BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Wat Hong Thong, a popular tourist destination in Chachoengsao province, has opened a glass bridge high above the sea expecting it to serve as a magnet for tourists.
Wat Hong Thong, a popular tourist destination in Chachoengsao province, has opened a glass bridge high above the sea expecting it to serve as a magnet for tourists.
The temple announced on its Facebook page on Sunday that the glass skywalk, which it calls “sea walk”, is now ready to be visited by tourists.
Wat Hong Thong is a well-known temple with a chapel and a three-storey chedi building surrounded by the sea.
Phra Palad Watchara Panyawachiro, abbot of the temple, said Wat Hong Thong built the glass bridge above the sea to install a large Buddha image 2.50m wide base and 4.70m tall.
The Buddha image will be placed on its base at the end of the glass bridge on February 15, but the temple is already allowing tourists to walk on the glass bridge to enjoy a view of the sea.
The sea walk will be officially opened to tourists in April the abbot added.
The bridge can accommodate about 200 tourists at a time. It is 40 metres long and three metres wide. It is made of 240 large pieces of glass in three layers, each layer 10mm thick.
The temple initially had 22 rai (3.52 hectares) of land, on which the chapel and chedi building stood, but most of the land was claimed by the sea, leaving only 8 rai of dry land. The chapel and the chedi were surrounded by sea water and became a magnet for tourists.
