Crowd throngs Mon Bridge at reopening

Crowd throngs Mon Bridge at reopening

Local people and tourists joined numerous activities in Kanchanaburi province to celebrate the reopening of the Mon Bridge on Saturday morning.

People give alms to monks on the Mon Bridge, which was officially opened in Kanchanaburi on Saturday. (Photos by Piyarach Chongcharoen)

About 3,000 people including local authorities gathered on the 850-metre bridge in Nong Lu subdistrict of Sangkhla Buri district at about 7am to give alms to Buddhist monks amid morning fog.

The bridge, the longest one of its kind in Thailand, was packed with people who were celebrating its reopening after a runoff had torn it apart on July 28 last year.

The Kanchanaburi provincial hall earlier awarded a 16.35-million-baht contract to Por Rungruang Watsaduphan Co to repair the bridge within 120 days or by Aug 6. But the contractor failed to finish the job even on Sept 4.

The 9th Infantry Division and local Thai people of the Mon origin then took over the task. The last plank and nail of the bridge were ceremonially hammered on Oct 4 after 36 days of cooperation.

Apart from the alms-giving activity, hundreds of cyclists and runners also pedalled and ran from the Sangkhla Buri district side across the Mon Bridge to Wat Wang Wiwekaram Saturday morning.

The Mon Bridge is officially called Uttamanusorn Bridge to honour Luang Phor Uttama, former abbot of Wat Wang Wiwekaram.

Local Mon people built it across the Songkalia River as instructed by the former abbot to facilitate the transport of local people. The bridge links Moo 2 village on the same bank of Wat Wang Wiwekaram and Moo 3 village on the bank of the Sangkhla Buri district office.

It is dubbed the bridge of faith as local people highly respect the former abbot who gave shelter to Mon people when the Thai-Myanmar border there was affected by civil war violence.

The bridge has been a tourist magnet of Kanchanaburi.

More celebrations were also set for Saturday evening. They included fireworks, sky lanterns, cultural performances of Mon people and exhibitions on the work of His Majesty the King.

The Mon Bridge is packed with crowds on its reopening day.

The world's second longest wooden bridge was torn by a runoff in July 2013.

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