Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha)
Houses the world's largest solid-gold Buddha (5.5 tonnes), rediscovered by accident when a plaster casing cracked.
- Category
- Temples (Wat)
- Entrance fee
- ~40 THB for the Buddha hall; ~100 THB incl. museum (as of 2026, confirm locally)
- Hours
- Daily ~08:00-17:00 (confirm locally)
- Best time
- Morning, then explore Yaowarat (Chinatown) street food by evening.
- Time needed
- 45-60 minutes
About Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha)
A quick stop but a memorable one. Wat Traimit holds the world's largest solid-gold Buddha, and the backstory is the hook: it spent years hidden under a plaster casing until the casing cracked and revealed the gold beneath. Standing in front of five and a half tonnes of solid gold is worth the short detour.
It sits right at the gateway to Chinatown, so the smart move is to treat it as the opening act. See the Buddha in the morning, then work Yaowarat Road into your evening for one of Bangkok's best street-food crawls.
You won't need long here, under an hour covers it, which makes it easy to slot into a bigger Chinatown day.
Highlights
- The world's largest solid-gold Buddha at 5.5 tonnes
- The accidental-discovery story when the plaster cracked
- An optional small museum on site
- Its position right at the entrance to Chinatown
Tips
- Keep it short, under an hour is plenty
- Pair it with a Yaowarat Road street-food walk in the evening
- MRT Wat Mangkon or Hua Lamphong are both a short walk away
- Pay the small extra fee for the museum if you want the fuller story
How to get there
MRT to Wat Mangkon or Hua Lamphong, ~5-10 min walk; at the gateway to Chinatown.