Ang Thong Province (Gold Basin) is one of the small provinces of Thailand’s central region. It is located just over 100 kilometres along the Asian Highway from Bangkok. Situated on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, it has an area of only 968 square kilometres. Ang Thong Province lies on a large basin of sandy soil that receives much rain during the monsoon season. This is one of the world’s major rice and fruit-growing areas that has sustained many civilisations over millennia.

Religion plays a significant role in the life of Thai people. It is an important component of the society, the family and the community. It can be said that religion contributes greatly to Thai people’s characteristics of being calm, helpful, and forgiving. Today, there are 486 temples in Ang Thong Province and over 100 ruins of old temples. Most of the temples are from the Ayutthaya period and early Rattanakosin.

Wat Pa Mok Worawihan is located on the right bank of the Chao Phraya River. It is the most important monastery in Ang Thong. The town lies in the centre of the rich rice production. Within the enclosure of Wat Pa Mok is a large sala with a triple-tiered roof and a gable decorated with coloured glass mosaic, a wihan containing traces of mural paintings and another wihan approached by a pillared arcade, containing a colossal reclining Buddha image. According to the local legend, this statue was transported in 1724 from a riverside chapel that had been destroyed by flooding. A boat race festival is held each year to commemorate this event. In front of the wihan is a mondop containing the Footprint of the Buddha.

The age of the reclining Buddha image is unknown while the style of the sculpture, which might be from the 14^th or 15^th century, is inconclusive, as images made of such materials require frequent repairs. It has been said that the statue was not made at Wat Pa Mok, but appeared there ages ago, miraculously floating in the river. Despite its gigantic size, the statue was easily lifted up to the bank of the river.

However, the statue could have already been ancient during the reign of King Tai Sa (1709-33 AD) when its first reference was mentioned in the chronicles. At that time, the riverbank was being eroded by the current and the collapsing land was getting closer and closer to the statue, exposing it to an imminent danger of submerging into water. The King, upon being informed, consulted with his advisors and had the sacred Buddha statue relocated to a safer area.

In 1727 AD, the reclining Buddha, over 22.5 metres long, was moved to a new location and every part of the old decayed temple was carefully inspected, removed and cleared away. Ornamented gilded mouldings have been put in place on doors and windows, carefully fitted together to restore them to their former glory. This temple is surely one of the most fascinating temples in the area.

Wat Khian is a small Buddhist temple in Wiset Chai Chan District, Ang Thong Province, located on the flooded plain on the bank of the Noi River. The temple, surrounded by villages and a canal, had been abandoned for a long time. Afterwards, when people settled here and a community was formed, the temple became its centre.

There was no evidence of the history of the temple’s construction, so it is not possible to identify the time that it was built. However, the ubosot, the stone boundary markers, and the square-based pagoda with twelve indented corners support the assumption that this temple was built in the late Ayutthaya period. Therefore, the painting on the wall inside the ubosot is believed to belong to the same period.

Ubosot: the ubosot faces east. The original ubosot was quite small and was constructed from masonry and plastering work. There was only one entrance in front of the principal Buddha image. On each of the side walls, there are three windows, and the last remaining one is a false window. The columns inside the building are square posts adjacent to the walls. Their capitals are in the form of a lotus with long petals, which are typical of lotus-shaped capitals of the late Ayutthaya period.

The murals at Wat Khian are valuable not only in the splendour of their execution but also as testimonies to the cultural heritage passed on from the forefathers. Beautiful as they are, the paintings have faded over time. Murals are sometimes difficult to preserve, and they have also partly suffered from neglect or mismanagement. In 1973, the ubosot was renovated and restored.

Wat Khun Inthapramun in Pho Thong district. Here, in the open air, there is an enormous Ayutthaya-period reclining Buddha, 50 metres in length, which has been rather carelessly restored. In front is a statue of Khun In Praman, a revenue official who is said to have pilfered government taxes in order to pay for the extension of the original 40-metre image by a further 10 metres. However, there are also a few new buildings worth looking at.

Wat Chula Muni is a big temple that was built during the Ayutthaya period. There is an older deserted temple nearby with some interesting things to look at. Wat Chula Muni is located on the west bank of the Noi River and enshrines a very beautiful medium-sized Golden Buddha Image. The image is a very good example of the classical style of Sukhothai Buddha from the 14^th century. It was moved from Lamphun Province to this temple about 20 to 30 years ago. The red plaster which covered the Buddha image was no doubt put there to hide it from the looting Burmese army when they invaded northern Siam in the 18^th century. This is not the only instance of such discovery. A much less perilous statue made of an alloy of gold and silver can be found in Wat Hong Rattanaram in Thon Buri and is considered the most famous Golden Buddha in Bangkok. This statue was discovered by accident during the extension of the port done by The East Asiatic Company

which reached a very ruined temple. Two Buddha images found there were taken away. The one in bronze was moved to Wat Phai Ngoen Chotilaram in Thon Buri and the other, a much bigger one encased in plaster, was moved to Wat Trimit where it stayed for twenty years under a temporary shelter. When it was decided to move the larger statue into a specially constructed chapel, the crane that was lifting it dropped the statue onto the ground. The crash cracked the plaster, which had been soaked overnight during a monsoon, and the gold beneath it became visible.

Wat Chaiyo Worawihan: The wihan of this 19^th-century temple contains a colossal seated image of the Buddha in Dhyana Mudra, known as Phra Maha Phuttha Phim, dating from the reign of King Mongkut (1950 – 1868). The ubosot is connected to the wihan by a Transverse room which is rather unusual, forming a single building with a series of triple-tiered roofs. Their gables are adorned with carved wooden scrolls. The interior walls of the ubosot are decorated with wall paintings from King Rama V period. It is a very interesting temple of the Rattanakosin period.

Under the leadership of Mr Euayporn Kerdchouay, Senior Consultant of The Siam Society, we warmly invite you to explore lesser-known and well-known temples in Ang Thong Province on 3 May 2025.