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Fourteen Incredibly Unique Temples in Thailand

So you’ve been to Thailand before and you’ve done the obligatory first-time-temple-tour. Or you have read about them. And you are left with something of a feeling that when you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.

And with close to something like 40,000 Buddhist or Buddhist-related temples in Thailand, it can get to the point for many tourists that lots of them start to seem rather similar in appearance. This may have something to do with the fact that visitors who undertake any kind of guided tour may often end up seeing up to 9 temples in one day, and eventually they all start to blur into each other.

But not all Thai temples are the same.

And you don’t have to be a connoisseur, SE Asian expert, a Buddhist, or a spiritual Thai culture lover to notice and admire the skill of the design and the innovation behind some of the more unique structures – of which there are way more than you could imagine dotted up and down the country.

Some of them are well-known and easy enough to reach. But there are others way more off the beaten track that even many natives have never heard of, and these tend to require a bit more effort to visit.

There are in fact many unusual and amazing temples across the land in Thailand. For some of them it may be due to some natural phenomena or occurrence, while for others it is most definitely by design.

So let’s have a closer look at some of the Thai temples that are anything but ordinary, and are much closer to being incredibly unique.

Wat Ban Rai – The Elephant and Turtle Temple (Nakhon Ratchasima)

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This unique temple in north-eastern Thailand is shaped as its name suggests. It is a shrine in the water that looks like an elephant from the ground, although it actually looks more like a turtle when viewed from above.

The structure features millions of pieces of ceramic mosaic tiles in an innovative and clever design. When you approach you will notice the elephants head sticking out of what is largely a turtle-shaped building positioned in the middle of a large lake, connected to the land and accessible by a bridge.

Wat Pa Dong Rai — The Lotus Flower Temple (Udon Thani)

This unique temple in Thailand’s north-eastern province of Udon Thani is a recent addition and resembles a Lotus Flower. The temple was finished in 2019 and has various features that highlight the architect’s attention to attention to detail.

The large, lotus-shaped structure features large glass windows that have the appearance of petals, and various murals with images related to the life and teachings of the Buddha. The temple is close to another nearby attraction in the form of the Ban Chiang National Museum which is why many visitors to the region combine a trip to both of these local landmarks.

Wat Pa Phu Kon — The Colourful Temple on the Hill (Udon Thani)

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This unique and strikingly-picturesque Thai temple is located in quite a remote spot Na Yung Nam Som National Forest Reserve in Udon Thani.

The fact that it is high up on a hill means it isn’t exactly that easy for everyone to get to unless they have their own transport. If you are in the vicinity of the Udon Thani it is well worth checking out though and this is a serene place actually ideal for getting some peaceful time or practicing meditation.

The interior of the temple is just as impressive as the exterior and contains a 20-metre long Reclining Buddha made from marble, along with some spectacular decorations depicting aspects of the Buddha’s life. The highest orb of the chedi is said to contain relics related to the Buddha.

The temple is open daily between 8.30 am and 5.00 pm.

Wat Niwet Thamprawat — The Church Temple (Ayutthaya)

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Wat Niwet Thammaprawat is a Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya that is the only wat in Thailand rather surprisingly designed to look more like a Western church, if not a cathedral.

The design of this temple had something to do with King Rama V’s interest in European architecture. The temple is located near to Bang Pa-In Palace in Ayutthaya. To add yet a touch more of the unorthodox, an old-fashioned cable car brings visitors across the Chao Phraya River to the temple.

Wat Yannawa — The Boat Temple (Bangkok)

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Wat Yannawa is one of Bangkok’s many temples not necessarily that well-known with visitors to the city, despite the fact that it resembles a boat. Which is handy as it is located along the banks of the Chao Phraya River, not too far from the Saphan Taksin BTS Skytrain Station.

This is one of the capital’s more unusual and unique temples in that it has a boat-shaped shrine hall, and the chedis are designed to look like masts. The temple was constructed during the reign of King Rama III who apparently commissioned the design with the idea of reminding future generations of the important role of traditional Chinese-style junk boats in the relocation and development of the new capital.

Wat Saen Suk — The Hell Temple

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It’s true that many Buddhist temples feature serene Buddha images and heavenly beings engaged in the practice of bathing in the eternal harmony and still tranquillity of nirvana. However, this isn’t the case Wat Saen Suk located in Bang Saen in the Chonburi province,

This is a ‘hell temple’ in that it uses sculptures to depict the carnage and torture awaiting anyone not fully adhering to the tenets of a moral life. Thai Buddhists believe in reincarnation, which includes a period between death and being reborn. This is when the unwitting soul temporarily resides in either a heavenly location or a hell-like place, according to the way they lived their life. There are actually a few more hell temples around Thailand, but this one is the biggest and most well-known.

Wat Larn Kuad — The Million Bottle Temple (Si Saket)

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This unique temple is in the north-eastern Si Saket region of Thailand is known formally as Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaeo. It is more commonly-known as Wat Larn Kuad though, which translates as ‘million bottle temple’, and relates to the fact that more than a million bottles were used to decorate the temple buildings.

The bottles were recycled, and most of the glass used is green and brown which are the main colours of the beer bottles in Thailand.

The bottles with caps were also used to create mosaics after the reported 2 years that it took to collect all the bottles. The main building along with other structures have been built using this unusual mode of decoration which has stretched to the crematorium, toilets, prayer rooms, and even the residences of the monks.

Wat Srisuphan — The Silver Temple (Chiang Mai)

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In the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, to the south of the Old Town, is located another unique and ancient temple.

Wat Srisuphan actually stands in a district that traditionally works with silver. The temple has been on this site in one form or another since the early 1500s, and as it stands today it has certainly undergone various renovations over the years.

The time was in 2004 when the temple got an overhaul by courtesy of the local silversmiths. This resulted in the main ordination hall ending up as a striking, silver-coloured structure, which is a sight to see – especially in the sunlight.

In actual fact the majority of the work was actually done using zinc and alloy, although some of the precious silver was used on and around many of the images inside.

Wat Rong Khun — The White Temple (Chiang Rai)

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The even further north region of Chiang Rai has a number of unique-looking temples with themes behind them, which turn out to be the handy work of a local artist known as Chalermchai Khositpipat.

This one known to most tourists as the white temple is full of various types of symbolism related to Buddhist and Thai lore. It is located quite close to the centre of Chiang Rai and it really is a striking temple that manages to combine both contemporary and classic design features.

Work first began on the White Temple in the late 1990s and is still ongoing in some respects, while the temple continues to beguile visitors to Chiang Rai.

Wat Rong Seua Ten — The Blue Temple (Chiang Rai)

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Wat Rong Seua Ten has a similar design style to the White Temple and was largely the work of a student of Chalermchai who was responsible for the former. The main difference is that this particular unique Thai temple s indeed blue.

Visitors are allowed to take photographs in here though (not in the White Temple) and the main hall features an elegant white Buddha image, while the walls and ceiling are covered in intricate artwork.

Wat Tham Seua — Tiger Cave Temple (Krabi)

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Wat Tham Seua is special in that it has a clifftop shrine built in honour of a tiger that apparently inhabited the cave that forms part of the temple grounds.

It is actually something of a walk to get to the summit, especially in the Krabi heat. There are more than 1,200 steps leading up the 600-metre high cliff, but it is worth it for the views over the landscape of Krabi.

Wat Samphran — The Dragon Temple (Nakhon Pathom)

Nakhon Pathom is about 30 minutes outside of Bangkok, and where you will find one of central Thailand’s most unique man-made attractions.

Wat Samphran is a large pink tower that is seemingly caught in the constricts of a huge dragon that has wrapped itself around the building that stands out for miles across the landscape.

The building was officially registered as a temple in the 1980s, and found additional notoriety for the wrong reasons in 2004 when a bunch of its monks apparently got up to no good and ended up being found guilty and imprisoned in 2004.

Needless to say there are different monks in the temple these days but there are reports that the building is not that well-maintained from the perspective of entertaining visitors, so it isn’t actually open to the public that much.

Wat Tilok Aram — The Temple on the Lake (Phayao)

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Phayao is a picturesque province in the upper northern regions of Thailand. It contains an equally scenic lake known as Kwan Phayao, which is where you will find the temple.

This is a manmade lake initially created almost 100 years ago as part of an irrigation project. The project turned out to be useful to the local community, but was it was also the cause of the loss of a number of buildings. This included the historic temple of Wat Tilok Aram dating back to the 15th century.

So a kind of substitute temple, by way of a floating platform and a Buddha image were placed directly over the site of the submerged ruins of the ancient temple. This remains a point of attraction for both local people and visitors alike.

Wat Thammikaram — Mirror Mountain (Prachuap Khiri Khan)

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Wat Thammikaram is located on a temple complex that is divided across two locations on different sides of the road. You will find it at the northern end of the beach in the scenic region of Prachuap Khiri Khan.

What makes this temple special is the panoramic views over Prachuap Khiri Khan from the top of the hill, as well as the dozens of monkeys that inhabit the area.

This temple is known locally as Khao Chong Krachok (Mirror Mountain), and a small temple and shrine sits at the top of the hill. You’ll need to address nearly 400 steps to get the best of the scenery, and if you do be sure to look out for any potentially thieving monkeys (especially if you are carrying food).

When you get back down the steps, there is another beautiful teak wood temple at Ao Noi to check out if you fancy it, just around the bay.