The longest wooden bridge
About 450 metres over the reservoir.
Bundit Sincharoen — CC BY 3.0 · Espen Skibbuvollen — CC BY 3.0 · Bundit Sincharoen — CC BY 3.0 · Mammalwatcher — CC0 · mistagrrr — CC BY 2.0
Thailand's longest wooden bridge, about four hundred and fifty metres over the Khao Laem reservoir in the remote town of Sangkhla Buri west of Kanchanaburi. It links the Thai town to the village of the Mon people on the far bank, refugees who came from Burma and settled here, and bears the name of the monk Uttama, who rallied the area's people to build it in the 1980s. Its finest hour is early morning: mist covers the reservoir, monks cross the bridge on their alms round, and residents and visitors offer them food in a calm, moving scene. Below the bridge are floating houses and wooden boats, and from the village you can take a boat to the sunken temple, the remains of an old town flooded when the dam was built. Crossing is free, and donations for its upkeep are welcome. Part of it collapsed in floods in 2013; it was rebuilt and reopened in 2014. Visitors are sometimes dressed in traditional Mon costume with yellow thanaka paste on the face for photos. The Mon village has small restaurants serving their dishes, so ask about halal. The town is about three and a half hours by car from Kanchanaburi, so stay a night to see the bridge at dawn, then walk on to Wat Wang Wiwekaram across the water.
About 450 metres over the reservoir.
Monks crossing in the mist.
The culture of Burma's refugees.
Over the Khao Laem reservoir, Sangkhla Buri town, Kanchanaburi province
Yes: it was rebuilt and reopened in 2014, and crossing is free.
