Samut Sakhon, Thailand

Samut Sakhon is popularly known as Mahachai because it straddles the confluence of Mae Nam Tha Chin and Khlong Mahachai. Just a few kilometres from the Gulf of Thailand, this busy port features a lively market area and a pleasant breezy park around the crumbling walls of Wichian Chodok Fort (Hwy 35). A few rusty cannons pointing towards the river testify to the fort's original purpose of guarding the mouth of Mae Nam Tha Chin from foreign invaders. Before the arrival of European traders in the 17th century, the town was known as Tha Jin (Chinese pier) because of the large number of Chinese junks that called here. A few kilometres west of Samut Sakhon, along Hwy 35, is the Ayuthaya-period Wat Yai Chom Prasat, which is known for the finely carved wooden doors on its bòt. You can easily identify the wat by the tall Buddha figure standing at the front. To get here from Samut Sakhon, take an orange westbound bus (15B) heading towards Samut Songkhram from the bus station; the wat is only a 10-minute ride from the edge of town.