In Thailand, there are thousands of Buddhist temples with architectural features, statues, ornaments and designs that make them unique. Local Buddhist temples are a token of tradition, respect, isolation and opulence. Tourism Review presents the most fascinating temples in Thailand worth visiting.
In the north of Thailand, in the mountain range that separates the country from Laos and Myanmar, there is the temple of Wat Rong Khun, the ‘White Temple’, a place where both Buddhists and Hindus gather to worship. This temple is not only incredible for its structure and design, but because the entire building is painted white.
The striking white color represents the purity of the Buddha, while the crystals that surround it represent his enlightenment.
After crossing the bridge to enter the temple and marvel at the art exhibition, one can begin to understand the path of sacrifice that must be walked to reach the state of nirvana.
This temple was opened to visitors in 1997, but it is still many years from being finished since it is expected to become a large compound of nine buildings.
The greatest attraction of the Wat Muang temple does not lie within its walls, but it is the gigantic 92-meter Buddha, the tallest statue in Thailand and ninth in the world. The temple is located at the foot of a hill in the Ang Thong province, in the central area of the country.
Made of concrete and painted gold, the smiling Buddha can be seen from miles away.
Every year, visitors walk the staircase and gather to touch the fingertips of the Buddha statue while admiring the enormous size of the sculpture.
If you could fly, you would appreciate the roofs of the different buildings of Wat Pa Phu Kon, a Buddhist temple as blue as the sky.
This is the most impressive temple in the Isan region, in the northwest of the country. It was built recently, between 2010 and 2013, at the request of a Buddhist monk who sought a way to protect the valuable forest after an ecological disaster in the 1980s.
In the central temple is the image of a reclining Buddha made of Carrara marble, surrounded by 22 images engraved in copper that portray various moments of his life.
In the Mukdahan province, to the northeast of the country, not far from the Mekong River, is the temple of Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom, where a giant 60-meter Buddha statue is found, with a total height of 84 meters from the base to the top.
It is certainly a sight, but visitors are mostly fascinated by the giant Naga statue: a 122-meter-long guardian snake that reaches 20 meters high, whose blue and green scales glisten in the sun.
Under the temple’s pedestal, which is still under construction, a replica of Buddha’s footprint made of sandstone is kept.
The last of the temples is a building that, while technically not a temple, it certainly deserves to be on this list since it is the tallest wooden construction in the country, and maybe even in the world.
The Sanctuary of Truth is located in Pattaya, on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand. The wooden construction is 100 meters high and, true to the Buddhist concept that everything is always changing, the sanctuary has been under construction for almost 40 years and continues as of 2021.
Visitors will find many figures from Thai, Indian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions, including mermaids, elephants, dragons, angels and demons.
The whole place is built using traditional techniques so nails were not used to hold the beams in place. The Chinese, Indian, Khmer and Thai ornaments create a fascinating religious syncretism in the architecture of the sanctuary.