Mount Samat

We visited Mount Samat in 1978 and had a great experience so we decided to visit again this year (Dec 2022). When we arrived we had to sit through an "orientation" where we were told all the things we are not allowed to do. You know, all those bad things that people do while on vacation like take videos, flash photography, and no drones. What? No drones? I googled to see if drones were allowed here before going and saw lots of drone video. Great! So I thought. I asked the presenter why drones were not allowed and was told that the site was a military facility. Yes, clearly this site was a strategic and important element of the country's national defense and flying a drone would put the country at risk. I was also told that I could email the government and ask for a permit. Right.

I also want to mention that visitors are no longer allowed inside the cross. During our previous visit in 1979 we were able to go up inside the cross which was the highlight of our visit.

All in all we still enjoyed our visit and reminisced how good it used to be.