★★★Must-see·Temple
Wat Pho
วัดโพธิ์
The reclining Buddha and the historic home of Thai massage.
The temple of the Reclining Buddha — forty-six meters of gilded serenity with mother-of-pearl soles — and the historic centre of Thai traditional massage, still taught and practiced on-site. Beyond the famous statue lie courtyards of chedis in crackled porcelain and a resident cat population of local renown. Go at opening or near closing; the massage pavilion takes walk-ins and is worth the queue.
Diego Delso CC BY-SA 3.0 · Diego Delso CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized · tap to enlarge
Visiting
- Open
- daily · 08:00–19:30
- Entry
- ฿300
- Dress
- No shorts above the knee; trousers OK; remove shoes in halls (official)
- Allow
- 1–1.5 h
Checked 10 Oct 2026 against watpho.com, openstreetmap.org, commons.wikimedia.org. Things change: closures for royal ceremonies and holidays are common.
By train
- Sanam Chai (MRT BL31) · Exit 1 — Exit 1 is in front of Museum Siam. Turn left and walk about 300 m along Sanam Chai Rd (MRT). By river: Tha Tien pier (N8).
Exits from metro.bemplc.co.th, th.wikipedia.org, openstreetmap.org · checked Oct 2026
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.
watpho.com · verified against Wikidata Q1059910
Getting there
- Sanam Chai·MRT Blue Line~5 min walk
- Tha Tien·Cross-river ferries~5 min walk
- Tha Tien·Chao Phraya Express Boat~6 min walk
- Rajinee·Chao Phraya Express Boat~9 min walk
Typical times, not a timetable · rail, boat and BRT routing runs right in the atlas.
While you're here
- Museum Siam·Museum~4 min walk
- Tha Tien Pier·River pier~5 min walk
- Grand Palace·Palace~7 min walk
- Saranrom Park·Park~6 min walk
The neighbourhood
Wat Pho sits in Old Town · Rattanakosin — Where Bangkok began.