if you're coming to Thailand post pandemic and you're looking for travel inspiration
then this video is for you
you see my name is paddy doyle and i've recently just visited
every single province in thailand and in doing so i visited over a hundred different temples
this is literally magical that's no exaggeration and today i'm going to be telling you what i think
are the top 10 best temples in thailand that you can plan your next trip to this
beautiful country around oh good lord this is a jewel in the crown of thailand
this is just the first of a five video series where i'm going to be taking a look at the
best of the entire country of thailand the best temples the best beaches the best foods
and the best undiscovered provinces so make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single video to
help you plan your next trip to thailand and as an added bonus and to be as useful to you as possible
in the description i've linked all of the google map links to the temples and all the other
information that you'll need if you do want to visit these beautiful parts of the country so put
on your elephant pants and grab a sarong and let's visit the top 10 temples in thailand right now
so you can't go to chiang mai without visiting doi su tepe it overlooks the entire city as it sits at
doi sutep the mountain right next to the old city and not only is driving up there a fun
day there's also waterfalls and other things to see but doi sutep temple itself is absolutely
beautiful the crown jewel is the golden pagoda in the middle of the complex
where thai people and buddhist people will walk around with flowers and incense
and visit the monks to get blessings and once you've visited the temple go outside and take
a look at the incredible viewpoint overlooking the airport downtown chiang mai the old city
and the distant mountains if you're in northern thailand you have to go visit watson
in the province of pangna just above phuket is this haunted dragon temple it depicts
two things it depicts buddhist heaven and it has a lot of buddhas and hinduism imagery atop this uh
kind of like mountain overlooking the temple and as that is really sweet it also depicts
buddhist hell it tries to scare younger generations of buddhists telling them
like hey be a good buddhist because this is what happens to you if you're not a good buddhist oh my
god there's so much stuff in here i can't show on youtube there were so many things that i couldn't
show in my youtube video when i visited this place just because of rules against um imagery and
gore and things like that once you go into the dragon's mouth and you survive the bats was
you appear at the entrance of a very dark cave and if you're brave enough and you have a torch go in
keep going and you'll find lots of more thrills apparently there can be monks deep in the cave
sometimes meditating on a mass when i reached the very end of the temple
apart from really creepy scary bugs there was just a terribly scary atmosphere thankfully
there wasn't a monk in there meditating quietly because i would have woken him up
or scared him with all of my screaming if you're looking for something different if you're looking
for something memorable then check out the haunted temple in pangna it was a wild ride
so what pac-nam or the big buddha is the only temple in the top 10 that you'll find in the
bangkok area now that's not because there isn't many beautiful temples in bangkok there are lots
there's the grand palace there's wat arun and then there's the i think it's wat po with the
big golden buddha reclined inside one of the temples and i visited all of them and they were
very very beautiful but for me if you were only gonna go to one temple it has
to be wat pak nam or the big buddha you can drive in it's completely free entry there's
a museum to the right inside the chedi which hosts a very very delicate historical and
expensive selection of very beautiful buddhist imagery then at the top they have this beautiful
crystal emerald statue depicting the heavens and the roof ceilings the whole vibe there
is spectacular and then outside is the big golden buddha itself overlooking the tombery area of
bangkok and as beautiful as it is to just stand below it and admire the size of this the best
way to see this temple is to go on a hidden bangkok tours they do these boat tours around
sunset and they go through the canal systems you see big monitor lizards you see the local people
living their life on the canals of tombouri it's very very unique very very interesting
and my favorite part of bangkok actually and then at one point or another you do come around
the corner and the temple is revealed and it's just stunning and you can jump off the boat and
take a closer look at the temple if you want to plus on that same tour you get spat out in the
chao playa for the final part of the tour and wat arun is presented to you around sunset so you kind
of get two for one but for me the big buddha in bangkok is absolutely incredible and i must visit
so if you're in moktahan in isan you've got to check out this temple because you get two for
one you get the beautiful blue nagao which is the word for the dragon that you see all over thailand
especially at the entrances of temples you'll see this dragon imagery but this one is by far
the most beautiful and magnificent in the whole country of thailand it stands so high it looks
so menacing and what's my favorite part is the thai people will buy these red ribbons
and they'll make a wish they'll tie it on a branch or on a tree nearby there are thousands
of these red ribbons flapping in the wind and it just gives it that feeling of like fire and lava
and it's just absolutely gorgeous and then just above there is another huge buddha statue
and the thai people go up and they touch the lucky finger the finger of the buddha
and it's absolutely gorgeous humongous actually overlooking the mekong and the isan provinces and
so not only do you get the beautiful dragon but you also get the beautiful buddha so two for one
at the temple in mukdahan just gonna pop in and say a quick thank you to the sponsor of this video
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about two provinces south from mukhtahan is ubon ratchatani it's a big province with a big city but
out in the east right on the river of the mia kong on the border of laos it's the glow in
the dark temple i turned up and at first you might think okay this is a nice looking temple
but the magic the aura starts at sunset once the sun's dipped down
the glow-in-the-dark elements reveal themselves and if you have a torch you can use the energy
from the light beam to create patterns you can write your name and once the sun is completely
set and your eyes have adjusted it really is something to behold one of the most unique
temples in the country a fantastic place a bit hard to get to it's a bit far away but if you
are in isan if you're in ubon you have to check out the glow-in-the-dark temple it was fantastic
so this temple is something out of another planet it really feels like you've been transported to
another dimension this is not actually currently finished it might be finished in about a year
and so god knows what it's going to be like but turning up there it was very cold as it is on
top of this mountain overlooking the petrobun valleys and at first i wasn't really expecting
much it just looked like a little spike on top of the mountain but as we got nearer and i started to
see the intricate artwork that was being built there and i got to see up close the ginormous
scale of this spike this egyptian looking i mean it's just something out of another planet i've
never seen a temple look like this i've never had a feeling like this in any other part of thailand
and when i flew the drone and i revealed just how high we were and just how epic the view was
this is going to be not only one of the best temples in thailand when it's completely finished
but it might be one of the wonders of the world it really was that unbelievable and
i think when it is finished you'll be able to go to the top and get that view that we were
given by the drone thankfully so yeah if you're in pecha bun check out this wonder of the world
about two and a half hours away from chiang mai is the sky pagoda temple or the sky temple
as it's also known this is a must visit if you're in northern thailand i've not seen
a temple this spectacular now there is a small fee for this temple and that's because when you arrive
it's in a national park plus you need to get into a truck that will take you up a very steep road
to the beginning of the staircase there's only about 50 or 60 steps so you do need a level of
fitness but it's not for the faint-hearted it is quite steep but if you do make it to the top
not only are you greeted with ringing bells and gongs and this fresh mountain air but if you get
to the top you'll reveal the incredible views of these white pagodas and gold statues and temples
structures on this limestone cliff mountain range basically overlooking the valleys of lampang
absolutely stunning completely draw-droppingly beautiful but just make sure you don't go
during smoky season which is from february till april just because the views won't be as epic
any time in the green season or in the cooler months like this when i was there
you can see why it's in the top 10.
this is a real undiscovered temple and it's in number three place because it really is
just unbelievable not only the temple itself but its surroundings okay so payao
province in northern thailand about five hours away from chiang mai there's this beautiful lake
and there's temples and other things to do there but make sure you go on a little wooden canal
boat thing the guy will push you along with a wooden stick once you get to the temple itself
it's tiny it's on this sinking island and you only spend 10 15 minutes there if i'm honest you
make a blessing you take a few pictures and you leave but just the surroundings of this
ancient floating temple especially at sunset just hang around the lake overlook the temple
if you have a drone get out because you'll capture some of the most beautiful scenes not only in
northern thailand but the entire southeast asia paella lake and this floating temple together is a
magical magical experience and that's why it takes number three in the best temple spot on this list
and number two in the ancient capital ayutia there are dozens of ancient ruins and fantastic temple
structures and you can spend obviously days and days there and i'll link in the description also
my video where i show you loads of the other temples but there's one that was just extremely
jaw-dropping and mesmerizing so once you go in this temple you'll see the usual activity at our
famous temple in thailand which is a lot of thai people making lots of different types of blessings
and buying fish food to feed the fish outside i don't know why they do that actually but you see
that a lot in thailand there's golden buddhas in most of the temples in thailand right but this one
is the one where as you walk through the door and it's revealed to you the feeling of magic
the feeling of spirituality is just really there you know i don't believe in god or anything like
that but when you're in that room you feel something the energy the the tranquility the
holiness of this whole situation and the way the thai people are acting they're extremely uh quiet
and reflective and they offer they offer gold material so every temple has its thing right but
this temple they offer golden material and they go and buy it from outside and they sign it and
they offer it to this particular image i'll have to find out for you why that is because i didn't
actually know at the time but just the golden buddha contrasted with the red and gold roof it's
absolutely gorgeous it's huge as well fantastic atmosphere two hours from bangkok and if you're in
iutea do not miss this one because uh yeah it's my second favorite temple in the whole country
this wins hands down guys if you're in petrobun you have to come to see this place not only
is it absolutely perfect in every single way the way it's designed the ergonomics the paintwork the
gold just the whole thing is just taj mahal level man-made beauty at its best the most beautiful
structure in thailand by far but not only do you get that and not only is it free
there's also so much more about this place there's interesting imagery about the planets and about
the solar system opposite the temple is another pagoda that's completely covered in distinctly
and painstakingly beautiful mosaic work which again just blows your mind you can spend a whole
day in both of these temples they're right next to each other but you also get an incredible view of
the pechabun mountains the valleys below if you're lucky you can even see that egyptian spike temple
we saw and talked about earlier in this list but that is about a two hour drive away but yeah this
five buddha art piece is by far away in a way the best temple in thailand it's in northern thailand
pecha bun go check it out and let me know if you think it's the most beautiful temple in thailand
as well right then so that concludes the top ten what do you think i'm sure i'm gonna get a few
people in the comments but you know this is just my opinion guys i've spent the whole year over a
year in thailand visiting hundreds of temples and to me these are the most special and memorable
there are so many that didn't make this list but it was really difficult to get it just down to ten
but for me these are the most beautiful the most memorable the most interesting next up we'll be
talking about the best beaches the best islands the best thai foods and the best undiscovered
provinces so plenty more videos and lots more google map links for you and your future trip
to thailand i hope you found this video useful and i'll see you in the next one very soon thanks
you