Wat Traimit (Temple of the Golden Buddha)

Wat Traimit stands at the western end of Yaowarat, Bangkok's Chinatown, in Samphanthawong district, a short walk from Hua Lamphong station. Its full name is Wat Traimit Witthayaram Worawihan, and it is best known as the Temple of the Golden Buddha.

The temple probably dates from the early Bangkok period and was formerly called Wat Sam Chin, which oral tradition explains as the temple of three Chinese friends who founded it. Most of the old buildings were rebuilt in the 1930s and 1940s, and the temple received its present name in 1940. Traimit means three friends.

The Golden Buddha, Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon, is a seated image about 3 metres tall made of solid gold and weighing around 5.5 tonnes. It is in the Sukhothai style and is thought to date from the thirteenth or fourteenth century. At some point it was covered in plaster, probably to hide it from invaders, and its true material was forgotten. In 1955, while the statue was being moved to a new building, the plaster cracked and the gold beneath was revealed.

Since 2010 the statue has been housed on the top floor of the Phra Maha Mondop, a tall white marble building with a gilded roof. The floors below hold the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center, which tells the story of Chinese immigrants in Bangkok, and an exhibition on the history of the Golden Buddha.

The temple is open daily during the day. A ticket is charged for the Golden Buddha hall and a separate one for the exhibitions. Modest dress is required.

What does it cost to see the Golden Buddha? Foreign visitors pay about 40 baht to enter the hall on the top floor of the Phra Maha Mondop, and Thai nationals enter free. The Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center and the Golden Buddha exhibition on the lower floors charge about 100 baht more. The temple opens daily from about 8am to 5pm, and the museum floors are reported to close on Mondays, so plan museum visits for another day.

The heritage centre uses models, dioramas and short films to show how Teochew and other Chinese migrants arrived by junk, settled along the river and built Yaowarat into a trading district. It takes about 45 minutes and gives useful background before a walk through Chinatown.

Getting there and nearby. Hua Lamphong MRT station is about five minutes away on foot, and Wat Mangkon station, the stop for central Yaowarat, about ten. The Chinatown gate on Odeon Circle stands just outside the temple. From there, Yaowarat Road leads into the food stalls that open after dark, and Sampeng Lane, a narrow wholesale market, runs parallel to it. Visit the temple in the morning, when it is cooler and before tour groups arrive.