Location: Chanthaburi
Top Things to do in Chanthaburi
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The 10 Best Things to Do in Chanthaburi, Thailand
Chanthaburi (Thai: จันทบุรี) is a town (thesaban mueang) in the east of Thailand, on the banks of the Chanthaburi River. It is the capital of the Chanthaburi Province and the Mueang Chanthaburi district.
Restaurants in Chanthaburi
1. Namtok Phlio National Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 169 reviews
Reviewed By pierremichelshanghai - Shanghai, China
This natural park is absolutely amazing. It consists of a series of cascades with crystal clear water within a beautiful forest. You can bath next to some cascades. You will be surrounded by fishes, including some doctor fishes nibbling at your dead skin. Entrance fee is 200 Baht.
2. Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 230 reviews
Reviewed By Pigman58 - Paphos, Cyprus
Obviously, in a country with a 95% Buddhist population, one does not expect to come across a Catholic Cathedral, a reminder of the period between 1894 and 1904 when the area was occpied by France.
The architectural aesthetics of the exterior are a matter of taste, but the interior - filled with selfie-obsessed Thais when we visited - was very pleasant, without the overwhelming Gothic glitz and gold found in an equivalent European Cathedral.
Try to avoid a weekend when it is full of selfie takers, and sit quietly and absorb the atmosphere.
3. Chantaboon Waterfront Community
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 105 reviews
Reviewed By pierremichelshanghai - Shanghai, China
This area of town was once an important trading hub which lost its significance in modern times. Some years ago the local community decided to revive the street. Nowadays the streets are lined by 100-200 years old beautiful houses. Wooden Thai houses, Chinese stone houses, French colonial style houses many of them with antique shops, galleries, cafes and restaurants inside, many of them with terraces on the river.. There is also a small community museum.
4. Maephra Patisonti Niramon Church
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 60 reviews
Reviewed By dorjetravel - London, United Kingdom
Must visit if in town and just over the river not far from centre and hotels. French wanted to impress the locals obviously
5. Wat Khao Sukim
Overall Ratings
4 based on 79 reviews
Reviewed By Jens L - Watford, United Kingdom
If you visit, make sure you have enough time as the grounds are very large. There are steps but also a cable car to get to the top, where there is a museum with various artefacts. The collection is vast. There is also a room with life-size statues of various famous Buddhist monks. In addition, the views from the top are beautiful.
6. The King Taksin Shrine
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 45 reviews
Reviewed By David B - Rayong, Thailand
King Taksin the Great is highly revered in Thailand as the 18th Century Siamese king who regrouped his army, built ships, and assembled a navy to turn the tables on the invading Burmese and drive them back where they came from, and in so doing, creating the basis for modern-day Thailand.
Throughout Thailand there are many shrines, monuments, parks, and other national edifices paying tribute to Taksin, but this shrine in Chantabur is of special significance.
As the invading Burmese sacked and fired the ancient Siamese capital at Ayutthaya in 1767 and occupied most of what was then Siam, King Taksin fell back with the remnants of his army to Chantaburi, about 270 km south east of present day Bangkok.
Here he regrouped his army, built a shipyard for the construction of a naval fleet, assembled and trained a navy, and sailed north to take on the Burmese, successfully regaining control of Siam.
This shrine in Chantaburi has a heavy Chinese influence, perhaps because Taksin himself was of Chinese heritage.
7. Wat Phai Lom
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 33 reviews
8. Chalerm Burapha Chonlathit
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 20 reviews
Reviewed By David B - Rayong, Thailand
We had been visiting Chanthaburi Province, about 240 km south east of Bangkok, but when it came time to go home to Rayong, about 100 km away we were in no hurry. So rather than take the highway between Chantaburi and Rayong we opted for the Coastal Scenic Drive. I am pleased we did, for we discovered a whole new part of Thailand that we did not even know about before.
The scenic drive closely follows the coastline, so you will drive past numerous small bays and coves. Chanthaburi Province coastline lacks the fine golden sand Beaches and clear blue seas of other parts of Thailand, but the many hidden inlets, bays, and peninsulas, fishing villages, a restaurants make it well worth the visit.
We started in Laem Sing, where we visited Tuek Daeng, an old French barracks from the colonial era, and a shipyard, where we watched craftsmen caulking a newly built wooden fishing boat.
We cross the long bridge that crosses the Chanthaburi River estuary, where it empties into the Gulf of Thailand.
Just on the other side of the bridge we took a detour from the Scenic Drive to visit the Khao Lao Laem Sing Forest Park. Here, if you have the energy to climb a hill, you will find the remains of an old French fort, called Phairi Phinat Fort, from the era when the French claimed this area was part of Cambodia, which it had colonized. There are still a couple of large iron cannon pointing across the estuary.
Then we rejoined the Scenic Drive heading westwards. We drove past many prawn and fish farms and several small fishing villages.
We arrived at Hat Chao Lao (hat means "beach" in Thai), where there are countless resorts and hotels, ranging from the upmarket to simple beachside cabins. Here we stopped for lunch at a seafood restaurant, before continue our drive to Hat Laem Sadet, another beach area enormously popular with Thais, although few foreign tourists have found there way here yet.
Laem Sadet has an aquarium and the Sea Farming Demonstration Unit, and nearby is the Khung Kraben Mangrove Forest Trail.
From here the Scenic Drive crosses into Rayong Province, with which we were familiar, so we turned right to get back onto the highway for our final drive home.
9. National Maritime Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 14 reviews
Reviewed By desi d
Not in the most conspicuous of places but definitely worth a visit. A modern building and specifically build for purpose including aircon which would work better if they closed the windows, it was very hot inside when we were there. Thai entrance fee 20 Baht and multiply that by 5 for foreigners. The exhibit starts on the 1st floor or 2nd floor if you are Thai and simply follow the arrow markers, as with all things in Chanthaburi it starts rightly so with a bust of the Great King Taksin and works its way through the navel history including underwater artifacts found such as ceramics. Inside they have a full size replica of a seafaring junk from many moons ago which again you can enter and see more artifacts, also climb up onto the decks and have a look at what would of been a working ship including wax dummies or sailors. There is a replica of a sunken ship which I believe to be of the one discovered at “King Taksins Boatyard” complete with dummies of scuba divers and rubber inflated boat. There is a superb array of the different types of junks used throughout Asia in years gone by and accompanied by miniature replicas of the royal barges and of course it would not be complete without a model of their aircraft carrier. Much to be seen here and very well presented, we all enjoyed the visit.
10. City Pillar Of Chanthaburi
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 14 reviews
Reviewed By David B - Rayong, Thailand
City Pillars in Thailand represent the embodiment of the local community's ethos, and it is a rare town in Thailand that does not have a shrine housing its own pillar.
The City Pillar of Chantaburi is housed in a shrine near the center of town in a temple with heavy Chinese influence.
The history of this particular city pillar is lost to antiquity, but it is commonly assumed that it was installed and build by King Taksin the Great when he used Chantaburi as a base to regroup his army and build ships and a navy before successfully defeating the invading Burmese.
The City Pillar of Chantaburi is highly revered by locals, and the tall column is totally covered in gold leaf pasted on by worshipers.
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