Other sights in Thailand
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Sirindhorn Art Centre
Sirindhorn Art Centre can be found at the unlikely location of Wang Saphung, 23km south of Loei. It was built to honour Sangkom Thongmee, a famous local teacher (since retired) at the adjoining school whose students, mostly farmers' children, won thousands of awards for their work. Student works (and sometimes professional pieces) are always on display and often for sale. There's also a nice sculpture garden in front.
reviewed
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Maesa Elephant Camp
Catch your breath at the Maesa Elephant Camp, one of the route’s better elephant attractions where the animals seem happy and treated well. One hour shows (8am and 9.40am daily, plus 1.30pm during high season) feature the usual circus-like antics. If you arrive between shows, you can hang out on the pretty grounds, feeding the elephants sugar cane and bananas or go on an elephant trek into the jungle (for two people, 30 minutes/one hour 800/1200B).
reviewed
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Doi Suthep-Pui National Park
Looming over the city like guardian spirits and providing a sanctuary of forest and mountain cool air, Chiang Mai's sacred peaks, Doi Suthep (1676m) and Doi Pui (1685m) were used by the city's founders as a divine compass in locating an auspicious position. Suthep was named after the hermit Sudeva, who lived on the mountain's slopes for many years, and is the site of Chiang Mai's holy temple Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.
Portions of the mountains form a 265-sq-km national park that contains a mix of wilderness, hill-tribe villages and tourist attractions, including Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Despite human encroachment, the park is still an excellent forest playground for city…
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A
Ku Den Museum
Tears won’t be shed if you have to give this place a miss – Satun only has one real attraction, the Ku Den Museum. Housed in a lovely old Sino-Portuguese mansion, this excellent museum was constructed to house King Rama V during a royal visit but the governor snagged the roost when the king failed to show up. The building has been lovingly restored and the exhibits feature dioramas with soundtracks covering every aspect of southern Muslim life.
reviewed
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B
Wat Suan Dok
Built on a former flower garden in 1373, this temple is not as architecturally interesting as the temples in the old city but it does have a very powerful photographic attribute: the temple’s collection of whitewashed chedi sit in the foreground while the blue peaks of Doi Suthep and Doi Pui loom in the background. Photographers often arrive in the early morning to capture the juxtaposition when the mountains are still wrapped in mist.
reviewed
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Khao Yai National Park
Up there on the podium with some of the world’s greatest parks, Khao Yai is Thailand’s oldest and most visited reserve. Covering 2168 sq km, Khao Yai incorporates one of the largest intact monsoon forests remaining in mainland Asia, which is why it was named a Unesco World Heritage Site (as part of the Dong Phayayen–Khao Yai Forest Complex). The mostly English-speaking staff at the visitor centre are very friendly and helpful.
reviewed
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C
Chao Phraya Wichayen
King Narai built this Thai-European palace as a residence for foreign ambassadors. Greek diplomat and trader Constantine Phaulkon was its most famous resident. Phaulkon’s knowledge of European technology helped him gain a place in King Narai’s inner circle. However, jealous courtiers disliked his power and riches, and as Narai lay dying, Phaulkon was arrested and beheaded. The palace is across the street and northeast of Wat Sao Thong Thong.
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Lan Sang National Park
Nineteen kilometres before Tak, Lan Sang National Park preserves a 104-sq-km area of rugged, 1000m-high granite peaks – part of the Tenasserim Range. A network of trails leads to several waterfalls, including the park’s 40m-high namesake. Lan Sang National Park rents rustic bungalows that can accommodate two to 32 people. Two-person tents are also available. Food service can be arranged in this park.
reviewed
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Wat Mahathat
The centrepiece of Wat Mahathat is Phra That Anon (aka Phra That Yasothon), a highly venerated Lao-style chedi. It’s said to date from AD 695 and to enshrine holy relics of Phra Anan (Ananda), the Buddha’s personal attendant monk. Much more interesting, however, is the gorgeous little hŏr đrai, dating to the 1830s and restored in 2008, which sits on stilts in a pond. If you ask a monk, he’ll let you look inside.
reviewed
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Pratubjai House
On the outskirts of the town is Pratubjai House, a large northern Thai–style teak house that was built using more than 130 teak logs, each over 300 years old. Opened in 1985, the house took four years to build, using timber taken from nine old rural houses. The interior pillars are ornately carved. The house is also filled with souvenir vendors and is rather tackily decorated, so don’t take the moniker ‘impressive’ too seriously.
reviewed
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Phanom Rung Historical Park
Phanom Rung has a knock-me-dead location. Crowning the summit of a spent volcano, this sanctuary sits a good 70 storeys above the paddy fields below. To the southeast you can clearly see Cambodia’s Dongrek Mountains, and it’s in this direction that the capital of the Angkor Empire once lay. The Phanom Rung temple complex is the largest and best restored Khmer monument in Thailand. It took 17 years to complete the restoration.
reviewed
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Queen Sirikit Botanic Gardens
Two kilometres past the Maesa Elephant camp is the Queen Sirikit Botanic Gardens, featuring a shorn mountainside displaying 227 hectares of various exotic and local flora for conservation and research purposes. The highlight of the collection is the glasshouse complex sitting near the mountain peak. Take the provided bus (30B) or your own car (100B) to get around the whole facility. Motorbikes are not allowed in the gardens.
reviewed
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Wat Hin Mak Peng
Overlooking a lovely stretch of the Mekong, this vast forest temple is centred on a cliff rising out of the river. The very peaceful temple is highly respected because of the Thai people's continuing reverence for the founding abbot, Luang Pu Thet, who they believe reached enlightenment. Several monuments in his honour, including a glistening chedi housing his few earthly possessions and a lifelike wax statue, are found around the grounds. Visitors must dress politely: no shorts above the knees or sleeveless tops.
The temple is midway between Si Chiangmai and Sangkhom. Sangkhom-bound buses from Nong Khai (50B, 2¼ hours) pass the entrance, and then it's a longish walk to…
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D
Namdhari Sikh Temple
West of the Talat Tonlamyai market, along Th Chang Moi is the city’s small Chinatown, most obviously marked by a flamboyant Chinese-style arch and the typical two-storey shophouses of Southeast Asia’s mercantile districts. A small population of Sikhs also live in this area and specialise in selling bolts of fabric. They worship at the nearby Namdhari Sikh Temple, catering to the Namdhari sect of Sikhism.
reviewed
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Doi Muser Hilltribe Cultural Center
At the top of the mountain on the road to Tak is this research and cultural centre where you can visit for the day, or spend the night. Here they grow and sell crops such as tea, coffee, fruits and flowers. Call ahead to find out about seeing a cultural performance. The temperature can go as low as 4°C in the winter. During November and December, boo·a torng (a kind of wild sunflower) blossom around the centre.
reviewed
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Nam Nao National Park
One of Thailand’s most beautiful and valuable nature preserves, Nam Nao National Park covers nearly 1000 sq km at an average elevation of 800m, across the border of Chaiyaphum and Phetchabun Provinces, just beyond Khon Kaen Province. Although it covers remote territory Hwy 12 makes access easy. Temperatures are fairly cool year-round, especially nights and mornings, and frost occasionally occurs in December and January.
reviewed
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Ban Hua Thanon
Welcome to a morsel of southern Thailand, with a sprinkling of Muslim Thais living beside Buddhist Thais. The old wooden houses, only 50 to 60 years old, have weathered beyond their years, looking more ancient than antique. Pick your way through the parked motorcycles to the pier where the fisherfolk moor their small but stately boats. Continue to Hua Thanon Market and further on to the local mosque and the village’s Muslim quarter.
reviewed
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Hin Ta Hin Yai
Lamai beach is weighted by massive boulders but none are as spectacular as the grandparent rocks, an honorific name considering that Grandfather Rock looks like an erect penis and Grandmother looks like the female counterpart. Don’t be shy about posing with Grandpa, even the monks take the photo-op. On a serious note, assigning human characteristics to rock formations is a common feature in Southeast Asian Muslim culture.
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Wat Pa Tak Sua
The forest wát peering down on the town from the eastern hills, Wat Pa Tak Sua, lies about 3km away as the crow flies (ask someone to point you to the footpath used by the monks every morning), but it’s 19km to drive; the last 3km are on a dirt road. Take the turn-off across from Nam Tok Than Thong. It has the most amazing Mekong views we know of, and the sunset scene is wonderful in the summer months.
reviewed
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Hellfire War Memorial
To truly understand the suffering that occurred along the Burma-Thailand Railway in WWII, a visit to this war memorial is imperative. Start at the museum on the top level, look out over the contemplation deck, then walk along the trail that runs alongside the original rail bed.
Near the start of the route is the infamous cutting known as Hellfire Pass (locally referred to as Konyu Cutting). The area earned its name following the three-month 'Speedo' construction period where shifts of 500 prisoners worked 16 to 18 hours a day. The glow from burning torches cast eerie shadows of the Japanese guards and of the gaunt prisoners' faces, so that the scene was said to resemble…
reviewed
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E
Phra Phitak Chyn Pracha Mansion
The namesake of this once abandoned, ochre-tinted mansion owned a number of tin mines in the early 20th century. The mansion sat forlorn for decades, its hanging shutters, overgrown lawn and friendly ghosts offering an eerie tumbledown grace to anyone who dared cross the creaky gates. At research time it was under major renovation and being converted into a tony Thai eatery, a sister to London’s famed Blue Elephant.
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Prasat Phumpon
The ruined Prasat Phumpon in Amphoe Sangkha, dating from the 7th or 8th century, is the oldest Khmer Ъrah·sàht in Thailand. However, that’s its only claim to fame and you’ll likely be disappointed by this simple brick prang if you’re expecting something magnificent . Amphoe Sangkha is 9km south of Hwy 24 on Rte 2124; veer right through the village at the fork in the road.
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F
Chaweng Lake
By the light of the harsh daytime sun, Chaweng Lake is an example of everything that is wrong with Samui. The public park is poorly maintained, half constructed and devoid of shade. But come sunset, it springs to life – ordinary Thai life, that is – with aerobics classes in one area, football practice in another and strolling families enjoying the cool breezes. It’s a charming glimpse into provincial Thailand.
reviewed
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Wat Plai Laem
This little temple has several large attractions: three gigantic depictions of Buddha set in a man-made lake. The centrepiece is an 18-armed Hindu-style Buddha next to a lotus blossom and a fat, Chinese-style Buddha. Considered an act of merit, Thai Buddhists, especially the young ones, feed the hungry fish, who live a charmed life in the surrounding lake. Sometimes this temple is called Wat Laem Suan Naram.
reviewed
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Pang Sida National Park
Approximately 30km southeast of Thap Lan close to Sa Kaew, Pang Sida National Park is smaller and hillier than Thap Lan. There are several scenic waterfalls, including Nam Tok Pang Sida and Nam Tok Na Pha Yai near the park headquarters, and the more difficult to reach Suan Man Suan Thong and Nam Tok Daeng Makha. From the bus terminal at Sa Kaew, you can catch a minibus to the park for 50B.
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