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ThailandDescription and is it worth a visit
There are many temples in Chiang Rai, all interesting and beautiful in their own way. But this Wat Tham Phra temple or Buddha Image Cave Temple is unique among all. This is the largest, and perhaps the only real cave temple in the entire province, at least we have not met any other such large-scale ones here. There is also a small cave temple about a kilometer from here in the same mountain, but it doesn't even have a name, and it doesn't look like a full-fledged temple, although it's also interesting. We told about this nameless temple here.
Wat Tham Phra is not just a temple, but also an important historical place for the people of Thailand. In 1926, King Rama VII Prachadipok, the last absolute monarch of Siam and the first constitutional monarch, visited here. The visit of the king is of great importance to the locals, since the royal dynasty is especially revered here. Every year in May, many believers come here to hold a traditional ablution ceremony.
The temple complex consists of two caves. The main cave with a large number of Buddha statues is accessible immediately from the main entrance, a beautiful staircase leads to it. And to the right of it, about 50 meters away, there is another inconspicuous climb up the steps to another small cave with two statues of monks. And if you go further along the cliff along the bank of the Kok River, you will get to the observation deck above the river with a statue of a large sitting Buddha. In addition, there are several other caves in this rocky mountain Pra Cave. We told you about two of them here and here. There is also at least one vertical cave, the entrance to it is at a height and special equipment is needed to visit it.
🕐 Working hours
From 06:00 to 18:30.
💵Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there
Wat Tham Phra Cave temple is located in a small mountain Pra Cave (at least so marked on the map) on the outskirts of Chiang Rai, 8 kilometers from the center (Wat Tham Phra Cave Temple on the map). You can get here only by taxi or rented transport. Read more about transport in Chiang Rai and how to get around told here...
Friends, we remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Thailand with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at options with online booking and reviews on these excursion aggregators: