On my most recent journey to Thailand, I visited Sangkhlaburi, a very peaceful, idyllic mountain resort located in Kanchanaburi province. A good 5½-hour drive from Bangkok, Sangkhlaburi is yet to be spoiled by mass tourism - there are probably less than 15 guesthouses/hotels in the area. Surrounded by lush green hills, this small town sits above the largest lake in Thailand and is home to many people of Burmese descent in addition to Mon and Karen hilltribe villages and a sprinkling of farang expats. Sangkhlaburi’s claim to fame is being the site of the longest wooden bridge in Thailand.Spanning about ¼ mile long, this bridge was built by the Mons to connect from town to one of their settlements located on the opposite side of the lake.

Strolling through town and ‘the so called tourist zone”, I got the impression that at least 60% percent of the people who live in this area are Burmese - both naturalized citizens and illegals. This comes as no surprise as this small town is just a couple of miles away from the Myanmar border. One of the characters that I met in passing was a native San Franciscan, who has resettled in Sangkhlaburi and operates Wild Wild West, a used book store and bicycle rental shop. I also visited Burmese expat, Daisy Dwe, a community leader and activist who operates a small grassroots business called Weaving for Women

A quiet, peaceful mountain enclave, Sangkhlaburi currently is a very popular weekend retreat for Thai tourists from Bangkok and a smattering of intrepid farangs. Relatively devoid of noisy motorbikes, loud bars and rude farang tourists, this small mountain resort is highly recommended for nature lovers and for those who are seeking peace of mind. Sangkhlaburi is definitely far from the maddening crowd and I hope it stays that way.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 4th, 2007 at 10:18 am and is filed under Thailand, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.