Bangkok City Tour – The Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha), Wat Trimitr & Wat Pho

With hundreds of temples across the city, it can be quite hard to choose which ones to visit while you are in Bangkok. Maybe you should start with the three of Bangkok’s most famous temples: Wat Pho, Wat Trimitr and Wat Arun, as well as a glance of the grandeur of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha). These are many must-sees in Bangkok for first-timers, and are located in Yaowarat area. Wat Trimitr (Temple of Golden Buddha) houses the world’s largest golden seated Buddha with a height about 5 meters and weight about 5.5 tons. The golden Buddha was once disguised and covered entirely by stucco and plaster to hide from invading Burmese armies for over 2 centuries, and revealed when it was dropped accidently. Today, visitors may see a beautiful solid gold Sukhothai style Buddha in Wat Trimitr, with pieces of the plaster are still kept on display.

Wat Pho (Temple of Reclining Buddha) is Bangkok’s oldest and largest temple that was established about 200 years before Bangkok become Thailand’s capital. Wat Pho houses more than a thousand Buddha images, most from the ruins of the former capitals Ayuthaya and Sukhothai, as well as housing the largest reclining Buddha image in Thailand. The impressive gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meter-long and 15 meter-high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana, with the feet and eyes engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and 108 auspicious characteristics of the true Buddha. There are also about 95 Chedis, four were constructed to honor the first 3 Chakri kings (two for King Rama III), and 91 other Chedis of varying sizes, along with chapels, rock gardens, statues, inscriptions, bell towers and homes of fortune tellers.

The Grand Palace (Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang) served as the official residence of the Thai Kings since 18th century. The Grand Palace was first established during the reign of King Rama I in 1782, when he decided to move the capital of Siam across the river from Thonburi on the west to Bangkok on the east of the Chao Phraya River. The Grand Palace was designed to be a complex of magnificent buildings, including the Royal home of the Thai King, the Royal court, the administrative seat of government, as well as Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha).

Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) is regarded as the most significant temple of Thailand, and is also one of the must-sees that one should not miss for their Thai travel. There is a distinctive contrast in style between the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, thou they are in the proximity. Wat Phra Kaew is a very traditional Thai temple, while the Grand Palace is designed in a European inspired style. Wat Phra Kaew contains the greatly revered Emerald Buddha that dates back to the 14th century. The robes on the Buddha are being changed with the seasons by the King of Thailand.