Tag Archives: nakhon si thammarat

Wats Around Sichon – Part 3…

…Wat Chom Petch Wannaram (Wat Khao Yai).

Part 1 is here.

So, here’s another mystery. Perhaps a bigger mystery than Wat Boek.

Wat Chom Petch Wanaram is further from Sichon than the previous three I’ve mentioned. It’s about 22kms west of the city. You get to it by driving up a very narrow and overgrown road until you see this…

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

Hmm, impressive. But you can only see the front. An aerial shot is better…

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

It’s quite extensive, with the two large buildings and the chedi. It seems odd that they are not in line with each other, but maybe that’s just my OCD kicking in. In addition, they are totally different styles and colors. It’s like two architects had a competition to see who could build the nicer wat. Despite the more traditional coloring, I’ll vote for the front one.

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

But, I haven’t mentioned the mystery. As you can see from the last two pictures, the place is quite overgrown. It’s not just deserted, it seems to have been abandoned. It’s dirty and grubby in places, there’s left-over construction material, and, as you can see, the guy on the right below is really not happy about it…

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

It’s like the construction workers were suddenly whisked away on an alien spaceship, or they were scared away by evil spirits. You have a better explanation?

travel, thailand, sichon, wat chom petch wannaram

wwiIt’s a shame. I wonder how long it will be before the jungle takes over.