This massive lake was created in the 1980’s after a damn was built across a nearby river. The old Sangkhlaburi town used to be in this valley and the inhabitants, who were mainly Mon refugees, had to move to higher ground. As most of their houses were made of wood, they were able to salvage much of the material in order to build new houses. However, only the roofing of the Wat Sam Prasop temple was saved. This has now become a kind of eery tourist attraction. We spotted the spire of the bell tower first and then a bit further was what was left of the main chapel. The top was only a few metres above the water. Our boatman took us right up to the wall of the temple and we could stand up and look inside. On the walls, we could see dozens of small Buddha images carved into niches. According to Carl Parkes in his Thailand Handbook, the water level goes down so much in the dry season that you can actually walk around and inside the temple. We went there at the end of December when the dry season had only just started. I guess you would have to go in April to see more of the temple.
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