Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [147]
Occupying the imposing ferry building, the seafood Tarua Restaurant (0 3441 1084; Ferry Terminal Bldg, 859 Th Sethakit, Samut Sakhon; dishes 60-200B) offers views over the harbour and an English-language menu.
The open-air seafood restaurant Khrua Chom Ao (0 85190 5677; Samut Sakhon; dishes 60-200B) looks over the gulf and has a loyal local following. It is a brief walk from Wat Chawng Lom, down the road running along the side of the temple opposite the statue of the Chinese goddess Kuan Im.
If you’re in town on a weekend, get your eats on at the fun Amphawa Floating Market (à·làht nám am·pá·wah; dishes 20-40B; 4-9pm Fri-Sun), where pàt tai and other noodle dishes are served directly from boats.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Trains leave Thonburi’s Wong Wian Yai station (Map) for Samut Sakhon roughly every hour starting at 5.30am. You’ll need to leave Thonburi before 8.30am in order to reach Samut Songkhram by train.
Samut Songkhram is the southernmost terminus of the Mahachai Shortline. There are four departures from Ban Laem to Samut Songkhram (10B, one hour, approximately 7.30am, 10.10am, 1.30pm and 4.40pm) and four return trips (6.20am, 9am, 11.30am and 3.30pm).
Between Bangkok and Amphawa, buses run every 40 minutes from Thonburi’s Southern bus terminal (Map; 72B). There are also regular buses from Samut Sakhon (44B) and Samut Songkhram (65B). Alternatively, you can catch one of several buses to/from Damnoen Saduak (80B) that ply the highway near Amphawa.
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On the eastern side of the monument, in the bòht, is a Dvaravati-style Buddha seated in a European pose similar to the one in Wat Phra Meru in Ayuthaya. It may, in fact, have come from there.
Also of interest are the many examples of Chinese sculpture carved from a greenish stone that came to Thailand as ballast in the bottom of some 19th-century Chinese junks. Opposite the bòht is a museum (admission by donation; 9am-4pm Wed-Sun), with some interesting Dvaravati sculpture and lots of old junk. Within the chedi complex is Lablae Cave, an artificial tunnel containing the shrine of several Buddha figures.
The wát surrounding the stupa enjoys the kingdom’s highest temple rank, Rachavoramahavihan; it’s one of only six temples so honoured in Thailand. King Rama VI’s ashes are interred in the base of the Sukhothai-era Phra Ruang Rochanarit, a large standing Buddha image in the wát’s northern wí·hhn.
Southeast of the city stands Phra Phutthamonthon, a Sukhothai-style standing Buddha designed by Corrado Feroci. At 15.8m, it is reportedly the world’s tallest, and it’s surrounded by a 400-hectare landscaped park that contains sculptures representing the major stages in the Buddha’s life (eg a 6m-high dharma wheel, carved from a single slab of granite).
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BANGKOK’S ISLAND GETAWAY
Soothe your nerves with a half-day getaway to Ko Kret, a car-free island in the middle of Mae Nam Chao Phraya, at Bangkok’s northern edge. Actually an artificial island, the result of dredging a canal in a sharp bend in the river, the island is home to one of Thailand’s oldest settlements of Mon people, who were the dominant culture in central Thailand between the 6th and 10th centuries AD. The Mon are also skilled potters, and Ko Kret continues the culture’s ancient tradition of hand-thrown earthenware, made from local Ko Kret clay.
If you come on a weekday you’ll likely have the entire island to yourself. There are a couple of temples worth peeking into and a few places to eat, but the real highlight is taking in the bucolic