Suddenly Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen was all over my Instagram feed and I wondered where it was. It proved to be in Bangkok, which was weird, why have I not gone before? The answer was simple. The 69 meters Big Buddha had just been finished in 2021. Next time I was in Bangkok, this was on my bucket list, so here is how to get there and what to expect.
How to get there by MRT and BTS
The most direct route you can take to get to Wat Paknam is the MRT Blue Line and get off at Bang Phai station.
The other possibility is to board the BTS train on the Silom line and get off at Talat Phlu Station.
Both stations will take about a 15 minutes walk to the Big Buddha. Both ways also gives you great photo opportunities before reaching it.
If you do not want to walk, it is possible to take a short taxi ride by car or motorcycle from each train station. It will not take long and my guess is that it will cost under 50 Bath for the ride.
What route did I take?
I started my walk from Talat Phlu Station as I wanted to visit Soi Thoet Thai 26 first. There are so many great photo spots of the Big Buddha and I wanted to start with some of them before going to the Buddha itself.
At Soi Thoet Thai 26 you will be seperated from the Buddha by a small river where you can hire a traditional longtailboat. I personally did not do this and after I finished my little photo tour there I took a u-turn back up the street to cross the bridge to get over the river to Wat Paknam.
Though I must say I have seen others post the views from the boats and it loks amazing.
What to expect at the temple
The temple itself is not too crowded, but quite a lot of people were there mainly for photos the same day I went. Even if the Buddha is 69 meters tall it is not possible to enter it, but there is a Pagoda behind it which you can enter after taking off your shoes. This is an active temple, so there will be people praying there or working.
Dress code
When entering temples in Bangkok you have to dress appropriately. Temples do not allow you to enter if your knees or shoulders are exposed. Security will also often turn away people dressed in tight leggings or ripped up jeans, so be aware of this. If you are wearing shorts or a tank top, sarongs are often possible to rent by the entrance of temples. Of course if you are planning to just circle the photo spots of Wat Paknam you do not need to follow the dress code.
Make sure to walk around it
When you are in the temple and standing right in front of the Big Buddha you will really feel how gigantic it is. But to feel it and capture it is two different things.
To really capture the size I would circle it and throughly grab some photos from further away. The great thing is if you are walking the last parts to the temple you will see it from some distance anyway and it is no need to circle it like I did.
