Important Wat of Thailand

Thailand has many Wat, a temple in the Thai language. Wat is much more than just a place of worship. Thai temple is much more than just a monastery. It influences life, culture and education and the Wat is very much a community center.

Temples in Bangkok and Thonburi - Temples are not typically the first thing which comes to mind when talking about a trip to Bangkok. Within this huge city there are over 430 temples though, which are very worthwhile to be visited. Wat Phra Kaew, the Royal Temple within the Palace, is the most important and most impressive one. It is also the one with the most tourists and, at least outside the temple, also the one with the most dubious characters who want to sell you things and who want to drive you onto a never-return shopping trip.

Temples in Central Thailand - Central Thailand is a huge area, which is often ignored by travelers. One of the reasons might be that it is not covered in many of the guide books, except for the major sights, of course. This might be a blessing on one side because the area has not changed too much by tourism or the (negative) influence of the west.

Temples in Northern Thailand - Thailand's North was our first trip with our own car. Thus independent from any public transportation and therefore without much interference with other tourists. Equipped with a huge variety of maps in Thai and English as well as information from the web we went mainly on small roads and highways and stopped at every place, which looked interesting.

Temples in Southern Thailand - There are more than 100 Buddhist temples in the Deep South but only a few monks, as many quit the monk hood due to fears for their safety. Militants now target their attacks on Buddhist monks and temples to deepen the religious divide in the region.

Temples in North Eastern Thailand - Isan is a special place. Something we never understood, as we consider temples as a place for Buddhists to gather and pray. Instead the Buddha images were locked away behind closed doors.

[Source from; chimburi.com]