Thailand attractions
See gilded stupas, halls with murals and ancient temples reduced to brick ruins. Choose between active places of worship and archaeological sites.
30 · Temples
Bangkok · A royal temple known for its Reclining Buddha and traditional medicine
Wat Phoวัดโพธิ์
Up close, the Reclining Buddha’s 46-metre golden body fills the hall. Look down at its feet to see 108 mother-of-pearl designs, where the statue’s immense scale meets fine craftsmanship. Wat Pho is a royal temple just south of Bangkok’s Grand Palace.
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Bangkok · Riverside Buddhist temple
Wat Arun Ratchawararamวัดอรุณราชวรารามราชวรมหาวิหาร
When the bright prang comes into view from a boat crossing the Chao Phraya River, you are nearing Wat Arun. Known as the Temple of Dawn, it stands on the west side of Bangkok. From the riverbank you can take in the tower’s outline; once inside the grounds, you can see ceramic fragments and small figures that are hard to make out from a distance.
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Bangkok · Royal temple within the Grand Palace complex
Wat Phra Kaewวัดพระศรีรัตนศาสดาราม
Wat Phra Kaew is the royal temple inside Bangkok’s Grand Palace where the Emerald Buddha is enshrined. The grounds bring together sights of very different scale and style, from the small image on its high altar to golden chedis, monumental guardians and gallery murals that tell a connected story.
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Bangkok · Golden Mount chedi and old-city viewpoint temple
Wat Saket and the Golden Mountวัดสระเกศ
Above the rooftops of Bangkok’s Old Town, a golden chedi marks the Golden Mount at Wat Saket. Climb the stairs up the man-made hill and you will see worshippers near the chedi as well as the city spread around it.
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Chiang Mai · Mountain temple and Chiang Mai viewpoint
Wat Phra That Doi Suthepวัดพระธาตุดอยสุเทพ
After following the mountain road west of Chiang Mai, you reach Doi Suthep Temple and its long staircase guarded by naga figures. From the terrace above, the city spreads out below, bringing together a northern Thai place of worship and a sweeping urban view.
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Chiang Mai · Old City temple with Lanna Buddha image and murals
Wat Phra Singhวัดพระสิงห์
At Wat Phra Singh in Chiang Mai’s Old City, you can see a golden chedi and the Lai Kham Viharn, which houses the Phra Singh Buddha image. Murals on the two side walls depict the stories of Suwannahong and the Golden Conch, as well as clothing and details of everyday life from the period.
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Chiang Mai · Old City temple with a large brick chedi
Wat Chedi Luangวัดเจดีย์หลวง
You have reached Wat Chedi Luang when you come upon the large brick chedi with its broken summit in the middle of Chiang Mai’s Old City. Its broad base and naga sculptures along the stairs give a sense of the scale of this old structure, quite different from a gleaming golden tower.
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Chiang Rai · Contemporary Buddhist art temple known as the White Temple
Wat Rong Khunวัดร่องขุ่น
Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai is known as the White Temple for its white architecture and fine, pointed sculptures that tell Buddhist stories. Conceived by Chiang Rai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, it invites you to look at the bridge before the white hall and figures drawn from mythology as you would look at an artwork.
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Chiang Rai · Contemporary Buddhist temple with a blue hall
Wat Rong Suea Tenวัดร่องเสือเต้น
Wat Rong Suea Ten is Chiang Rai’s Blue Temple, with a large naga standing before its blue hall. The vivid building and curling sculptures at its entrance catch your eye together; look back and forth between the overall structure and its smaller decorations.
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Phuket · Phuket Buddhist temple honouring revered monks
Wat Chalongวัดฉลอง
Wat Chalong’s formal name is Wat Chaithararam. At this temple southwest of Phuket Town, you can see richly decorated halls as well as revered monk statues covered in layers of gold leaf offered by local people.
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Bangkok · Bangkok temple housing the Golden Buddha
Wat Traimitวัดไตรมิตรวิทยาราม
Wat Traimit is a temple near Bangkok’s Chinatown where you can see the Golden Buddha. Knowing the story that the statue, once concealed beneath plaster, was revealed when it was moved makes the golden image in the hall all the more striking.
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Bangkok · Temple with marble architecture and a Buddha-image gallery
Wat Benchamabophitวัดเบญจมบพิตร
At Wat Benchamabophit, light marble and stained glass sit beneath a Thai-style roof. The temple in Bangkok’s Dusit district is known as the Marble Temple because marble imported from Italy was used in its construction.
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Bangkok · Temple with murals, Buddha images and a separate museum
Wat Suthatวัดสุทัศนเทพวราราม
Wat Suthat is a temple in Bangkok’s old city where you can see the large red Giant Swing outside, murals inside the viharn and finely carved wooden doors. Take in the Sisaakayamuni Buddha image on its high pedestal and the paintings on the walls for a closer look at the temple beyond its street view.
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Bangkok · Temple with a giant Buddha and an interior chedi ceiling painting
Wat Paknam Phasicharoenวัดปากน้ำภาษีเจริญ
Wat Paknam is a royal temple in Phasi Charoen, Bangkok, where the large golden Buddha outside and the ceiling painting on the upper floor of the chedi are in different spaces. First take in the full 69-metre seated Buddha from outside, then go inside the chedi to see the painting of the Buddha’s life.
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Ayutthaya · Ayutthaya temple ruins with a Buddha head and brick remains
Wat Mahathatวัดมหาธาตุ พระนครศรีอยุธยา
At Wat Mahathat in Ayutthaya, tree roots wrap around the face of a sandstone Buddha image. The image is the site’s best-known feature, but look beyond it and you will find the remains of a large temple, with headless Buddha images, collapsed brick walls and the bases of halls.
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Ayutthaya · Royal temple ruins in the former Ayutthaya palace
Wat Phra Si Sanphetวัดพระศรีสรรเพชญ์
At Wat Phra Si Sanphet, three large bell-shaped chedis stand in an east–west line. This royal temple was connected to the former palace of Ayutthaya. Walk among the surviving chedis and hall foundations to appreciate the scale of a place where royal ceremonies took place.
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Ayutthaya · Khmer-style temple ruins beside the river
Wat Chaiwatthanaramวัดไชยวัฒนาราม
On the west side of the Chao Phraya River in Ayutthaya, Wat Chaiwatthanaram is a temple ruin where the large central tower and surrounding towers come into view together. Its clear arrangement of towers and galleries makes it a good place to see the influence of Khmer architecture.
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Ayutthaya · Temple ruins with a prang in Ayutthaya
Wat Ratchaburanaวัดราชบูรณะ พระนครศรีอยุธยา
At Wat Ratchaburana in Ayutthaya, see a large prang surrounded by galleries and the remains of halls. North of Wat Mahathat, the site preserves the story of a temple built after a royal succession struggle and gold artifacts found inside its tower.
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Ayutthaya · Outdoor reclining Buddha ruins in Ayutthaya
Wat Lokayasutharamวัดโลกยสุธาราม
At Wat Lokayasutharam, a large reclining Buddha lies beneath the open sky, without a hall roof. This Ayutthaya ruin offers a view of the image’s face and long body outdoors, a different setting from the indoor reclining Buddha at Wat Pho in Bangkok.
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Ayutthaya · Ayutthaya temple with a large chedi and Buddha images
Wat Yai Chai Mongkhonวัดใหญ่ชัยมงคล
At Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon, the large bell-shaped chedi can be seen from a distance. Up close, this Ayutthaya temple has a tall square base, small towers at its four corners and a Reclining Buddha near the entrance.
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Ayutthaya · Ayutthaya temple housing a large golden seated Buddha
Wat Phanan Choengวัดพนัญเชิง
Enter the hall at Wat Phanan Choeng and a large golden seated Buddha, about 19 m tall, fills the space. The temple predates Ayutthaya’s time as a capital, and you can see Chinese-influenced decoration as well as worship that continues today.
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Chiang Mai · Forest temple in Chiang Mai with tunnels and chedi
Wat Umongวัดอุโมงค์ สวนพุทธธรรม
At Wat Umong in Chiang Mai, old tunnels run beneath a chedi surrounded by trees. “Umong” means “tunnel”. The passages, built for monks’ meditation practice, and the wooded grounds remain distinctive features of the temple.
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Chiang Mai · Mountain temple among streams and forest
Wat Pha Latวัดผาลาด
Wat Pha Lat is a forest temple on the route from Chiang Mai up to Doi Suthep. Small waterfalls and streams, chedis and halls appear among the trees, making it a place to walk through a mountain forest setting.
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Chiang Rai · Chiang Rai temple with a Guanyin image and multi-tiered pagoda
Wat Huai Pla Kangวัดห้วยปลากั้ง
Wat Huai Pla Kang is a temple complex on a hill in the Rim Kok area of Chiang Rai, where a large white Guanyin statue stands alongside multi-storey pagodas. It is easy to mistake the white statue for a Buddha, but the complex’s landmark is Guanyin.
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Koh Samui · Big Buddha temple on Ko Fan
Wat Phra Yai (Ko Fan)วัดพระใหญ่ เกาะสมุย
Wat Phra Yai on Samui is a Big Buddha temple on the small island of Koh Fan, off the island’s northeast coast. The golden seated Buddha was built in 1972. This is a Samui place of worship, separate from Phuket’s Big Buddha.
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Koh Samui · Temple with Guanyin and Budai images around a pond
Wat Plai Laem (Wat Laem Suwannaram)วัดปลายแหลม
At Wat Plai Laem, a white Guanyin image, a large smiling figure and temple halls come together around a pond. This temple in northeast Koh Samui offers the experience of viewing figures above the water from a distance and then crossing a bridge to get closer.
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Nakhon Pathom · Temple centred on a large bell-shaped chedi in Nakhon Pathom
Wat Phra Pathom Chediวัดพระปฐมเจดีย์
Phra Pathom Chedi is a temple in Nakhon Pathom centred on a huge bell-shaped chedi. About 120 m high, the stupa is visible from a distance; nearby, you can walk through the gallery, see the northern standing Buddha and observe worshippers at the temple.
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Nakhon Si Thammarat · Royal temple centred on a Buddha relic chedi in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihanวัดพระมหาธาตุวรมหาวิหาร
Wat Phra Mahathat in Nakhon Si Thammarat is a temple in southern Thailand centred on a large reliquary chedi with a golden top. Religious and architectural traditions arrived along maritime routes and met here, shaping an important centre of Buddhism in the south.
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Lampang · Lanna temple with wooden halls and a chedi
Wat Phra That Lampang Luangวัดพระธาตุลำปางหลวง
Wat Phra That Lampang Luang is a Lanna temple in Ko Kha, Lampang, where you can see a golden chedi alongside wooden halls. Pass through the arched entrance and look at the wooden viharn and carvings; there are many details to notice beyond the main chedi.
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Sukhothai · Sukhothai temple ruin housing the Phra Achana seated Buddha
Wat Si Chum (Sukhothai)วัดศรีชุม สุโขทัย
At Wat Si Chum in Sukhothai, the face of a large Buddha image appears through a narrow opening in a thick wall. Step inside and look up at the seated Phra Achana, about 15 metres high. The contrast between the narrow view from outside and the image’s scale within is striking.
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Sharing image credit: Philip Nalangan / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
