★★Worth it·Forest temple at Siam
Wat Pathum Wanaram
วัดปทุมวนาราม
A royal forest temple wedged between Siam Paragon and CentralWorld — monks chanting sixty seconds from the escalators. The instant escape hatch of the shopping core.
The forest-monastery calm between two megamalls is no accident: the temple predates them by 140 years. On 19 May 2010, as that year's protests were cleared, six people sheltering inside its walls were shot dead, a history locals carry quietly.
Sven.petersen CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized · tap to enlarge
Visiting
- Open
- daily
- Entry
- FreeNo ticket; donations optional
- Dress
- Shoulders and knees covered
- Allow
- 30 min
No official opening hours published — check on the day.
Checked 10 Oct 2026 against openstreetmap.org, commons.wikimedia.org, phuket101.net, yourthaiguide.com. Things change: closures for royal ceremonies and holidays are common.
Visiting a temple
- Shoulders and knees covered, for everyone. Sarongs are usually available at the gate, sometimes for a small deposit.
- Shoes come off before you step into an ordination hall — watch what everyone else is doing at the threshold.
- Most compounds open early, around 08:00, and close by 17:00–18:00; the major ones charge foreign visitors a small entry fee.
- Early morning is cooler, quieter and far better light than midday.
Check current entry fee and today's closing time when you arrive — we have no verified official site for this one.
Getting there
- Siam·BTS Sukhumvit Line~4 min walk
- Siam·BTS Silom Line~4 min walk
- Chit Lom·BTS Sukhumvit Line~11 min walk
- Pratunam·Khlong Saen Saep Boat~11 min walk
Typical times, not a timetable · rail, boat and BRT routing runs right in the atlas.
While you're here
- Siam Paragon·Flagship mall~4 min walk
- SEA LIFE Bangkok·Aquarium~4 min walk
- CentralWorld·City-block mall~5 min walk
- Erawan Shrine·Shrine~7 min walk
The neighbourhood
Wat Pathum Wanaram sits in Siam & Pathumwan — The retail heart of Thailand.