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The gilded gables and stepped roofs of the Wihan Luang at dusk, with the gold spire of the chedi rising behind them on the right

Old city, Chiang Mai

Wat Phra Singh beyond the gold leaf

Founded around 1345, repaired and rebuilt hall by hall ever since. The gold is what you see first; the reasons to come lie further in.

Before you go

Our take: Worth it, as long as you keep most of your time for the small Wihan Lai Kham, south of the chedi, the gilded tower at the centre. That hall is the reason to come. The ticket is sold at the top of the steps of the Wihan Luang, the large hall facing the gate.

Best for
A first temple in the old city, and anyone curious about Lanna art without wanting a museum.
Skip if
You want a quiet temple. Wat Chiang Man, in the north-east corner of the old city, is usually much quieter.

Already at the gate? Start the route

Where
West end of Ratchadamnoen Road, inside the old city.2 Samlan Road. On Sundays the Walking Street market fills Ratchadamnoen Road, which leads to the temple gate.
Getting there
A little over 1 km west of Tha Phae Gate, straight along Ratchadamnoen Road: about 15 minutes on foot.A red songthaew (shared pick-up taxi) parked outside the temple on 22 October 2026 displayed a fare of 30 baht per person.
Ticket
50 baht for foreign visitors.Sold at the top of the Wihan Luang steps, the large hall facing the gate. It covered the whole compound on our visit, Wihan Lai Kham included.
Hours
We did not notice opening hours displayed during our visit on 22 October 2026.Hours published online disagree, so we do not give any. That day, the Wihan Lai Kham was still open just after 5 pm: an observation, not a closing time.
Time
45 minutes to an hour.About 30 minutes for the essentials: the Wihan Luang for the ticket, the chedi and the Wihan Lai Kham.
Dress
Shoulders and knees covered, for everyone.Shoes come off before each hall, not at the gate.

Checked on site on 22 October 2026.

The ticket, in detail. A sign at the gate asks foreign visitors to buy a ticket before entering "the entire area" and warns of a 2,000-baht fine. On our visit, the ticket bought at the Wihan Luang covered the rest of the compound. We did not see where tickets are checked after that, so keep yours with you.

Inside the halls, sit with your feet tucked behind you, never pointed at a Buddha image. We would not use flash in the Wihan Lai Kham: its murals are nineteenth-century paint. Ask before photographing anyone at prayer.

The temple was founded around 1345.

Nearly seven centuries old. So how old is what you are looking at?

A Thai temple is a site, not a single building: its halls are repaired and rebuilt for as long as people keep giving to it. At Wat Phra Singh the founding date is attached to the chedi, the relic tower at the centre: the chronicles date its first construction to around 1345. As they stand today, the Wihan Lai Kham and the Wihan Luang, the two halls most visitors come for, date from more than four centuries later.

  1. The gilded chedi in late-afternoon sun, its bell-shaped body rising from a square base

    c. 1345

    founded about 680 years ago, by the chronicles

    The chedi

    The chronicles say that, before any hall was built, a chedi was raised here around 1345 to hold the ashes of King Kham Fu, a ruler of Lanna, the old northern kingdom whose capital was Chiang Mai. What you see today is a gilded surface; no source we found says how much of that first chedi survives inside it.

    Date handed down by the chronicles

  2. Inside the Wihan Lai Kham: red pillars covered in gold stencil lead to the altar, with painted walls on either side

    early 1800s

    about 200 years

    Wihan Lai Kham

    The hall standing today is early nineteenth-century work. Chiang Mai, left almost empty for some twenty years, was resettled in 1796; the hall belongs to the decades that followed. Sources disagree on the exact years: one gives 1815 to 1821.

    Sources disagree

  3. The east front of the Wihan Luang, its gilded gable above three doorways, with a gold statue under a parasol in front

    1924–25

    about 100 years

    Wihan Luang

    Rebuilt under the monk Khruba Siwichai in reinforced concrete, in place of an older hall. The largest hall on the site is the most recent of the three buildings dated here.

    Recorded building work

The same dates on one line, from 1300 to today
  • c. 1345: First chedi built
  • early 1800s (one source: 1815–21): Wihan Lai Kham
  • 1924–25: Wihan Luang
  • 2026: Your visit

Two buildings are left off this line on purpose. For the ubosot (ordination hall) and the Ho Trai (scripture library), the sources we found give dates about three centuries apart, so we do not date them.

The route: five stops

In walking order from the main gate on the east side, ending back near it. The plan is a sketch, not to scale. Numbers are the five stops; letters are two optional ones, drawn in dotted lines.

On the annotated photos, tap or click a number, or read the list below each photo.

Sketch plan of Wat Phra Singh, not to scale North is up. The main gate is on the east side, at the end of Ratchadamnoen Road. 1, the Wihan Luang, is the large hall facing the gate. 2, the ubosot, stands just behind it, between the Wihan Luang and the chedi; its main door faces south. 3, the chedi, is at the centre of the compound. 4, the Wihan Lai Kham, is south of the chedi and faces east. 5, the Ho Trai library, is in the north-east corner, near the gate. Two optional stops are drawn in dotted lines west of the Wihan Lai Kham: A, the hall of the Reclining Buddha, to the north-west; B, a small hall guarded by two white lions, just to the west, whose name we have not confirmed. 12345AB Gate N
Sketch plan, not to scale. Positions from OpenStreetMap and our own visit.
A
Hall of the Reclining Buddha (optional)
B
Hall with two white lions, name not confirmed (optional)

  1. Wihan Luang

    The large hall facing the main gate (wihan: an assembly hall; luang: great). Buy your ticket at the top of the steps.

    A gilded naga serpent with an open, toothed mouth rising from the jaws of a makara at the foot of the Wihan Luang stairs, its scales inlaid with coloured glass

    Look closer: the stair rail

    1. The naga's head. A serpent spirit of the waters, crested and open-mouthed, guarding the way up.
    2. Coloured glass. Each scale is set with a piece of green, blue or red glass in a gilded frame.
    3. The makara. A water creature with a curled snout. The naga's body comes out of its open jaws: look for the makara's row of white teeth.
    Look for
    The stair rails: each naga serpent rises out of the open jaws of a makara. The annotated photo above shows what to look for.
    Why it matters
    This hall was rebuilt in 1924–25, the most recent of the dated buildings. Step in for the large seated Buddha at the far end, then move on: the older buildings are further in.

  2. Ubosot, the ordination hall

    Directly behind the Wihan Luang, between it and the chedi. Its main door faces south.

    The stepped roofs of the ubosot against a blue sky: small overlapping tiles, carved bargeboards ending in curls and gilded finials

    Look closer: a Lanna roof

    1. Finial. A gilded finial rises from the tip of each gable.
    2. Small overlapping tiles. Laid like scales, they give the roof its fine, even texture.
    3. Stepped roofs. The roof drops in tiers, each one lower than the one behind it.
    4. Carved bargeboards. The dark, notched boards along the roof edges end in a carved curl.
    Look for
    Inside, in a niche, a green Buddha image wearing a crown and jewels, in the manner of the Emerald Buddha, the country's most revered image, kept in Bangkok.
    Why it matters
    An ubosot is where monks are ordained, on ground marked out by boundary stones (sema). It was open when we visited. Sources disagree by about three centuries on when it was built.
    A green, crowned and jewelled seated Buddha image in a niche inside the ubosot
    Inside the ubosot. According to a Thai blog that reproduces this building's explanatory plaque, the ubosot holds a full-size replica of the Emerald Buddha; we could not confirm that it is this image.

  3. The chedi

    The gilded relic tower at the centre of the compound.

    The gilded chedi with gilded elephant figures along its base, a smaller chedi on the left and a row of bells in front
    Look for
    The gilded elephants standing along its base, and a smaller chedi beside it.
    Why it matters
    It marks where the temple began: the chronicles place a first chedi here around 1345, before any hall. Northern Thai tradition links each year of the twelve-year cycle to a pilgrimage chedi: this one is the chedi of people born in the Year of the Dragon.

  4. Wihan Lai Kham

    South of the chedi: the low hall with stepped roofs, facing east. It is named after its lai kham, gold leaf stencilled onto red lacquer.

    The front of the Wihan Lai Kham: stepped roofs edged in gold over a carved and gilded wooden gable, a white base, and naga stair rails flanked by stone guardian figures
    Look for
    Inside, the gold stencil on the pillars and the back wall, and two painted tales along the side walls.
    Why it matters
    This is the hall of the Phra Singh Buddha, the image carried through the city at Songkran, the Thai New Year. Its murals show nineteenth-century Lanna life: dress, hairstyles, children with water buffalo. Give it twenty minutes rather than three.

    Optional, before you head back: walk round to the west side of the Wihan Lai Kham. Just to the west is a small hall guarded by two white lions (B on the plan); we have not been able to confirm its name. A little further, to the north-west, is the hall of the Reclining Buddha, the Wihan Phra Phuttha Saiyat (A).

  5. Ho Trai, the scripture library

    On your way out, in the north-east corner near the gate.

    The Ho Trai library: a red wooden upper room on a masonry base decorated with stucco figures, itself raised on a tall plinth

    Look closer: the library

    1. The wooden room. Red-painted wooden walls, set with round ornaments, enclose the room where the texts were kept.
    2. Stucco deities. Figures of deities, modelled in stucco, stand between the windows of the masonry base with their hands joined.
    3. The plinth. The base itself stands on a tall, plain plinth, well above the ground.
    Look for
    The deities modelled in stucco between the windows of the masonry base, standing with their hands joined.
    Why it matters
    Sacred texts were kept in a wooden room raised on a masonry base. Damp and insects are the usual reasons given for raising a library. For this one, the sources we found disagree on the date by about three centuries.

Three things to find before you leave

Three details worth looking for as you walk round.

  1. Children riding water buffalo in a river

    Where to look

    In the murals of the Wihan Lai Kham, among the daily-life scenes on the side walls.

  2. A palace and dragons drawn in gold on red

    Where to look

    On the back wall of the Wihan Lai Kham, in the gold stencil behind the altar.

  3. Two white lions guarding a doorway

    Where to look

    At the small hall just west of the Wihan Lai Kham (B on the plan).

The Phra Singh Buddha, three ways of telling it

The image that gives the temple its name is kept in the Wihan Lai Kham. Ask where it comes from and you get three answers. They do not agree, and this page keeps all three.

The legend. The image is said to have been made in Sri Lanka and to have reached the north after a long journey from kingdom to kingdom.

The chronicles. They place its arrival in Chiang Mai in the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century; depending on the source, you will read 1367, 1388, 1400 or 1407. The temple, until then Wat Li Chiang Phra, took the image's name.

The art historians. For them, the bronze is Lanna work, very probably made in the north. According to the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, its head is a replacement: the original was cut off in 1922. Two other images, in Bangkok and in Nakhon Si Thammarat, also claim to be the original Phra Singh.

Whichever version you follow, the image remains at the centre of the city's life. At Songkran, the Thai New Year in mid-April, the image is taken out of the hall on 13 April and carried in procession through Chiang Mai, and people pour water over it to honour it.

Sources place the Phra Singh at the centre of the back wall of the Wihan Lai Kham, among several images. On our visit we could not confirm which one it is, so no photo on this page is labelled as the Phra Singh.

Reading the murals of the Wihan Lai Kham

The hall takes its name from lai kham, "gold pattern": gold leaf applied through a stencil onto red lacquer, which covers its pillars and back wall. The side walls are painted, and that is where people stop.

The murals tell two tales, Sang Thong (the Golden Conch) and Suwannahong (the Golden Swan), one on each side wall, facing each other. The sources we checked disagree on which tale is on which wall, so we do not say which is north and which is south. The paintings are attributed to two artists, Chek Seng and Nan Potha. According to the heritage database of the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, they were probably painted during the restoration of the hall in 1863; other sources simply place them in the nineteenth century.

The stories are the frame. Around them is Chiang Mai in the nineteenth century: how people dressed and wore their hair, scenes of everyday life, children riding water buffalo in a river. Stand back to find the story, then go close for the faces, without touching and without flash.

Mural detail: children lying on and riding water buffalo in a river while villagers watch from the bank
A daily-life scene from the Wihan Lai Kham murals: children and water buffalo in a river.

Then Wat Chedi Luang

About ten minutes on foot to the east. Here you have seen wood, lacquer and paint in a temple still in daily use. There, a brick chedi broken by an earthquake in the sixteenth century, whose top was never rebuilt. Seen one after the other, they explain more about Chiang Mai than either does alone.

Wat Chedi Luang: how to read the great chedi

How to recognise Lanna temple architecture

With a guide: the old city temple walk

See Wat Phra Singh on the map

Sources, and how we checked

The ticket, where to pay, the signs at the gate and what was open come from our visit on 22 October 2026, when the photographs of the temple on this page were taken. Distances and walking times are estimates from the map. Dress and etiquette are the usual rules for Thai temples. Opening hours published online disagree (we read 05:30 to 19:30, 06:00 to 18:00 and 08:00 to 17:00 in different guides), which is why we give none. History comes from the sources below, consulted in October 2026; where they disagree, this page says so.

Days out that go with this

See all 27 tours
A monk in orange robes photographing the teak roof of a Lanna temple in the old city of Chiang Mai

7 tours

Guided Temple Tours

Guided temple tours, from old city walks and Doi Suthep to full days beyond the walls.

Common questions

Do I have to pay to visit Wat Phra Singh?

Foreign visitors pay 50 baht. The ticket is sold at the top of the steps of the Wihan Luang, the large hall facing the gate, and covers the whole compound, the Wihan Lai Kham included. Price and arrangement as seen on 22 October 2026.

What are Wat Phra Singh's opening hours?

We did not notice opening hours displayed during our visit, and the hours published online disagree. On 22 October 2026 the Wihan Lai Kham was still open just after 5 pm, but that is one day's observation, not a timetable. Plan a daytime visit rather than counting on the halls after dusk.

How long does a visit take?

Between 45 minutes and an hour for the five stops on this page. With 30 minutes, buy the ticket at the Wihan Luang, then see the chedi and the Wihan Lai Kham.

What should I wear?

Shoulders and knees covered, men and women alike. Shoes come off before each hall, not at the gate.

Wat Phra Singh or Wat Chedi Luang, if I only have time for one?

Wat Phra Singh for Lanna woodwork and painting, Wat Chedi Luang for the monument. They are about ten minutes apart on foot, which is a good reason to see both.