text: Pattaya to Hua Hin Ferry
text: #000080
text: Trat Airport to Koh Kood
text: #000084
text: Nakhon Si Thammarat to Bangkok
text: #000089
text: By bus it takes 10 hours 55 minutes to travel from Phitsanulok to Chanthaburi.
text: #000112
text: The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Chanthaburi is the largest, and generally considered to be the most beautiful, Christian church in Thailand. The cathedral was completed in 1909, although there had been churches previously constructed on the same site since 1834. Chanthaburi has long been the centre of the Catholic faith in Thailand with a large local congregation, many of whose descendants were Vietnamese Catholics who emigrated to Thailand in the 17th Century.
text: #000118
text: The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was built at a time when Chanthaburi was under the occupation of France. The French Government returned the province to Thailand in 1905 in return for territory in Western Cambodia, and the cathedral is the major prominent reminder of the 11 year period they ruled this part of Thailand. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception has a distinctly Gothic design, with two very large spires reminiscent of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. The other distinctive feature of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the statue of the Virgin Mary which is decorated with several hundred thousand precious stones donated by the local congregation. One of the things that Chanthaburi is famous for is gems which are mined locally and traded in large volumes in the city’s gem trading Quarter. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is open to visitors of all faiths everyday from 08:30 to 16:30 although you should be mindful of waiting until and services have finished before you look around the church.
text: #000119