having attacked French Indochinese posts
(Modern day Vietnam). However, this
illustrious city was able not only to hold
on to its glory but to rapidly expand as a
major hub in Thailand when the Japanese
brought a large quantity of British
prisoners of war, who built what is to day
a historic memorial monument in Thung
Si Meuang Park. Equally, pivotal elements
for the development of the city included
its commercial airport. Lao has a historical
influence in the architecture of the city’s
religious sites, which today have a large
essence from the Eastern country.
There are a large number of leisure
activities when visiting Ubon Ratchatani.
Some highlights include a visit to the Pha
Taem National Park, which is a beautiful
forest setting of fifty four square miles
with a natural border between Laos and
Thailand by the iconic Mekong river.
Featuring magnificent plateaus, weaving
hills and imposing cliffs of sandstone
formations, this park is carpeted in
deciduous forests and wild flowers. But
the most impressive features of this park
are the prehistoric caves that include
scores of paintings dating back to one
thousand and two thousand years before
Christ. Saeng Chan waterfall is another
wonderful attraction of this iconic sight.
Peaceful and flowing, it is enough to put a
smile on anyone’s face any day.
The next must-do activity is one that
is once again, covered in rich historical
connotations. That is to visit the beautiful
village of Ban Pa Ao. This place infuses
tradition and culture with wonder and
amazement. The ancestors of the villagers
here escaped Vientiane and settled there
two hundred years ago, but did not reject
their traditions. Thanks to this, the manner
of crafting bronze ware and weaving
beautiful silk by the inhabitants of Ban Pa
Ao has remained true to their roots. This
leaves it to be the one and only village in
the whole of Thailand that confections its
beautiful brassware and other objects with
metal through wax molding techniques.
Another place worth visiting is the
Woen Buek village, where a fascinating
natural spectacle awaits. At a fateful
intersection of waters, the mighty
Mekong River meets the Mun River,
July 15 - August 15 , 2015
45