Nakhon Pathom
From Wikitravel
Nakhon Pathom (นครปฐม, also Nakorn Pathom, Nakhon Pathum) is the capital of Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand and the site of the world's largest stupa.
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Get in
By bus
BKS public buses (lines 83 and 997) leave from Bangkok's Southern Bus Terminal. The trip costs 36 baht in first class and takes about an hour in good traffic.
There are also 2nd class buses to Kanchanaburi every 15-30 minutes.
By train
Trains from Bangkok's Thonburi Train Station to Kanchanaburi/Nam Tok stop at Nakhon Pathom along the way.
Get around
See
A one-horse town if there ever was one, there's precisely one sight you can't avoid seeing in town.
- Phra Pathum Chedi. Towering over the low-rises of central Nakhom Pathom, at 120 meters this massive brick stupa is the largest in the world. It also makes a respectable claim to being Thailand's oldest Buddhist temple, dating back to the 6th century AD, although the present structure is mostly the handiwork of King Mongkut (1853) and his successors. There is no entry into the stupa itself, which is said to house a relic of the Buddha, but you can circumambulate the stupa in the inner courtyard and admire the giant golden Buddha on the southern side (always packed with worshippers). Also take some time to look around the many smaller temple halls around the chedi. Entrance is theoretically 20 baht, although this is loosely enforced at best.
Do
Eat
Drink
Sleep
Get out
- Kanchanaburi - the site of the Bridge over the River Kwai and the start of the Death Railway.