Wat Arun: The Temple of Dawn, and When To Actually See It

The Temple Itself

Wat Arun stands on the Thonburi bank of the Chao Phraya, and the central prang rises about 70 metres above the water. That spire is the image of Bangkok that ends up on book covers.

Get close and the surface is the surprise. What reads as pale stone from the river is millions of pieces of broken Chinese porcelain and seashell pressed into the stucco, much of it ballast from trading ships. Flowers, patterns and figures worked in fragments. It rewards standing still for a few minutes.

Four smaller prangs surround the central one, with statues of guardians and mythical figures at the base. Entry is 200 THB for foreign visitors, free for Thai nationals, and the temple is open daily 08:30 to 17:30.

The Climb

You can climb the central prang partway, by stairs that are steeper than they look from below. They are narrow, high-rise, and worn smooth.

The reward is a terrace with a view straight across the river to the Old Town and Wat Pho. The upper tiers are closed to visitors.

Take shoes with grip, use the handrail, and come down carefully. Descending is harder than climbing on steps this steep, and flip-flops are a poor idea.

When To Go

Two answers, depending on what you want.

To visit the temple, go in the morning, close to opening. The grounds are quiet, the stone is cool enough to climb, and you have the porcelain detail to yourself.

To photograph it, go at dusk and stand on the opposite bank. The temple is floodlit after dark and the classic shot is taken from the Old Town side, not from inside the grounds. That means the temple itself may be closed by the time the light is right, which is why many people do both on separate days.

The riverside restaurants and rooftop bars around Tha Tien are built around that view. Our guide to the best sunset spots in Bangkok has the specific vantage points, and the riverside guide covers where to sit.

Crossing the River

From the Old Town side, walk to Tha Tien pier, beside Wat Pho. The cross-river ferry costs a few baht, runs continuously, and takes about three minutes.

That is the whole journey. People overcomplicate it by looking for a taxi route across a bridge, which takes far longer and costs many times more.

From further afield, the Chao Phraya Express Boat serves Tha Tien directly. Our getting around Bangkok guide explains the river lines.

The Chao Phraya hop-on hop-off boat also stops here and covers the main river piers on a day pass, which suits a full day of temple hopping.

Dress Code

Shoulders and knees covered, as at any working temple in Thailand. Wat Arun is less strict than the Grand Palace about footwear, but sleeveless tops and short shorts will be refused.

Sarongs are available to borrow near the entrance. Bringing your own scarf is quicker and cooler. The detail is in our guide to temple dress in Bangkok.

How It Fits the Day

Wat Arun works as the third stop in the Old Town circuit. Start at the Grand Palace at opening, walk ten minutes to Wat Pho, then take the ferry across.

That order puts you on the Thonburi bank in the afternoon, and leaves you positioned for a riverside dinner with the temple lit in front of you.

Allow about an hour inside the grounds. It is considerably smaller than the Grand Palace and does not need half a day.

Worth It?

Yes. Of the three big Old Town sites it is the one people remember most fondly, partly because it is the least crowded and partly because the porcelain work is genuinely unusual.

At 200 THB and an hour of your time it is also the cheapest of the three by some distance.