Most Beautiful Temples in Thailand

The Temple of the Emerald Buddha — Thailand's holiest site, a blaze of gold and glass mosaic in the Grand Palace.

The Temple of Dawn's porcelain-encrusted prang over the Chao Phraya — Bangkok's most photographed silhouette.

Wat Pho: the 46-meter Reclining Buddha, a forest of chedis, and the home of Thai massage.

The White Temple — Chalermchai Kositpipat's blinding, surreal masterpiece outside Chiang Rai.

The golden mountain chedi above Chiang Mai — 306 naga-flanked steps to the north's defining view.

The Blue Temple — sapphire walls and a luminous white Buddha, Chiang Rai's other modern marvel.

Ayutthaya's riverside Khmer-style ruin at sunset — the old capital's most cinematic silhouette.

Home of the Buddha head embraced by banyan roots — the icon of ruined Ayutthaya.

Three aligned bell chedis on the royal palace grounds — the model for Bangkok's Wat Phra Kaew.

A climbable great chedi ringed by saffron-draped Buddhas — Ayutthaya's most alive ruin.

The half-fallen royal chedi at Chiang Mai's heart — monumental even in ruin.

Lanna architecture at its finest — gilded viharns and the revered Phra Singh Buddha.

The jungle monastery on the Monk's Trail — mossy stone, waterfalls, and hushed forest calm.

A hillside city of gold and teak in Mae Taeng — the north's most extravagant temple complex.

The Marble Temple — Carrara stone, symmetry, and the serene face on the five-baht coin.

The Golden Mount — 344 steps spiralling to a gilded chedi above old Bangkok's rooftops.

The emerald-glass chedi ceiling and 69-meter bronze Buddha — Thonburi's modern wonder.

Tiger Cave Temple — 1,260 steps to a summit Buddha with Krabi's karst spread below.

The 18-arm Guanyin rising from a lake of fish — Samui's most striking temple tableau.

Phuket's grandest and busiest wat — a triple-tiered chedi holding a relic of the Buddha.