Chanthaburi, Thailand

Chanthaburi sits on the Chanthaburi River roughly 250 kilometers southeast of Bangkok, near the Cambodian border, and is home to around 40,000 residents. Thailand produces more than eighty percent of the world's gem-grade sapphires, and this city hosts the largest gem-trading market along the 1657 Si Chan Road district. French forces occupied the area for a decade following the 1893 Paknam incident, and the 1906 Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception ranks as the largest in Thailand. The 1717 Khao Khitchakut National Park spans 58 square kilometers and holds the largest Buddha footprint shrine in the country.