The seaside town of Phetchaburi was recognised as a creative city of gastronomy in 2021 and as a result the Phra Nakhon Khiri Festival provides an opportunity for visitors to discover the local culinary scene, history and charming heritage all in one place. This year, the festival returns for its 37th edition and continues until Saturday.
After arriving in the afternoon, we ascended to Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park to begin our sightseeing tour. Within a dome-like tram station, passengers were greeted with striking stuccos that depict Cha-am beach and daily life to celebrate the glorious days of Phetchaburi. Though the temperature was rising, the quick tram ride helped us cool off while offering stunning views of the surrounding greenery.
King Rama IV constructed Phra Nakhon Khiri, a summer palace, on the summit of Mahai Sawan Mountain between 1859 and 1862 and arriving at the top provided a sense of time travel back to that period. With a perfect blend of neoclassical, Thai and Chinese architectural designs, this is the first hilltop palace in Thailand.
After arriving at the top, visitors can wander along the maze of unique Koh Yor clay tiled walkways to immerse themselves in a nostalgic ambience while taking in the gardens. The mountainous land is shrouded with towering native trees and flowers like white frangipani and kanchanika that bloom in January and February, and starry wild jasmine that shine in April and May.
Perched on three mountain peaks, the compound can be divided into three parts -- the residential palace to the west, the main stupa in the middle and Wat Phra Kaew Noi to the east. Nowadays, Phra Thinang Phetphum Phairot and Phra Thinang Pramot Mahaisawan have been converted into Phra Nakhon Khiri National Museum to display an assortment of artefacts that were used by King Rama IV and King Rama V.
Phra Nakhon Khiri, built by King Rama IV.
When King Rama IV stayed here, Phra Thinang Phetphum Phairot served as the main hall where he conducted audience with his courtiers. It is decorated with an intricately carved collection of Chinese-style wood furniture that was once popular in Malaysia and Singapore, and its floor is made of Italian marble to add an opulent touch.
Inside is a dining space with a large collection of ceramic wares collected from Japan, England, Australia and Scotland. There's also a gaming room and a contemporary bathroom with a vintage brass bathtub and a dressing table full with glass bottles of fragrances and creams.
The adjacent Chinese-style building is Phra Thinang Pramot Mahaisawan. King Rama IV and King Rama V's bedroom is located on the 2nd floor and complete with an elaborately carved wood bed, a built-in vanity and a living area where visitors can learn more about their daily routines.
Just a stone's throw away, Phra Thinang Wechayan Wichien Prasat houses a statue of King Rama IV wearing a round Scottish-style beret and Thai-Western outfit. King Rama IV originally designed it as a present for Napoleon III of France, but he passed away before it could be finished.
A short stroll from the castle-style pavilion, visitors can climb a spiral staircase to the top of Chatchawan Wieng Chai Observatory and gaze at the view of Phetchaburi. This circular building features several arched doors, a dome-shaped glass roof, and a small balcony that overlook Wat Phra Kaew Noi and Phra That Chom Phet, an Ayutthaya-style stupa with a spire adorned with glittering Indian crystals.
Phra Thinang Phetphum Phairot museum.
After our two-hour walking tour, we began to sweat and wanted some refreshment. Nevertheless, we continued on by trekking down the mountain rather than taking the tram. At the foot of the hill, King Mongkut Memorial Park Phra Nakhon Khiri serves as a major entertainment venue where hundreds of local vendors provide a wide range of street food and sweet treats along with a variety of cultural performances by local artisans and students.
At the cultural square, skilled local artisans from many fields gather to share their expertise with future generations. For instance, third-generation goldsmith Sirilux Srithongkom of Baan Thong Pahchew welcomes visitors to watch as she uses her family's age-old traditions to create old-style gold jewellery.
"My grandma began training at Baan Thong Chubodin when she was 18 years old. It's a famous goldsmith workshop in Phetchaburi which specialises in artistic old-style gold jewellery. Her strong affection for goldsmith art was evident as the master chose to train her in the craft. In the past, craftsmen only imparted their knowledge to their own kin," Sirilux said.
"In order to maintain our cultural tradition, I was initially forced to learn the basic skills of making gold jewellery and I have become passionate about it. To gain more skills, I started creating a line of customised gold buttons for bureaucrats. Later, I expanded my collection to include necklaces, rings and earrings."
Phra Thinang Wechayan Wichien Prasat.
The surroundings, local flora and murals in the temples all had an influence on more than 100 distinctive designs, which include head rings shaped like Chinese lanterns, earrings fashioned like mahod or tao rang (Phetchaburi paper lantern), and rings that resemble buttons. They are adorned with precious stones, including sapphires from Kanchanaburi and rubies from Chanthaburi and Myanmar.
"The majority of our customers these days are collectors since each piece of jewellery we make takes a few months to create and costs more than typical gold jewellery. To give our consumers additional options at a lower cost during the Covid-19 pandemic, we added silver jewellery to our product line. At the same time, we developed our designs to be more contemporary, like the charms that resemble kanom tan," she added.
Young artist Montachai Tanomnuch demonstrates how to create one-of-a-kind khon masks that draw inspiration from famous characters from the Ramakien epic, including Hanuman, Tossakan, Phra Ram and Phra Lak. After completing the 10 Disciplines of Royal Craftsmanship programme at Poh Chang Academy of Arts, he is currently employed with the Fine Arts Department's Office of Traditional Arts. All masks are made with khoi paper and painted with acrylic colours using age-old methods.
Visitors can roam around and enjoy some local delicacies like khanom chin with fried fish cake, bua loy look tan (yellow rice balls are mixed with toddy palm fruit and served in coconut milk) and pad Thai from Tha Yang district. At 9pm, Phra Nakhon Khiri comes alive with a fireworks display, which is sure to satisfy your visual cravings.
Chatchawan Wieng Chai Observatory.
The next morning, we headed to the Ban Rai Krang community in Ban Lat district to observe the way of local farmers who have been growing rice and palmyra trees for many generations. A fleet of e-tan trucks have been modified to provide a half-day farm tour, while former teacher Chuchai Meenuch and her family have transformed their 33 rai rice fields into an agricultural learning centre.
"We turned our village into a learning centre in 2003 to preserve traditional wisdom and boost income during the off-season. We were added to the list of Otop Nawatwithi seven years ago in an attempt to promote sustainable tourism. Here, visitors can learn more about traditional wisdom and local cuisine that uses toddy palms as main ingredients," said village head Prasong Homruen.
With the backdrop of blue skies and greenery, Prasong gave us a quick lesson about growing toddy palms and how to collect fresh toddy palm juice and fruit. At the nearby pavilion, Chuchai leads a culinary class where she makes freshly baked khanom tan (yellow toddy palm cake) using her family's traditional recipes to produce a soft, sponge-like texture.
Boonyuen Ketaim has transformed his toddy palm garden into a shady playground, where people of all ages can show creativity in making decorative mobiles and toys out of palm leaves and shells. As our stomachs started growling when lunchtime rolled around, Ban Suan Kaset served a local lunch set that included toddy palm meat spicy salad, young toddy palm curry, toddy palm clear soup with chicken, and spicy chilli paste paired with fresh vegetables and fried salted fish.
Sirilux Srithongkom of Baan Thong Pahchew demonstrates how to create elaborate old-style gold jewellery.
Our farm hopping trip came to a conclusion at Fresh 1 Lemon Farm, which stretches 30 rai. It's the brainchild of Thawsak Vattanavicharana, who moved from Bangkok to fulfil his retirement dream of getting into farming. Without any understanding when he established a fig garden in the coastal town of Cha-am seven years ago, the new career path wasn't all sunshine and roses.
"Cha-am is a popular tourist destination close to Bangkok. All I wanted at first was a lovely garden, but farming is not an easy task. Having no agricultural experience, I planted figs and set aside space for 300 lemon trees. As a result, I gave up growing figs, realising that the climate and soil in Cha-am were ideal for lemons. That sparked the idea to change my goal to a lemon farm five years ago," Thawsak said.
Promoting itself as a smart farm, it has three species of lemon -- Eureka, Lisbon and Hawaii. All three have pleasing aromas and forms, making them perfect home decorative items. He also creates organic lemon food and personal care items including refreshing juice, jam, lotion, shampoo, essential oil and a multi-purpose cleaner.
During the day, visitors can go on a farm tour and learn how to grow lemons and create a multi-purpose cleaner. Thawsak is also in charge of the kitchen and prepares home-cooked meals for private groups.
Delicacies for sale at Phra Nakhon Khiri Festival.
Travel info
- The Phra Nakhon Khiri Festival runs until Saturday at Phra Nakhon Khiri Historical Park and King Mongkut Memorial Park Phra Nakhon Khiri in Phetchaburi province.
- The Ban Rai Krang community is in Ban Lat district, Phetchaburi. For more details, call 081-019-5545 or visit facebook.com/banraikrangtourism.
- The Fresh 1 Lemon Farm is in Cha-am district, Phetchaburi. For more details, call 089-922-9060 or visit facebook.com/fresh1lemonfarm.
Craftsmen showcase their skills at Phra Nakhon Khiri Festival.
A farm tour in the Ban Rai Krang community.
