Phuket Temples and Shrines
Hey, this is Thailand you know! It's not just Bangkok that has temples, though the Grand Palace and Wat Pho are pretty hard to beat. Phuket has many Buddhist Temples and if you want to see more than just a beach, get a taste of local life, a temple is a good place to start. The largest is Wat Chalong, which can be quite busy with locals and tourists, but every area has it's own small temple if you want more of a local flavour and a bit of history. In Kathu village close to where I live you find a Wat and a Chinese shrine. There are temples near all the main beaches too. My mission - to blog all the Buddhist temples in Phuket ... eventually... and the Chinese shrines... and maybe the mosques too!
Thalang Area
Thalang is a town right in the center of Phuket island, not near the beach, and was once the seat of government. In 1785, the people of Phuket rallied at Thalang to fight off a Burmese invasion, a date that lives long in the history of Phuket. Wat Phra Nang Sang was built on the battleground and a yearly festival celebrates the event. The Thalang area has some large and important historic temples...
(above) Buddha images at Wat Phra Tong
(above) reclining Buddha at Wat Sri Sunthorn
• Wat Phra Thong
• Wat Sri Sunthorn
• Wat Phra Nang Sang
• Wat Tha Reua Temple
Chalong Area
Wat Chalong is the largest temple in Phuket and the most visited. In the same area are other smaller local temples, not all blogged yet! I pass Chalong temple almost every day. It looks especially nice in the early morning.
• Chalong Temple (Wat Chalong)
• Wat Luang Pu Supha
• Wat Ladthiwanaram
And of course there's the Phuket Big Buddha which is also near Chalong sitting 400m above sea level. Not exactly a temple, but certainly a site of pilgrimage and a place to say prayers to the 4 winds.
(above) The Big Buddha, still not quite ready in 2012. But great anyway!
Temples near the beaches
Most of the beach areas of Phuket also have older local communities even if the old way of life has largely been swamped by tourism. Before tourism hit Phuket, hardly anyone lived by the beach except fishing families. If you get off the beach and look on the back roads you can find the older areas, and that's where you find the temples. More to come - it took me ages to go take some photos of Karon and Kata temples, even though they're just down the road from my work! I still want to blog a very nice one up near Nai Yang Beach.
• Nai Harn Temple
• Karon Temple
• Patong Temple
• Kamala Temple
• Kata Temple
• Wat Sawang Arom (Rawai)
Local Temples
All over Phuket, in every village or tambon you will find a temple. I like the feel of the local temples. Every one has it's little differences and they are little havens of peace away from daily life.
• Wat Kathu Temple
• Wat Khao Rang
• Wat Sapam
• Koh Sirey Temple
• Ket Ho Temple
• Sam Kong Temple
• Wat Kosit Wiharn
• Wat Thep Nimit
• Naka Temple
• Wat Manik
• Wat Mongkhon Nimit (in old part of Phuket Town)
• Wat Vichit Sangkaram (Phuket Town)
(above) Monk at Sam Kong Temple on the edge of Phuket Town
Chinese Shrines
Many Chinese shrines are important during the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival which has been a Phuket tradition since 1825. There are many more than those listed below, mostly in and around Phuket Town - I must get them blogged sometime!
• Shrine on Patong Hill
• Kathu Village Shrine - More of Kathu Shrine
• Sam Kong Shrine
• Jui Tui Shrine
• Shrine of the Serene Light
• Tha Reua Shrine
(above) at Kathu Chinese Shrine
Temples not in Phuket
Of course all of Thailand is a temple. Now and then we might visit a temple that is not in Phuket. We have stopped several times at Wat Suwan Kuha in Phang Nga province. Big reclining Buddha in a cave, monkeys, well worth a visit! And in Phang Nga town is Wat Thamtapan, a very odd place!
• Wat Bang Riang
• Wat Suwan Kuha
• Wat Thamtapan
The Phuket temples featured so far are all Buddhist / Chinese. I should point out that Phuket has a sizeable Muslim population (around 30%), and there are several quite large mosques around the island. There is also at least 1 Catholic church (in Phuket town). There's a street in Phuket Town that features a mosque, church and chinese shrine! There's also a Hindu temple and a Sikh Gurdwara almost next to each other in Phuket Town. In Phuket the different religions and beliefs mix together without any problems, a good example for the rest of the world...
Phuket Temples - Map
View Phuket Temples in a larger map
Phuket Chinese Shrines - Map
View Phuket Chinese Shrines in a larger map
Thalang Area
Thalang is a town right in the center of Phuket island, not near the beach, and was once the seat of government. In 1785, the people of Phuket rallied at Thalang to fight off a Burmese invasion, a date that lives long in the history of Phuket. Wat Phra Nang Sang was built on the battleground and a yearly festival celebrates the event. The Thalang area has some large and important historic temples...
(above) Buddha images at Wat Phra Tong
(above) reclining Buddha at Wat Sri Sunthorn
• Wat Phra Thong
• Wat Sri Sunthorn
• Wat Phra Nang Sang
• Wat Tha Reua Temple
Chalong Area
Wat Chalong is the largest temple in Phuket and the most visited. In the same area are other smaller local temples, not all blogged yet! I pass Chalong temple almost every day. It looks especially nice in the early morning.
• Chalong Temple (Wat Chalong)
• Wat Luang Pu Supha
• Wat Ladthiwanaram
And of course there's the Phuket Big Buddha which is also near Chalong sitting 400m above sea level. Not exactly a temple, but certainly a site of pilgrimage and a place to say prayers to the 4 winds.
(above) The Big Buddha, still not quite ready in 2012. But great anyway!
Temples near the beaches
Most of the beach areas of Phuket also have older local communities even if the old way of life has largely been swamped by tourism. Before tourism hit Phuket, hardly anyone lived by the beach except fishing families. If you get off the beach and look on the back roads you can find the older areas, and that's where you find the temples. More to come - it took me ages to go take some photos of Karon and Kata temples, even though they're just down the road from my work! I still want to blog a very nice one up near Nai Yang Beach.
• Nai Harn Temple
• Karon Temple
• Patong Temple
• Kamala Temple
• Kata Temple
• Wat Sawang Arom (Rawai)
Local Temples
All over Phuket, in every village or tambon you will find a temple. I like the feel of the local temples. Every one has it's little differences and they are little havens of peace away from daily life.
• Wat Kathu Temple
• Wat Khao Rang
• Wat Sapam
• Koh Sirey Temple
• Ket Ho Temple
• Sam Kong Temple
• Wat Kosit Wiharn
• Wat Thep Nimit
• Naka Temple
• Wat Manik
• Wat Mongkhon Nimit (in old part of Phuket Town)
• Wat Vichit Sangkaram (Phuket Town)
(above) Monk at Sam Kong Temple on the edge of Phuket Town
Chinese Shrines
Many Chinese shrines are important during the annual Phuket Vegetarian Festival which has been a Phuket tradition since 1825. There are many more than those listed below, mostly in and around Phuket Town - I must get them blogged sometime!
• Shrine on Patong Hill
• Kathu Village Shrine - More of Kathu Shrine
• Sam Kong Shrine
• Jui Tui Shrine
• Shrine of the Serene Light
• Tha Reua Shrine
(above) at Kathu Chinese Shrine
Temples not in Phuket
Of course all of Thailand is a temple. Now and then we might visit a temple that is not in Phuket. We have stopped several times at Wat Suwan Kuha in Phang Nga province. Big reclining Buddha in a cave, monkeys, well worth a visit! And in Phang Nga town is Wat Thamtapan, a very odd place!
• Wat Bang Riang
• Wat Suwan Kuha
• Wat Thamtapan
The Phuket temples featured so far are all Buddhist / Chinese. I should point out that Phuket has a sizeable Muslim population (around 30%), and there are several quite large mosques around the island. There is also at least 1 Catholic church (in Phuket town). There's a street in Phuket Town that features a mosque, church and chinese shrine! There's also a Hindu temple and a Sikh Gurdwara almost next to each other in Phuket Town. In Phuket the different religions and beliefs mix together without any problems, a good example for the rest of the world...
Phuket Temples - Map
View Phuket Temples in a larger map
Phuket Chinese Shrines - Map
View Phuket Chinese Shrines in a larger map
Phuket Temples and Shrines | Jamie's Phuket Blog
Comments on Phuket Temples and Shrines
Please do add your comment or ask a question
Jamie
Have you been to the Wat in Cherng Talay, near Lady Pie? I just went there today to look around. There are really beautiful murals painted on the outside, but it was closed so we couldn't go in. I can't find too much information about this wat. Just wondering if you have come across anything about it. I am going to blog about it.
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Wat Cherng Talay is one of those I have not blogged. Just visited Wat Tha Reua a couple of weeks ago which will be blogged sometime - north of the Heroines monument on main road. I do recall stopping at Cherng Talay temple one time and I do have a photo or two somewhere. Hard to find any info on local temples, they just serve the local community. Always nice to visit a small local temple.
hi jamie. ive recently been to phuket and came across some kind of temple, but i cant find any info about this site. i was wondering maybe uve been there? we started walking up 4025 from surin beach, and at a point where the road turned to the left, (mabye 30mins from the beach?) on the right there was this entrance to what seemed like a temple. but the place seemed derelict, with sum strange statues around. on the map i found wat anamai kasem, but the pictures i found on internet are not like what we saw there, maybe we entered d site from sum back entrance and only reached the abandoned area not the main area? hope u might have sum info.
thanks
Mel
Hi Mel, I can eee the place you are talking about on Google Earth, it's not Wat Anamai Kasem.. the place you seem to have visited is closer to the beach just where the road does a sharp turn to the left. I don't know what temple that would be, sorry. Did you take any photos Are these photos online?