Author: OTRAdmin January 18, 2024

The following day we drove to Chainat to visit family but ended up staying across the river in Uthai Thani province. Both areas are very rural with very little to see or do but we did visit the most blinged-up temple I have ever seen – Wat Tha Sung, otherwise known as the ‘Crystal Sanctuary’. This cavernous place was mesmerizing and clearly a popular spot among the selfie Insta-crowd. A few hundred yards away was the equally ostentatious Golden Castle which is part of the same sprawling temple complex. 

With the worst bit of driving behind us (the hellish roads and traffic around Nakhon Pathom), we motored north on relatively empty stretches of road in various states of repair to Uttaradit. This non-descript northern Thai town doesn’t have many attractions, hence the quick overnighter before venturing into the hills to our first campsite. 

I’d meticulously planned this trip to avoid the campsites and popular places at the weekends, opting to stay at hotels in the towns instead on Fridays and Saturdays when the rest of the country wants to “bai tiew”.

It paid off at the ‘Jamjuree’ campsite in the hills north of the Sirikit dam and reservoir where we had the entire place to ourselves for two nights. We camped right on the river and enjoyed the beautiful settings and cool evenings as ‘golden hour’ cast a magical light across the river. Temperatures dropped as low as 15 degrees by sunrise which was also refreshing and a complete contrast to the hot and humid south.

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