Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by buksida »

That evening we headed over to the Mon bridge and crossed to the small Burmese village on the other side. Trying to book another night in Sangkhlaburi wasn’t easy, everything was full for Saturday night – Bangkok was arriving.

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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by buksida »

Up at 6am to walk back over the bridge to a big Burmese market, and the major tourist draw to the area. Kids were perched along the bridge dressed in traditional Mon wear offering Burmese face painting, irresistible to the city selfie crowds. This spectacle happens every weekend when the town gets inundated with weekend warriors from Bangkok, a five hour drive away. There were virtually no farangs here, I was a novelty.

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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by buksida »

Forgot to update, here are some more shots from the bridge ...
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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by Big Boy »

You say it's a small Burmese village. Now for the silly question........ Is the Burmese village in Burma, or is it Burmese people inhabiting a village in Thailand? If it's in Burma, what sort of border controls were there, if any?
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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by caller »

Stunning photo's Buksi!
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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by Thistle »

Once again,you do credit to this forum,with your time,effort and superb photography.
Long may it continue,and it gives other members the opportunity,and insight to go and try,visit,and experience locations which are totally new.You do your family proud.
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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by buksida »

Thanks for the comments, glad someone is getting something from them. I like to show that there is more to Thailand than tourist beaches, girly bars, golf courses and shopping malls!

On with the show ...

We had to head south, with all accommodation already booked out here for tonight, Sunday night the place would be empty again, shame as we would have liked to have stayed longer. On the way stopping at Wat Wang Wiwekaram, a unique, almost Hindu looking temple perched on the lake side. It was reassuring to know that temples are still free to enter in Thailand for foreigners, but one wonders how long this will be the case for.

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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

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Our trip was nearing its end so we had to head back south, breaking the journey in Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi on the way. Our accommodation in K-town, the R.S. Hotel, was a standard business type affair but the kids wanted a pool. I was starting to get an ear infection from swimming in brown rivers! We headed out to the famous railway bridge over the River Kwae and investigated taking the train trip up the valley to Nam Tok, it was another dual priced affair and didn’t get back until mid afternoon, too late for us.

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Note: the pics above were shot on a phone so are nowhere near the standard of the DSLR ones!

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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by Nereus »

Big Boy wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2017 1:57 pm You say it's a small Burmese village. Now for the silly question........ Is the Burmese village in Burma, or is it Burmese people inhabiting a village in Thailand? If it's in Burma, what sort of border controls were there, if any?
Hmm, I am glad that is sorted out! Come on Buksi, what's the score?
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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

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It is in Thailand but inhabited by Burmese. So I guess you could call it a Thai Burmese village or vice versa!
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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

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Leaving early the next morning we took the hellish 323 highway to Ratchaburi, fortunately the weekend warriors hadn’t started to head back yet and traffic was light. Staying at the Tara Spa Hotel on the river turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. The place was just geared up for selfie obsessed hi-so weekenders using the spa, it was not really designed as a hotel, everything closed after the day trippers left.

Close by was a local attraction called Khao Ngu Stone Park so we paid it a visit, passing a row of ignored signs warning about fines for feeding the monkeys, and people selling monkey food. Being one of the few free entry places it was absolutely rammed, you could barely get past the forest of smartphones held aloft as if in prayer to some all seeing selfie god. The place was quite stunning visually and some efforts had gone into preserving the wildlife there, it was just a shame to see trash and plastic floating among the koi carp and aquatic life. Deciding to opt out of the hotel restaurant, which was more of a swanky snack bar that wouldn’t serve beer, we headed into a rather desolate and quiet provincial center of Ratchaburi for some Vietnamese food.

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Re: Photo trip report: Sai Yok Yai, Sangkhlaburi, Kanchanaburi

Post by buksida »

Final thoughts ...

It is always good to get away and discover new places but travel in Thailand has changed a lot in the last year or two. Maybe I’ve noticed it more having just spent six months in the UK. Thailand is no longer a cheap country to travel in, the past 6 days on the road cost over 20,000 baht ($600), and we only stayed in 2-3 star places and ate local food. Another observation is that there were very few western tourists at any of the places we went to – mainstream tourism now appears to be 95% domestic, TAT's inflated figures are obviously including this. And I don’t need to mention the endemic dual pricing that seems to have taken over pretty much every establishment or attraction in Thailand, though this could be a result of fewer farangs. Final travel tip is don’t bother going anywhere within 5 hours of Bangkok at the weekend!

Full galleries and articles can be found on www.ontheroadasia.com

Thanks for the comments!
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
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