Thailand is home to one of the largest Buddhist population in the world since the early centuries. From the ancient temples of Ayutthaya north of Bangkok to the current city where thousands of temples are around for Thai people to worship and pray to.
95% of the Thai population is Theravada Buddhist and since Thailand is predominantly Buddhist country there are several major temples worth going to in Bangkok. Check the full list below:
Temples To See in Bangkok
Wat Pho
Wat Pho contains a huge gigantic gold plated Buddha that measures 46×15 meters! This temple is also located just across the Grand Palace and is also well known to be Thailand’s first university. Wat pho is also well known to be a center for teaching and training traditional Thai Massage. So if you happen to be in the old city of Bangkok, you won’t miss this marvel.
Wat Arun
Just across the Grand Palace and Wat Pho is Wat Arun or called “temple of dawn”. Sitting at the foot of the chao phraya river, this temple has a porcelain encrusted central pagoda that sparkles when hit by the sun. This temple is easily accessible by ferry boat from the saphan thaksin BTS station. Wat arun is also one of the most picturesque temples to see in Bangkok when across the river during the sunset or at night so better get your cameras ready and look for a really nice spot!
Wat Traimit
Wat Traimit in Chinatown is home to one of the most unique Buddhas I ever seen in Thailand. The Golden Buddha is the world’s largest solid gold statue that weighs 5,500 Kilogram and sculpted during the 1238-1583 CE! Legend has it that this Buddha was plastered over with stucco to hide it from the pillaging Burmese army during the 1700’s and was later found at Wat Traimit. Currently the price of this solid gold Buddha is belieed to be about $300 million dollar but the historical value incalculable.
Wat Phra Kaeo
The temple of the emerald Buddha inside the Grand Palace is known to have one of Thailand highly detailed architectural features on a Temple. It is also home to a treasure of Thai Arts. Entrance fee cost 500 THB for both Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaeo but unfortunately, we were not able to visit the grand palace because we were taken in for a ride by some tuktuk scammer which led us to a hidden gem below.
Wat Intarawihan
Although we got scammed by a tuktuk thinking that the palace was closed etc for a holiday, and we went to several tailor shops and jewelers around the city, Wat Intarawihan is one of the places the tuktuk led us to. We arrived at the place during the nighttime and a huge 32-meter high Buddha pops out over the horizon. This temple was built around the 14th or 15th century and worth visiting as well.
These are just the few temples where we recommend to go to in Bangkok. There are other temples as well to avoid the crowds but that would be on a different article already. A word of advice is to really be cautious about scams so that it won’t waste your time and convenience. One can really see the beauty of Thai culture and their religion thru observing them on these sacred places.
Let us know what you think or if you have other temples to see in Bangkok or suggest by commenting below or share this with your friends who are planning to go to Bangkok!
