Wat Pho: The Reclining Buddha and the Massage School

The Buddha

The reclining Buddha is 46 metres long and 15 metres high, finished in gold leaf over brick and plaster, and the hall was built around it with almost nothing to spare.

That tight fit is the point. You enter at the head and walk the length of the body along a narrow aisle, and the scale only registers as you keep walking and it keeps going. There is no vantage point from which you see the whole thing, which is why every photograph of it is a detail.

Go to the feet. They are three metres tall, inlaid with mother-of-pearl in 108 panels showing the auspicious characteristics of the Buddha. Most visitors photograph the head and leave.

Along the back wall are 108 bronze bowls. Buying a bowl of coins and dropping one in each is a merit-making practice, and the sound of it running the length of the hall is part of the atmosphere.

The Rest of the Complex

Wat Pho is much larger than the reclining Buddha hall, and the grounds are where it gets good.

There are more than a thousand Buddha images here, the largest collection in Thailand. Four large chedis hold the remains of the first four Chakri kings, tiled in green, white, yellow and blue. Stone giants brought as ship ballast from China stand at the gates.

The complex is also considered Thailand's first public university. Inscriptions and murals recorded medicine, literature and astrology on its walls so that ordinary people could learn from them.

The Massage School

Wat Pho is regarded as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage, and the school still operates inside the temple grounds.

You can have a treatment there. It is a working pavilion rather than a spa, so expect a mat, a curtain and a firm, methodical hour rather than candles and soft music. Queues build through the day.

It is worth doing precisely because it is not a resort experience. If you would rather have the comfortable version afterwards, our guide to the best day spas in Bangkok covers those.

Timing

Open daily 08:30 to 18:00, which is a full half hour later than the Grand Palace ticket office and considerably later than Wat Arun.

That extra time is useful. Coach groups move through Wat Pho in the late morning after doing the palace first. Arrive around 08:30 or after 16:00 and the grounds are markedly quieter.

Entry is 300 THB for foreign visitors and free for Thai nationals. The ticket usually includes a small bottle of water, which you will want.

Getting There

Wat Pho sits between the Grand Palace and the river in the Old Town.

The easy approach is the Chao Phraya Express Boat to Tha Tien pier, a two-minute walk away. MRT Sanam Chai is about ten minutes on foot and is the better option if you are coming from Sukhumvit. Our getting around Bangkok guide has the detail.

Tha Tien is also where the cross-river ferry to Wat Arun leaves, which makes the pairing obvious.

Dress Code

Shoulders and knees covered. Wat Pho enforces this at the entrance, though less severely than the Grand Palace does.

Shoes come off before entering the reclining Buddha hall. You carry them in a bag provided at the door. Slip-on shoes make the whole visit easier, and our temple dress guide covers the rest.

Worth It?

More than the ticket price suggests. Wat Pho is the Old Town site that people plan an hour for and end up spending two at.

It is also the most forgiving of the three. It opens latest, closes latest, has shade in the grounds, and does not require the military planning that the palace does.