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the Degree Confluence Project
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Thailand

near Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
Approx. altitude: 9 m (29 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 14°S 80°W

Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View to the north #3: View to the east #4: View to the south #5: View to the west #6: GPS marking the exact spot #7: GPS reading #8: On the road, looking towards CP (15 m north into field) #9: House 50 m due south of confluence #10: Nearby river idyll

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  14°N 100°E (visit #5)  

#1: General view of the confluence area (looking northeast)

(visited by Nils Rennenberg)

26-Feb-2010 -- I'll [try to] keep my report short this time, as this point was a rather uneventful one. That's not to say it wasn't an enjoyable visit, quite to the contrary. 14N 100E is an easy-to-reach confluence and thus one that may be recommended for beginners. It is located less than 1 km from the center of Kamphaeng Saen, a district town 20 km north of the provincial capital Nakhon Pathom, or about 100 km northwest of Bangkok. The first visit here had been way back in 2001, then followed by 2007 (twice), and finally, almost exactly one year ago, in March 2009.

I left home at 10:40am, made my way through Ram Inthra/Chaeng Watthana and over the new Rama IV Bridge in Pak Kret to Bang Bua Thong, where I took the road (#340) towards Suphanburi. After a short while, I turned west onto road #346, which leads to Bang Len and Kamphaeng Saen.

As always, I had studied the confluence location on Google Earth, and found that it would be sufficient to save a single waypoint - where a local road branches off the highway some 1200 m from the CP. It looked like it should be possible to drive from there right up to the point, or at least get extremely close (former visitors' photos also confirmed this). While I followed my Google Earth printout on the final stretch, this assumption turned out to be true. I passed through fields and the edge of a village-like settlement; about 800 m later, the asphalt road crossed a small canal and ended close to the local river. I continued on an unsealed road and decided to park the car at a spot 100 m west of the confluence, close to the entrance gate of a singular private home surrounded by a densely vegetated land plot. (Note: In fact, it *is* possible to drive right up to the point if you really want to.) I had traveled 103 km from Bangkok in a little over 2 hours (it could have been substantially less if not for the inner city traffic jams).

A little walk later it became evident that the confluence was 15-20 m to the north of the path inside a harvested & burnt paddy field. To the south lies a narrow ditch/swamp followed by the bushes and trees of the above-mentioned land plot. Conditions were simply perfect - I stepped into the field and found the exact spot within seconds (advantage of the dry season, in comparison to some of the earlier reports: you can actually do that because you won't damage any crops...), and the GPS kept the perfect zeros without the need for the usual 'coordinate dance'. Indicated EPE (estimated position error): 3 m.

It was peaceful - the only persons around were one elderly guy who had arrived on his motorbike to pick fruit with the help of a long pole, and a group of men sitting together at the riverbank. I took my photos, then drove back to Bangkok on another route, via Nakhon Pathom - Nakhon Chaisri - Rama VII Bridge. On the way, I made a short side trip to the old city wall/moat of Kamphaeng Saen (dating back to the times of the Dvaravati Culture), whose outlines had piqued my curiosity in Google Earth (check it out at 13.9909 99.9628).


 All pictures
#1: General view of the confluence area (looking northeast)
#2: View to the north
#3: View to the east
#4: View to the south
#5: View to the west
#6: GPS marking the exact spot
#7: GPS reading
#8: On the road, looking towards CP (15 m north into field)
#9: House 50 m due south of confluence
#10: Nearby river idyll
ALL: All pictures on one page