Both are in the old village, one between the main highway and river as you enter from the east and another about 100 metres away, down by the stream off the main street as you enter from the north. Oddly, other village wells and the Mang River contain little or no salt content; salt deposits then must be extremely localised but are certainly highly concentrated since the quantity of salt obtained is phenomenal. Perhaps in other areas a large hole would have been dug and the sodium chloride deposits mined directly but here there’s no need since fortuitous springs bring the dissolved salt conveniently to the surface anyway.
Buckets of water are hauled up from the wells, then transferred to giant wok-like bowls, where the water is boiled until completely evaporated, leaving mounds of pure salt crystals. The amount of salt obtained per litre is, as we said, almost unbelievable. The pure white crystals are then transferred to wooden containers to complete the drying process. The evaporation process takes around five hours and is carried on around the clock, so has to be permanently tended. The two wells produce around 60 kilos of salt each per day.
If the extraction process is ongoing when you visit, it is simply fascinating to watch. If you can understand a few words of Thai or follow the sign language then the workers — with little to do other than watch the wok boil — are happy to explain everything to you and show you the different stages of the process.
