Thailand's 10 Biggest Temples: Fees, Hours, Scale and Which Are Worth It
THE 1-MINUTE VERSION
The Grand Palace costs 500 baht and closes at 3:30pm. Wat Pho costs 300 and stays open to 6:30pm. If you only have one afternoon, that is the whole decision. Thailand has tens of thousands of temples and about ten that are worth planning around. This ranks them by what you actually see — a 46-metre reclining Buddha, 5.5 tonnes of solid gold, 344 steps to a view over the old city — with current fees and hours. The dress code is enforced at the gate, not suggested, and the most common way a temple visit goes wrong is a stranger telling you it is closed.
1. Fees and hours, current
| Temple | Fee | Hours | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Palace & Wat Phra Kaew | 500 THB | 8:30 – 15:30 | Largest complex. Emerald Buddha is 66cm of jade |
| Wat Pho | 300 THB | 8:00 – 18:30 | 46m reclining Buddha. 1,000+ Buddha images |
| Wat Arun | 200 THB | 8:30 – 18:00 | ~70m central prang. Climbable |
| Wat Saket (Golden Mount) | 100 THB | 7:30 – 19:00 | 344 steps to a 360° view |
| Wat Traimit | 100 THB + 100 museum | 8:00 – 17:00 | 5.5 tonnes of solid gold |
| Wat Benchamabophit | 100 THB | 8:00 – 17:30 | Carrara marble. On the 5 baht coin |
| Wat Suthat | 100 THB | 9:30 – 17:00 | Giant Swing. Tallest viharn in Bangkok |
Fees and hours change. Check before you go, especially the Grand Palace, which shuts earlier than every other attraction in the city and catches people out constantly.
2. The ranking: 10 temples, rated
01Wat Pho āļ§ัāļāđāļāļิ์★★★★★
The best single temple in Thailand. Go here first.
A 46-metre reclining Buddha covered in gold leaf, with mother-of-pearl inlay on the soles of the feet showing 108 auspicious symbols. It also holds the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand — over a thousand — and was effectively the country's first public university, with the medical and massage texts carved into the walls. The traditional massage school is still here. 300 baht, open until 6:30pm, and it rewards two hours.
02Wat Phra Kaew / Grand Palace āļ§ัāļāļāļĢāļ°āđāļ้āļ§★★★★★
The most important. Also the most crowded and the strictest.
The Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most sacred object. It is 66 centimetres tall, carved from jade rather than emerald, and photography inside is forbidden. The complex is enormous and every surface is decorated. 500 baht, closes at 3:30pm, and the dress code is enforced absolutely — no exposed shoulders, no clothing above the knee, no exceptions, for anyone.
03Wat Arun āļ§ัāļāļāļĢุāļ★★★★★
Climb it. Most visitors photograph it from across the river and leave.
The 70-metre central prang is covered in broken Chinese porcelain — ballast from trading ships, pressed into the plaster. You can climb partway up steep steps for a view over the river. Best light is late afternoon from the Wat Pho side, but being on it beats looking at it. 200 baht, reachable by cross-river ferry from Tha Tien for a few baht.
04Wat Traimit āļ§ัāļāđāļāļĢāļĄิāļāļĢ★★★★★
Five and a half tonnes of solid gold, and the story is better than the statue.
Three metres tall, 5.5 tonnes, cast in ten interlocking sections. It sat under plaster for roughly two hundred years — disguised to hide it from invaders — and nobody knew. In 1955 the ropes broke while it was being moved, the plaster cracked, and the gold underneath was visible. Guinness has valued the gold in the hundreds of millions. 100 baht, in Chinatown, MRT Wat Mangkon.
05Wat Saket, the Golden Mount āļ§ัāļāļŠāļĢāļ°āđāļāļĻ★★★★★
344 steps and the best free-feeling view in Bangkok.
An artificial hill with a golden chedi on top and a spiral staircase of 344 steps winding up through bells and trees. The 360-degree view over the old city is the payoff and it is genuinely worth the climb. 100 baht. Go late afternoon. The November festival wraps the whole mount in red cloth.
06Wat Benchamabophit āļ§ัāļāđāļāļāļāļĄāļāļิāļāļĢ★★★★☆
The Marble Temple. Quiet, and on your change.
Built from Italian Carrara marble, which no other Thai temple uses at this scale. It appears on the Thai 5 baht coin. The courtyard holds 52 Buddha images in different regional styles, which is the most efficient lesson in Thai Buddhist art available anywhere. Far fewer visitors than the big three.
07Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing āļ§ัāļāļŠุāļัāļĻāļ์★★★★☆
Bangkok's tallest viharn, and almost empty.
A huge hall, enormous Buddha, and murals that repay standing still. The red Giant Swing out front was used in a Brahmin ceremony that was banned after too many deaths. Central, cheap, and usually calm.
08Wat Pak Nam āļ§ัāļāļāļēāļāļ้āļģ★★★★☆
The green glass dome everyone posts and few visit.
A vast emerald-glass stupa ceiling above a crystal pagoda, in Phasi Charoen away from the tourist circuit. Free. It photographs spectacularly and the trip out filters the crowds.
09Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple āļ§ัāļāļĢ่āļāļāļุ่āļ★★★★★
Chiang Rai, not Bangkok, and worth the flight.
A contemporary artist's temple in blinding white with mirrored glass, reached across a bridge over reaching hands. Not ancient and not conventional — the murals include modern imagery. If you go north, this is the single most striking building in Thailand.
10Wat Chedi Luang āļ§ัāļāđāļāļีāļĒ์āļŦāļĨāļ§āļ★★★★☆
Chiang Mai. A ruin, which is the point.
A 14th-century chedi, partly collapsed by earthquake and never fully rebuilt. It housed the Emerald Buddha for most of a century before it went to Bangkok. Deliberately unrestored, which makes it feel older than anything in the capital.
3. The dress code, and what actually gets you turned away
This is enforced at the gate by staff whose job it is. Arguing does not work.
Shoulders covered. No vests, no tank tops, no spaghetti straps. Applies to men.
Knees covered. No shorts, no short skirts. Applies to men.
No see-through fabric, no ripped jeans with holes at the knee, no leggings as trousers at the Grand Palace.
Shoes off before entering any building with a Buddha image. Socks are fine. Carry your shoes or leave them at the rack.
Never point your feet at a Buddha image. Sit with your legs tucked behind you. This is the one that offends.
Never climb on a Buddha image for a photo. People have been deported for this.
Women should not touch or hand anything directly to a monk. Place it down; he will pick it up.
The Grand Palace rents clothing. Everyone else does not.
The Grand Palace has a booth that will lend you a wrap or trousers with a deposit, and the queue for it is long and hot. Wearing appropriate clothes from the start costs you nothing and saves forty minutes. Carry a light scarf in your bag and you are covered anywhere.
The Grand Palace has a booth that will lend you a wrap or trousers with a deposit, and the queue for it is long and hot. Wearing appropriate clothes from the start costs you nothing and saves forty minutes. Carry a light scarf in your bag and you are covered anywhere.
4. The scam that ruins temple days
Someone official-looking, often near the Grand Palace gate, tells you the temple is closed today — a Buddhist holiday, a ceremony, a private event. They are friendly and they speak good English. They suggest a tuk-tuk tour of other temples instead, at a fixed low price.
The temple is not closed. The tour ends at a gem shop or a tailor, where you will be pressured hard. The driver is paid a commission for delivering you.
The rule: nobody standing outside a temple is authorised to tell you it is closed. Walk to the actual ticket window and look for yourself. Every time.
HOW TO SPEND YOUR TIME
One afternoon only: Wat Pho. Longer hours, cheaper, the best single thing to look at, and the massage school is there.
One full day: Grand Palace at opening, Wat Pho after lunch, cross-river ferry to Wat Arun for late light. Do them in that order or the Grand Palace will close on you.
You have seen the big three: Wat Saket for the climb and the view, Wat Traimit for the gold, Wat Benchamabophit for quiet.
Travelling with a photographer: Wat Pak Nam's glass dome and Wat Arun at golden hour.
Going north: Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai is unlike anything else in the country. Wat Chedi Luang in Chiang Mai for the opposite reason.
Dressed wrong and short of time: Wat Saket and Wat Traimit are far more relaxed than the Grand Palace. Still cover your shoulders.
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