Table of Contents
Banharn-Jamsai Tower — the country’s tallest tower in a tiny town
What I’m curious about — why build a 123 meter tower in the middle of a tiny town? To celebrate the Queen’s 60th birthday, of course — constructed in 1992, it’s become the biggest mainstream destination in Suphanburi. Combine the tower with the park, and it’s a fine way to end an evening of exploration.
To be clear, you won’t be going all the way to the top as you would, say, the Seoul Tower in Korea. Instead, the fourth observation deck tops out at 78.75 meters, which is good enough to take in the sunset:
Or rather, a few minutes too late… The lights reflect against the windows, all but ensuring you’ll be contorting a bit to get a clean shot.
A nice view of the city during Blue Hour.
King Naresuan (r. 1590–1605) — during the Ayutthaya Kingdom days, the man apparently loved his cockfighting. His cock beat out Prince Maha Uparacha’s cock (and you have to believe me when I say how difficult it is to type this with a straight face). The other murals all show some elements of centuries-old history — worth a few minutes of your time once you tire of the view.
Not pictured here is the third floor (walk down the stairs to take in a slightly less reflective set of windows and a bunch of souvenirs) and the second floor (take the elevator to a food court).
Once down on the ground looking up, things get interesting. The park itself offers some water slides, a botanical garden, and some musically synchronized fountains:
Great if you’re able to get wet!
If you’re headed to Suphanburi, it’s the mainstream destination to check out while you’re in the area. If you’re looking for some of the weirder places around the area, keep reading.
Name: Banharn-Jamsai Tower (หอคอยบรรหาร-แจ่มใส) in Chalermphatara Rachinee Park (สวนเฉลิมภัทรราชินี)
Address: Nang Phim Rd., Tambon Tha Pi Liang, Chang Wat Suphan Buri 72000 (GPS: 14.471882,100.118413)
Directions: This is easily the largest, tallest thing around Suphanburi. From where the minibus lets you off, look up — it’s within walking distance.
Hours: 10am-7pm during the weekdays, 10am-8:30pm during the weekends.
Admission: 10 baht for the park, 30 baht for the tower (40 baht after 6pm). The water slide park costs 50 baht.
Phone: 035–524060, 035–522721
Website: http://www.tourismthailand.org/See-and-Do/Sights-and-Attractions-Detail/Banharn-Jamsai-Tower–1023 (http://www.suphan.biz is around, but it’s in Thai only)
Thai Buffalo Conservation Village — get up close and personal with the beasts of burden
Raise your hand if you’ve ever actually seen a buffalo. No? Didn’t think so. The beasts of burden here are docile enough to get up close and personal — and there’s plenty of other surprises to go around.
Call it eco-tourism, combined with a sense of history that’s quickly being lost. To most Thai, the buffaloes were valuable as farming assistants — slaughtering them for food was unthinkable, and their horns were kept to remember them by. That might explain the several sets of buffalo horns occasionally seen around the country.
In any case, the stated mission here is raising awareness and conserving the ones that are left. To be clear, this is different from the Buffalo Conservation Village in Khon Kaen — that one’s further northeast.
It doesn’t take long for the kitschiness to begin. Get your photo taken with the oversized buffalo near the entrance — you know you want to.
It isn’t long before you’re transported back in time — the house on stilts offers plenty of photos from what I guess to be almost 100 years ago. Several other houses (presumably reconstructed as well) are nearby, but it was time to come face-to-face with the buffaloes:
You are separated from the row of buffaloes by a single rope, though thanks to the heat and humidity they were very relaxed.
Cute, but a bit disappointing — tourists have already paid five times the price as a Thai (to say nothing of the transportation cost). Not pictured here is a buffalo manager attempting to photobomb — the elementary schooler photographing with an iPad nearby didn’t seem to mind.
Maybe people vote on which one’s the cutest…? There are a couple of albino buffalo around as well.
If you paid for the cart and show, here’s your chance to enjoy it.
Part of the buffalo’s heritage ostensibly involves the farmers and their tools. There are a lot of waterways around, which explain the boats and waterwheels.
Alongside some cervus timorensis (a deer native to Java, Bali and Timor) and an ostrich is a single cassowary, quite interested in his reflections as seen in our camera lenses.
You’re still in the same facility, but it’s clearly a different half. It’s a resort, complete with houses done in the classic Thai style. in fact holds some nice looking rooms. These aren’t the cheapest places in the world, as you’d expect — a standard room during the week runs 950 baht, while an A/C room “with a view” can reach 1,750 baht. Bizarrely, I was told weddings are held here at the Thai Buffalo Conservation Village (well, the Baan Thai Resort part, at least).
….and now I get why the weddings might actually work. It’s well-manicured and postcard-perfect — about as far away from buffaloes as you can get.
A collection of colorful carts — some with wheels that were at least 2 meters in diameter.
We didn’t feel like waiting around for the buffalo show, but the 30 minute show is offered up multiple times a day. You could wait around the entrance and get a soda if you wanted, but it’s probably best to plan your tour around the showtimes.
It’s on the kitschy side, to be sure, and I wasn’t overly surprised to see the buffalo t-shirts and plastic offerings in the souvenir store. There’s very little English around, though it’s not needed as much as you think. The resorts seem nice enough for a rural getaway of sorts, and the buffalo are worth the visit.
Name: Village Thai Buffalo Conservation (หมู่บ้านอนุรักษณ์ควายไทย)
Address: Tambon Wang Nam Sap, Chang Wat Suphan Buri 72140 (GPS: 14.646403,100.150288)
Directions: From Suphonburi, your best bet is your own transportation or a tuk-tuk. Arrange for the round-trip to avoid being stranded — there’s a large parking lot with ample shade.
Hours: 9am-6pm — the buffalo show starts at 11am and 3pm on weekdays, and 11am, 2:30pm, and 4pm on weekends.
Admission: For foreigners: 150 baht gets you in, while 300 baht includes the buffalo show and a cart ride. For Thai nationals or residents, it’s a mere 30 baht to get in and 60 baht to include the show and ride.
Phone: 0–3558–2591 or 0–4321–1466
Website: www.buffalovillages.com
Wat Sam Pa Siew — the Buddhist temple with hidden cartoon characters
For a decades-old cartoon character, Doraemon gets around. To be clear, his presence is the reason a lot of people come here — the futuristic robotic cat emulates the ‘hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil’ mindset more commonly seen in monkeys.
Doraemon, long loved by Japanese, has been a huge hit with Thai schoolchildren as well — thank the artist Rakkiat Lertjitsakun for adding a modern taste to the centuries of tradition. The drawings date from January 2011, and employ the character’s messages of good and evil.
Phra Sivali carrying an iPad, anyone?
A friendly gentlemen stands by with a green laser pointer, ready and willing to point out all the hidden Doraemon throughout the building. In some cases, it’s very subtle (look for half of the cat’s face on the man’s vest).
In other cases, his presence is paired with the elementary schooler he aims to help, Nobita.
It’s very much like the Where’s Waldo? you might have grown up with (hint: look for the blue cat in the water)
Artists have long been putting hidden messages or images amongst all the intricate designs, and it’s a playful thing even the adults can enjoy. To some, it might detract from some of the solemn nature of a Buddhist temple, but the overwhelming majority of the buildings remains distinctly Buddhist.
Now here’s something unexpected — a collection of Angry Birds!
Another iPad painted on one of the inside doors.
OK, so with the rest of these I’ll let you find the little guy on your own:
There’s little else to see at the temple, though a few older statues will remind you there’s centuries of history here. All the same, it’s a completely unexpected twist — one that will have me looking more intently at the intricate paintings in the future.
Name: Wat Sam Pasieo AKA Wat Sam Pa Siew (วัดสำปะซิว)
Address: Soi Sam Pasio 4, Tambon Sanamchai, Chang Wat Suphan Buri, 72000 (GPS: 14.502621,100.122934)
Directions: Get to Suphanburi first — once there, you’ll want to get a tuk-tuk here — we paid 150 baht for a round-trip ride.
Hours: none specified
Admission: free
Phone: 035–546–444
Website: no official website
Wat Phai Rong Wua — a hell temple near Suphanburi (NSFW)
You’ve gotta love the Hell Temple. Really. We Westerners generally see the solemn rituals of Buddhism, the intricate and beautiful temples, and a tolerant view of other religions.
There is, of course, another side — the part where naraka gets involved. It translates to ‘hell’ or ‘purgatory’, but instead of being your eternal home, it’s where your karma gets sent to work itself out — sometimes for billions or trillions of years. Suddenly, a few hundred baht worth of ‘making merit’ doesn’t sound so bad.
Take in the rest of the temple first — originally constructed in 1926, hundreds of Buddha images all face a much larger image seen earlier — supposedly the largest metal-cast Buddha figure in the world at 58 meters tall and 40 meters wide at his lap:
A few of the statues look to need some maintenance, however.
Don’t ask me why he’s surrounded by archers.
Your opportunity to make some merit and do some prayers before heading to hell. It’s on the other side of the road, in what ends up seeming like an odd arrangement for a temple — one main road, with the fun stuff down the side streets.
It’s unclear whether they’re praying for salvation or for lesser suffering — either way, the gruesome stuff is coming up, so now might be time to click away if you’re at work or if there are kids around…
While it’s unclear what sins correspond with which punishments, there’s plenty on the Wikipedia page to give you a heads up.
Yep, when birds gather around to eat your flesh there won’t be much of you left…
One of the two ten-meter figures in the camp.
One common theme is how the punishers are always larger and far more muscular than the sickly skeletons being punished.
Many of the statues look fairly new, and it’s clear dozens more are being constructed — they may well be finished by the time you arrive, but it’s interesting to see how these things are put together.
He’s not threatening anyone — yet — but he’s ready and waiting…
While well on the beaten path for Thais, we were the only Westerners we saw all day. The way to get there requires a fairly long songthaew ride, and though it’s possible to reach by public transportation, you’d be better off with a car. Make it a must-see when coming through Suphanburi.
Name: Wat Pai Rong Wua / Wat Phai Rong Wua (วัดไผ่โรงวัว)
Address: Road 3422, Tambon Bang Ta Then, Chang Wat Suphan Buri 73190 (GPS: 14.157174,100.162136)
Directions: From Suphanburi’s songthaew terminal west of the Chalerm Patthara Park, catch a songthaew. One of the songthaews terminates at the temple, though a local implied these only came twice a day.
If it’s clear there are no more songthaews heading back to Suphanburi directly, wait at the bus stop in front of the exit. You’ll be looking to go east down road 3422 until it comes to road 340 going north. It may require two different songthaew or buses, but get off when you reach road 340, make a left, and see what shows up.
Hours: 8:30am-5:30pm
Admission: free
Phone: none
Website: http://www.tourismthailand.org/See-and-Do/Sights-and-Attractions-Detail/Wat-Phai-Rong-Wua–1034 (http://www.suphan.biz/WatPairogwour.htm is another official page — Thai only)
Wat Phrao — the Bat Sanctuary
Wat Phrao (วัดพร้าว) is the latest in a long line of temples with more than meets the eye. It’s done in the Burmese style, and features enough flying foxes in the fox sanctuary to add some life.
A library for Buddhist sculptures, in the middle of a pond. The only way over there looked to be a precarious plank for a bridge — needless to say, we assumed it was off limits.
Bats! A small dirt path connects the temple area to a nearby road — along this road are some of the best places to see the bats.
The flying foxes jump from one nearby tree to the other, so keep your camera set on manual focus to infinity for when they fly over.
The temple itself is as expected — donations of coins and plenty of gold leaves pasted on the images:
Gotta love the gold leaves — it’s an indication how popular the monk is based on how many leaves they have.
You’ll see these at every temple — shake the sticks to see which sticks pops out first, then collect the numbered paper:
This is one of the few that featured English as well as Thai.
By itself, it’s fine, but not particularly worth the visit. Consider it an optional stop if you’re on your way to Suphanburi, though it’s kind of out on its own.
Name: Wat Phrao (วัดพร้าว)
Address: Phraya Tambon Pho, Wat Chang Suphan Buri 72000 (GPS: 14.533302,100.126786)
Directions: From Suphanburi, your best bet is a tuk-tuk here. It’s about 10 kilometers north of the park and Banharn-Jamsai Tower.
Hours: 6am-5pm.
Admission: free
Phone: 056–484–427
Website: http://www.tourismthailand.org/See-and-Do/Sights-and-Attractions-Detail/Wat-Phrao–5022
Dragon Descendants Museum — a large free area surrounded by an expensive museum
Our last stop in Suphanburi, we knew the Dragon Descendants Museum (พิพิธภัณฑ์ลูกหลานพันธุ์มังกร) would be on the expensive side — what we didn’t know was how much there was around the museum to see for free.
The colorful grounds are one part tourist attraction and one part celebration of the Thai-Chinese history — and we’re not even to the big dragon yet! Opened December 24, 2008, the 35 meter tall, 135 meter long dragon dominates the landscape, though it’s not until you get closer that you see the rest of the site.
All the colors and styles you’d expect — not pictured is an area with more incense smoke than you’d find at a smoker’s convention. There’s also more than enough candles of all sizes for sale — the biggest was 2,500 baht and looked big enough to use in a World’s Strongest Man competition.
Go ahead, ring the bell — you know you want to. Be sure to leave a donation, naturally.
Bow, donate, and repeat.
Since we didn’t have the time to actually head into the museum, I’ll let the Trippacker describe the museum for you. Expect the museum tour to take about 60–90 minutes, and 45–60 minutes for the outside stuff — longer if you indulge in any of the myriad shopping opportunities.
The site’s been cleverly designed to appeal to both tourists and the devout — people watchers can pretty easily demarcate between the two groups. There’s ample food options around, and it’s a fine place to start or end a trip to the area.
Name: Dragon Descendants Museum (พิพิธภัณฑ์ลูกหลานพันธุ์มังกร)
Address: Malaiman Rd., Tambon Rua Yai, Chang Wat, Suphan Buri, 72000 (GPS: 14.47617, 100.11100)
Directions: Start from Chalerm Patthara Rachini Park / the big tower in central Suphan Buri. you can walk here. Head west, cross the river, then turn right at the T to head north. Walk for about 700 meters until you reach Malaiman road. Turn left, walk 500 meters, and cross the road at some point — you should see the colorful pillar that marks the entrance.
Hours: museum tours start on the hour every hour from 10am to 4pm. The outdoor area’s hours are unclear.
Admission: Completely free to peruse the outdoor exhibits and beauty; 499 baht for foreigners, 299 baht for Thai nationals to enter the museum.
Phone: 0–3552–6211
Website: http://www.tourismthailand.org/Dragon-Descendants-Museum
