish food on sale and it has many feeding the fish there. It also has a small zoo there, some birds, a monkey, nothing really spectacular but nevertheless our small daughter liked it a lot. One oddity in my eyes was the fence around this part of the temple - on each of the fence post it has a figure in uniform, mostly soldiers and policemen.

Don Hoi Lot

Don Hoi Lot (ดอนหอยหลอด) is the name of a sandbar at the mouth of Mae Klong river at the town Samut Songkhram. I went there on my first trip to Thailand in 2000, and it was on my last day in the country, so I did not take many photos anymore - already had many films filled, and still not knowing much about the culture the temples and shrines started to look all the same by then. So the only thing I photographed there were some trees in the tidal zone, submerged by the high tide.

The place is a famous for its sea food restaurants, which include those shells which gave their name to the place. Don Hoi Lot means sandbar of the Lot shells, better known as Razor Clam shells (Solen regularis). Lot (หลอด) by itself means (drinking) straw, and thus refers to the shape of these shells, a long narrow tube-like shape. Actually, Lot is also a vulgar term for the female vulva... This endemic shell species was one of the reasons why this sandbar was one of 10 wetlands protected by the Ramsar Convention, inscribed in 2001.

Additional to the nature, there's also a cultural place right at the mouth of the river, the shrine of Prince Chumphon Khet-Udomsak, the father of the Royal Thai Navy. Sadly as mentioned above I did not take any photos of it. But it was hardly to overlook, or better to overhear, as the sound of firecrackers was common during all the time we stayed there. And as I did not know anything on the natural importance of this place, a good seafood meal was all I did back then. Hopefully I can make it there again, and then include a visit on the sandbar itself.

The place is easy to find, just follow the road from Bangkok to Samut Songkhram, and directly before the bridge over the Mae Klong and thus the town Samut Songkram turn into the narrow street to the sea. There's of course also a tourist sign to point to the right exit.

King Rama II Memorial Park

King Rama II, posthumously named Buddha Loetla Nabhalai, was the second King of the Chakri dynasty, the royal dynasty still ruling in Thailand today. He was born on February 24 1767 in Amphawa, next to the temple Wat Amphawan Chetiyaram. To commemorate the place, a park was established at that place adjoining the temple, built on land donated from the temple.

The park is located on highway 6006, which branches off from 325 in Amphawa town. We came there from the Ratchaburi Cathedral, which is also on the 6006, but it already had become rather late, just 30 minutes before the park was supposed to get closed. So I only had time for a stroll through the park till the Mae Khlong river, and return to the car, but no time to see the exhibitions inside the buildings built in the historical style. Just had the time to take photos of the various parts of the park, which additional to these houses also contain a ship used by a later King, and also several statues within a pond. Too bad I don't know which stories are the basis of these statues, but wouldn't be surprised if it is one of the nirats of Sunthorn Phu.

Nearby is also the Amphawa floating market, much less commercial and touristical than the famous one at Damnoen Saduak.

Ratchaburi Cathedral

The Nativity of Our Lady Cathedral (อาสนวิหารแม่พระบังเกิด) is the principal church of the Roman Catholic diocese of Ratchaburi. It is located at the mouth of Khlong Damnoen Saduak to the Mae Klong river, in Bang Nok Khwaek of Samut Songkhram province. It is easily reached by driving highway 6006 from Ratchaburi to Samut Songkhram.

Around 1840 nine Chinese Catholic families moved to the rim of the Mae Klong river and started a flourishing community. In 1847 there were already 200 members, and the first church was built near the present location of the cathedral. The plot of land was bought by Father Marin and donated to the church. In 1890 the construction of the cathedral was begun by Father Paulo Salmon. On February 2, 1896 it was inaugurated. When the apostolic vicariate was elevated to a diocese in 1965, the church was chosen as the cathedral of the diocese.

The church was built in French Gothic style, with the most notable item being its colored glass windows. They were originally imported from France, and show scenes of the life of Jesus in top row, as well as holy people (men to the north, women to the south) in a second row. Several of these windows broke during World War II, and it took till 1993 to have them all repaired. The following year a big renovation overlooked by Father Pradit was started, which finished in 1999.

While the church is a already a nice sight from the outside, luckily the parish priest noticed me strolling around his office, where I was reading the inscriptions on a stone listing the past bishops next to the statue of Father Paulo Salmon. He invited us to see the inside as well, and also told me a lot about the history of the church. Just too sad he did not have any booklet or brochure with these details, so the above is part from memory and part from the notes I took from a sign next to the church with these historical facts. The website of the diocese is in Thai only, so I cannot read it yet. And too bad I did not have my digital camera when I visited there, so I did not take as much photos as I would do now.