Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE LONG WAY TO AMPHAWA
Amphawa is only 80km from Bangkok, but if you play your cards right, you can reach the town via a long jour-
ney involving trains, boats, a motorcycle ride and a short jaunt in the back of a truck. Why? Because sometimes
the journey is just as important as the destination.
The adventure begins at Thonburi's Wong Wian Yai (
Click here
) train station. Just past the Wong Wian Yai
traffic circle is a fairly ordinary food market that camouflages the unspectacular terminus of this commuter line.
Hop on one of the hourly trains (10B to 25B, one hour, from 5.30am to 8.10pm) to Samut Sakhon.
After 15 minutes on the rattling train the city density yields to squat villages. From the window you can peek
into homes, temples and shops built a carefully considered arm's length from the passing trains. Further on, palm
trees, patchwork rice fields, and marshes filled with giant elephant ears and canna lilies line the route, punctuated
by whistle-stop stations.
The backwater farms evaporate quickly as you enter Samut Sakhon, popularly known as Mahachai because it
straddles the confluence of Mae Nam Tha Chin and Khlong Mahachai. This is a bustling port town, several kilo-
metres upriver from the Gulf of Thailand, and the end of the first rail segment. Before the 17th century it was
called Tha Jiin (Chinese Pier) because of the large number of Chinese junks that called here.
After working your way through one of the most hectic fresh markets in the country, you'll come to a vast har-
bour clogged with water hyacinths and wooden fishing boats. A few rusty cannons pointing towards the river
testify to the existence of the town's crumbling fort, built to protect the kingdom from sea invaders.
Take the ferry across to Baan Laem (3B to 5B), jockeying for space with motorcycles that are driven by school
teachers and people running errands. If the infrequent 5B ferry hasn't already deposited you there, take a motor-
cycle taxi (10B) for the 2km ride to Wat Chawng Lom, home to the Jao Mae Kuan Im Shrine, a 9m-high fountain
in the shape of the Mahayana Buddhist Goddess of Mercy that is popular with regional tour groups. Beside the
shrine is Tha Chalong, a train stop with three daily departures for Samut Songkhram at 10.10am, 1.30pm and
4.40pm (10B, one hour). The train rumbles out of the city on tracks that the surrounding forest threatens to en-
gulf, and this little stretch of line genuinely feels a world away from the big smoke of Bangkok.
The jungle doesn't last long, and any illusion that you've entered a parallel universe free of concrete is
shattered as you enter Samut Songkhram. And to complete the seismic shift you'll emerge directly into a hubbub
of hectic market stalls. Between train arrivals and departures these stalls set up directly on the tracks, and must be
hurriedly cleared away when the train arrives - it's quite an amazing scene.
Commonly known as Mae Klong, Samut Songkhram is a tidier version of Samut Sakhon and offers a great deal
more as a destination. Owing to flat topography and abundant water sources, the area surrounding the provincial
capital is well suited to the steady irrigation needed to grow guava, lychee and grapes. From Mae Klong Market
pier
(tâh đà·làht mâa glorng),
you can charter a boat (100B) or hop in a
sŏrng·tăa·ou
(8B) near the market for the
10-minute ride to Amphawa.
