Sangkhlaburi
Border Town On The Vajiralongkorn Reservoir; The Long Wooden Mon Bridge And The Drowned Temple · Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi
Sangkhlaburi, also written Sangkhla Buri, is a small, peaceful border town in the far north-west of Kanchanaburi province, about three and a half to four hours by road from Kanchanaburi town, set on the shores of the Vajiralongkorn reservoir among forested hills close to Myanmar. It is a meeting place of peoples: Thai, Mon, Karen and Burmese communities live side by side, and on the far shore lies a large Mon village. Joining the two sides is the Uttamanusorn bridge, usually called the Mon bridge, a long, rickety-looking wooden footbridge built by the Mon community, one of the longest wooden bridges in Thailand, where Mon monks walk at dawn to receive alms. Above the village stands Wat Wang Wiwekaram, the temple of the revered Mon monk Luang Pho Uttama. When the reservoir falls in the dry season, the ruins of an old temple drowned by the dam rise from the water and can be reached by longtail. Raft houses float on the lake, the cool season brings misty mornings, and Three Pagodas Pass on the border lies nearby.
Mon Bridge, Nong Lu, Sangkhla Buri, Sangkhla Buri, Kanchanaburi, 71240, Thailand
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The typical pattern: the Mon bridge is a public footbridge used at all hours, with the alms round around sunrise, roughly 6 to 7 am; Wat Wang Wiwekaram and the chedi are open from early morning to early evening, roughly 6 am to 6 pm; the Mon morning market runs from about 6 to 10 am; boats to the drowned temple leave by arrangement in daylight; Three Pagodas Pass market runs through the day. Minivans and buses to and from Kanchanaburi leave from early morning until mid-afternoon, and the last departures are early. The traps that ruin a visit are missing the dawn alms round, finding a bridge section closed for repair, paying for the drowned temple when the lake is full, expecting to cross the border and missing the last minivan out. Confirm current times before relying on them.