Thailand Temples.A few things first, When you visit Thailand temples please be as respectful as you would entering Sunday church; dress nice if it’s not too hot and don't wear shoes inside the temple area itself.
Inside temple grounds are many strange activities to do (strange to a Westerner). I partook in some of the activities (just for fun as I am a Christian) like rubbing super thin gold flakes on a statue or shaking a can full of bamboo fortune sticks until "your fortune" falls out. Most of the temples are cheap if not free to enter, especially the ones in practice. The Buddhist temples (called wat) in Thailand are largely characterized by the tall golden stupas (pointed or tower part of temple) as you'll see in many of the images here. Laos and Cambodia also share similar designs as Thailand temples but many of those temples have rounded tops.
Starting with the most famous, striking beautiful, and easiest to reach Thailand temple: Wat Phra Kaew, in downtown Bangkok is not too far from Khaosan Road and Democracy monument. This temple is connected to the Grand Palace Bangkok.
This is probably what most outsiders’ vision Thailand as. It is nothing short of fantastic. It has around 100 glittering buildings with many points of interest. The grounds contain the temple of the Emerald Buddha, which The King of Thailand goes to change the robes thereof every season. The Emerald Buddha has quite a history with Burma as well and Thais highly regard this statue.
It's a real tourist spot with lots of picture taking. This temple is probably the best up kept and taken care of out of all Thailand temples. Thailand temple note: The reflection from the buildings and the open areas make for a very hot day so drink plenty of water. Don't listen to Thai scammers outside telling you things like, "the temple is closed today, come with me for another great temple." You can't take pictures of the Emerald Buddha but you can take pictures of just about everything else. Wat Pho next door is great temple to actually see the everyday happenings of a temple, especially in the morning.
Wat Phra Kaew and The Grand Palace Bangkok
Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is more of a kingdom ruin than a specific temple. It's located one hour north of Bangkok with many romantic rivers running nearby. The ruins are spread out over a large area as this used to be a city. This place is as relaxing as you can get. Many tourists such as myself go here but it's so big and open that you don't really notice people at all. Don't forget to see the Buddha head in the tree roots.
Plan on spending the whole day at Ayutthaya as there is much to see and you usually only go once. TripAdvisor's Ayutthaya Review
Chang Erawan Temple in Samut Prakan. Erawan (the three headed elephant deity) stands 15 storeys high and can be easily seen from the main road leading in. This is more like a museum than a temple, absolutely stunning and well worth 150 baht to get in. If you only want to see the grounds it's 50 baht which are very nice as well.
note: The traffic can be terrible anywhere near Samut Prakan as I have been witness to many times. Pattaya? Yes, even Pattaya has great temples. The picture of me and the Buddha on the home page is from a hill top temple in Pattaya.
Sanctuary of Truth Pattaya. Talk about attention to detail! This temple has countless hours of hand engraved wood work. Words cannot explain the awesomeness of this place. This Thailand temple is more of a tourist attraction than a practicing temple as you can do a variety of different things here like watch a show, go horse back riding, etc. and those things cost money. However, you must see this place. This temple has been under construction for 20 years and it may take another 20 to finish.
Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai. Built in the late 1300's, this is the most popular temple in Chiang Mai and it has a legend of a white elephant that goes with it. White elephants are sacred animals and very revered by Thais and the king. The temple is up on a mountain top with great views of the city. You have to walk quite a few stairs to get to the temple area but it is worth it (if you can’t walk you can take the tram). I really enjoyed the air here as it was very clean and refreshing. Fog can be present in the morning while you're on the hill top in the temple, how cool is that! I could spend all day here just looking at the mural paintings on the walls and the stories they tell, very nice.
Laen Phrom Thep Cape at Phuket.
Laen Phrom isn't so much a temple as it is a beautiful location on the southern tip of Phuket. I put this place here to show that Thais will build a shrine anywhere there is a beautiful location like a hill top or ocean view.
This cape reminds me of Hawaii and is very popular with the locals at sunset. If you’re in Phuket and you miss Cape Laen Phrom Thep, you basically missed Phuket.
Erawan Cave in Isan. This temple is located in the sparely populated Loei Province near the town of Wang Saphung in far Northern Thailand. Named Erawan because there are numerous locations around the cave that reminds one of the 3 headed elephant. There is a towering Buddha at the entrance to the cave. This is a practicing temple and very important to Thais. There are many steps to the cave entrance so be prepared for a small hike. This area has a similar look to Vietnam. There really are countless temples and shrines to be seen all over Thailand, last time I heard it was more than 20 thousand. The ones listed here are just a small sample. Sometimes the best Thailand temples are ones not even mentioned and hidden away somewhere. I saw many temples in Thailand but one of the best was back on a mountain side near a small town named Chaiyaphum, 3 hours North of Bangkok. I felt more in touch with nature here more than most other places but I could never explain to you how I even got there and even if I could, you probably wouldn't be able to find it anyway. However, there is one place on the web you could go if you’re really into Thailand temples and that's chimburi.com. They have one job and one job only, list Thailand temples and I haven't seen a more complete list anywhere. So explore and find your hidden Thailand temple.
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