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chanthaboon-waterfront

Old Town Chanthaboon and the Waterfront in Chanthaburi, Thailand

Posted on December 3, 2015April 10, 2021

One night is not enough in Chanthaburi. I was invited to Chanthaburi by Tourism Authority of Thailand on a post TBEX Asia 2015 FAM trip. We stayed in the Old Town Chanthaboon. It right by the Chathaburi River. The town is supposed to be 300 years old, prominent in the time of King Narai (1665-1688).

We were staying at the Rajamaitri Historic Inn which is right in the middle of the old town! As we had reached by early evening, I had time to go out and explore on my own. The old community is stretched along the Sukhaphiban Road. From the Inn I turned right and eventually walked to this site!

old-town-chanthaboon-chanthaburi
It was a Long Boat

It was close to a shrine. While I reached the shrine, it started to rain. I sat in the porch but thankfully the rain stopped after a short while. I walked around and saw this long boat tied around to the steps. There was no one around!

shrine-chanthaboon
The Shrine Near the Bridge

The boat was tied close to this grand structure. It was a brooding weather. It felt like tall armed knights would come out anytime, cut the rope and sail away in the boat tied to the shore! If they noticed me they might carry me along! But then right in front of the shrine was a busy road, which cut short my day dreaming about knights in the brooding weather!

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The Old Town Chanthaboon

The Old town Chanthaboon was a thriving community of Thais, Vietnamese and Chinese in the old times. King Rama V is said to have visited it twice. But the community gradually went in decline. Then in 1990 there was a fire followed by a flood in 1999. But in 2009 restoration efforts started.

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Prapapan Chatmalai who Kindly Gave me a Lift

Prapapan Chatmalai took us to show the Chanthaboon Learning Centre in the morning. I was lucky she gave me a lift on her scooty to the center. She is an active member of the community. She is involved in the committee responsible for the restoration of the old town. I hope I will be as active as her in my 60s.

chanthaboon-old-town
The Beautiful Old Town Chanthaboon

The Chanthaboon Learning center has pictures of the town displayed over the building. I saw something similar in the center first. I tried to copy it but I need to go back and try this shot again! You can still see what a beautiful old town Chathaboon is.

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Graffiti on the Wall

Many walls have graffiti and it adds to the charm of the place. You can see more pictures of Chathaburi in my previous post.

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The Church of Immaculate Conception, Chanthaburi, Thailand

Our final stop was The Church of Immaculate Conception which has been built by the Vietnamese community.

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Chanthaboon, The Waterfront

I could have happily stayed for another night at both Rayong and Chathaburi. But then I hope there is going to be a next time.

The historical facts about the town has been taken from this Bangkok Post article about Chanthaboon.

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20 thoughts on “Old Town Chanthaboon and the Waterfront in Chanthaburi, Thailand”

  1. Purba Chakraborty says:
    December 4, 2015 at 2:20 am

    A great account of your experience 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:01 pm

      Thank you Purba.

      Reply
  2. Ravish Mani says:
    December 4, 2015 at 8:50 am

    Brilliant photography, Mridula. Beautiful reflection in the first pic 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:01 pm

      Thank you so much Ravish.

      Reply
  3. Arun says:
    December 4, 2015 at 8:54 am

    The town looks nice. Its nice to see other places in Thailand too.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:02 pm

      Yes Arun I have been pretty impressed with the not so popular places in Thailand we saw!

      Reply
  4. Tirtha Tanay Mandal says:
    December 4, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    Nice photographs.

    Looks similar with suburbs of India.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:02 pm

      Thank you Tirtha.

      Reply
  5. rupam { xhobdo } says:
    December 4, 2015 at 2:20 pm

    Mridula ji, Another beautiful post. Awesome photos.

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:03 pm

      Thank you Rupam.

      Reply
  6. Leena Walawalkar says:
    December 4, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    I’ve only visited the routine places in Thailand. This is so offbeat and interesting!

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:03 pm

      Leena I am sure you will visit the off beat ones sometime too!

      Reply
  7. Kokila Gupta says:
    December 4, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    Beautiful pics and great info as usual Mridula 🙂 Loved the Blue door and the long boat one specially 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:04 pm

      Thank you so much Kokila.

      Reply
  8. Meera says:
    December 5, 2015 at 8:03 am

    Great post. Loved the boat shot. And the blue door with the bench, it was a wonderful minimal shot. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:05 pm

      Thank you Meera 😀

      Reply
  9. SREEDHAR BHATTARAM says:
    December 6, 2015 at 6:14 am

    Well described with the beautiful Photographs..

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 6, 2015 at 11:05 pm

      Thank you Sreedharji.

      Reply
  10. Deepa Gopal Sunil says:
    December 7, 2015 at 8:32 am

    Great pictures and info…the shrine looks so serene!

    Reply
    1. Mridula Dwivedi says:
      December 7, 2015 at 6:08 pm

      Thank you Deepa.

      Reply

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About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

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