Wat Trai Mit Witthayaram Worawihan
661 ถ. เจริญกรุง Talat Noi, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100
Wat Trai Mit earns its place among Bangkok's most rewarding temple visits because every layer of the complex rewards curiosity. The golden Buddha itself is breathtaking in scale and radiance. The museum on the third floor tells the full discovery story with genuine care, and the ground-floor Chinatown Heritage Centre traces the immigrant history that built this entire district.
Wat Trai Mit Witthayaram Worawihan sits at the western gateway of Bangkok's Chinatown on Charoen Krung Road in the Talat Noi sub-district of Samphanthawong. It is formally known as the Temple of the Golden Buddha and houses Phra Phuttha Maha Suwanna Patimakon, the world's largest solid-gold Buddha statue.
The statue stands three metres tall and weighs 5.5 tonnes of solid gold, crafted using the traditional lost-wax technique with gold thickness ranging from one to 1.5 centimetres. Art historians trace its origins to the Sukhothai period, placing its creation between the 13th and 15th centuries. During the Rattanakosin period, as thousands of Buddha images were being relocated to Bangkok under King Rama III, the statue was installed in a local temple still entirely encased in a layer of stucco and coloured glass, concealing its true nature.
The statue remained unrecognised as anything extraordinary for nearly 200 years, residing in what was considered a minor pagoda. In 1955, during relocation works, the outer plaster cracked and workers discovered the gleaming gold beneath. The discovery prompted the statue's transfer to its current specially built Mondop building at Wat Trai Mit, completed in 2007 and inaugurated in 2010.
The four-storey Mondop building structures the visitor experience by floor. The ground floor contains the Chinatown Heritage Centre, which documents the history of Chinese immigration to Bangkok and the community that built Yaowarat into the thriving district it remains today. The second floor provides access to the main prayer hall. The third floor houses the Golden Buddha Museum, presenting the full story of the statue's creation, concealment, and discovery through bilingual displays. The fourth floor enshrines the golden statue itself.
Admission fees are charged separately for the Golden Buddha chamber and the museum. The temple is open daily from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Modest dress covering shoulders and knees is required, with sarong wraps available at the entrance. MRT Hua Lamphong (Blue Line, Exit 1) places visitors at the start of a short walk through the Chinatown streetscape to reach the temple gates.