Sometimes you go to a place without knowing exactly what to expect. I’ll thank outdated news stories and bad directions / maps that required more wandering around than necessary — ironically, it’s these stories that made the trip possible. We needed four different sites to find this place — this one humble post should be all you need to make your way here, though 🙂
Opened in 2007 for the World Sand Sculpture Festival of the same year, the festival commemorated His Majesty King Bhumibol’s 80th birthday. The 20,000 square meters (12 rai) of sculptures have used several thousand tons of sand and the talents of 70 artists from Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, the US and Thailand. While the article claims sculptures are changed every six months, at least a few that were mentioned from 2009 are still around:
After taking in the outside exhibitions covered by a canvas tent, head in for a very detailed look at the Chinese zodiac — all 12 of the animals are here somewhere.
As an American, I can’t say seeing a plane crash into the World Trade Center was exactly… um… what the actual f*#&%? is going on here? The half-destroyed Statue of Liberty looks more like something from a movie…
Speaking of ‘half-destroyed’, at least one unfortunate sculpture has suffered from the elements. The aforementioned canvas tent has taken a beating over the years, although it’s good enough to keep the A/C inside.
The second zone blocks out most of the ambient light to create a ‘dark zone’ (you’re warned to watch your step). Here things get more historical and cultural in nature — there’s a soundtrack in Thai that reverberates through the open space. The few signs were less than helpful, partially because of the darkness and partially because of the language barrier.
Zone 3 features the international artists and their renditions made of sand:
I do wish there was a bit more explanation here — what did the Coliseum do to get mashed up with a 1950’s era truck?
Mashups seemed to be the theme here — and I’d love to see this trio of motorcycle, Egyptian something-or-other, and the large-breasted woman that seemed to defy gravity.
Your caption goes here — I do love the relaxed big Buddha smiling.
A nod to modern Western culture — E.T. phoning home, along with Iron Man, and characters from Star Wars and Kung Fu Panda.
Once you’ve found the place, you’ll enjoy it. I’m rather uncertain how long a place like this will continue to be maintained (and maintained well) — sand sculptures already have a shelf life in the best-case scenarios. Make this a stop the next time you head to Chacheongsao, or the next day trip you’re looking to take from Bangkok.
Name: World Sand Sculpture theme park (ปราสาททราย)
Address: 28/92 New Cross Road Sri Sothon. Tambon Na Muang. Muang Chachoengsao 24000. (GPS: 13.68283,101.06417)
Directions: The Chacheongsao Railway is the closest landmark — from there, head east for about 300 meters and turn right onto New Si Sothon. Walk south (or motorcycle taxi or tuk-tuk) a little over a kilometer, then turn right onto Phraya Si Sunthon. Walk 200 meters and look left for the parking lot.
Hours: 9am-6pm.
Admission: 100 baht (it looked to be the same price for foreigners and Thai people).
Phone: 038–515120
Website: http://www.sandthailand.com
Now, to the temple housing lots of bats…
Call them Khangkhao Mae Kai if you like. Call them flying foxes, or just fruit bats if you prefer. Whatever you call them, these guys are why you make the trip here — not the temple.
Although it’s less about the temple, there’s still a historic viharn and gorgeous reclining Buddha to take in. Originally built between 1767 and 1782 during King Taksin the Great’s reign, the Ayutthayan style building has terra cotta roof tiles and two doors decorated with porcelain.
The viharn was renovated in 1942, complete with green gled tao roof tiles, a three-headed elephant, and five lotus buds in a vase. The viharn was renovated again in 1998, courtesy of a 350,000 baht donation by the locals, complete with bricks, a marble floor, and chandeliers.
This is basically half of the temple right there — the other half features plenty of gold leaves on honored monks:
At this point, our attention turned to the bats:
The flying foxes are the world’s largest species of bats. Supposedly, they’ve been observed to fly to the Thai-Cambodian border side to feed — they also supposedly never eat fruits grown by Bang Khla people. They have a wolf-like face, large eyes, reddish brown fur, and a wingspan of about a meter. You’ll need a telephoto lens to see any of these for yourself, unless you decide to try climbing the trees. (Don’t. Please.)
Since you’re unlikely to get very close to the bats, you might want to appreciate them as they fly from one tree to the next:
As a temple, you’re likely to be disappointed — it’s a long way to come for a fairly small temple. The bats, while an interesting sidebar, are only seen from afar — imagine going to the zoo and only seeing the birds in the trees.
Name: Wat Pho Bang Khla (วัดโพธิ์บางคล้า)
Address: Tambon Ban Mai, Amphoe Mueang, Bang Khla District, Chachoengsao, Thailand
(GPS: 13.721605,101.202555)
Directions: Songthaew or tuk-tuk it here — it’s over 20 kilometers out of town, and our tuk-tuk driver charged us 500 baht for the round trip.
If taking your own car or bike, take Highway 304 ( Chachoengsao — Kabin Buri ) for around 17 km, then turn left to Highway 3121. Drive through Bang Khla for around 6 km, then go past the shrine and the monument of King Taksin the Great. Turn left after about 500 m.
Hours: 6am-6pm
Admission: free
Phone: 0–3851–4812
Website: http://www.tourism-chachoengsao.go.th/menu3en.php?att=25
