Wat Klang Thung

Open Days: Daily

Opening Hours: 08.00 - 17.00

 

Wat Klang Thung is an old and culturally important temple in Mae Hong Son that reflects the long continuity of Tai Yai community life in the town. Located at 56 Niwet Phisan Road in Chong Kham, the temple is easy to reach from central Mae Hong Son, yet it offers far more than simple convenience. Its history is unusually detailed, its architecture is distinctive, and its role as a place of practice and community tradition remains active today.

 

The temple was established in 1905. Its beginnings were humble and highly personal. The first structure built on the site was a chedi in what had originally been a banana grove. The founder, Chong U Phaka Waeng Kawiwat, is said to have dreamed of his late wife, Nang Jing, who wished for a chedi to be built there. This story gives the temple a deeply human beginning and reflects the way faith, memory, and local belief often came together in the formation of Tai Yai temples.

 

After the chedi was built, monks from Wat Na Bon, a temple that no longer exists, were invited to stay. A small kuti was built for them, and the early religious site was named Jong Puk Pa Hoyong. Over time, local faith and donations helped expand the site into a larger temple community.

 

In 1915, U Po and Nang Suay Wimala sponsored the construction of the temple’s important Buddha image known as Chao Para Mae Pok. This Buddha image has a distinctive form in which the base and the image were made directly on the ground before the building was constructed around it later. Today, it serves as the principal Buddha image of the sermon hall and remains one of the spiritual focal points of the temple.

 

Later, after Mae Hong Son was elevated to provincial status, the temple came to be known as Wat Klang Thung, a name derived from its location in the middle of rice fields. The name reflects local usage and preserves the memory of the surrounding landscape from an earlier period of the town’s development.

 

The temple received its royal boundary consecration on 25 October 1973. This marked an important formal stage in its religious development. The temple complex continued to grow, and in 1978 the old sermon hall, which had become deteriorated, was demolished and replaced. The foundation stone for the new hall was laid on 11 May 1978, construction took 1 year and 6 months, and the completed building was formally celebrated on 1 February 1980.

 

The sermon hall is one of the most visually distinctive features of Wat Klang Thung. Measuring 34 by 34 meters, it combines Chinese and Tai Yai artistic forms. The structure uses reinforced concrete columns, wooden floors, corrugated roof tiles, and glass windows. Its decorated columns, embellished with clear and mirrored colored glass, give the hall a bright and reflective elegance that makes the temple especially memorable in visual terms.

 

In addition to the sermon hall, the temple also includes an ordination hall, bell tower, observance hall, and landscaped grounds designed to support meditation practice. This gives Wat Klang Thung an active role not only as a heritage temple but also as a functioning place for religious learning and contemplation.

 

Public cultural records also preserve the line of abbots from 1913 onward. The current abbot is listed as Phra Athikan Seri Thirapañño, continuing a succession of 7 abbots. This long continuity reinforces the temple’s role as a living religious institution within Mae Hong Son.

 

Wat Klang Thung is also associated with the Poi Sang Long novice ordination tradition, one of the most important Tai Yai cultural ceremonies in Mae Hong Son. Contemporary festival announcements identify the temple as one of the event venues in Mueang Mae Hong Son District, which further confirms its ongoing cultural importance.

 

Getting There Wat Klang Thung is located at 56 Niwet Phisan Road in Chong Kham, Mueang Mae Hong Son. It is easily accessible from central Mae Hong Son, including Nong Chong Kham, the market area, and Mae Hong Son Airport. This makes it convenient to include in a city temple itinerary.

 

 

A: Wat Klang Thung is at 56 Niwet Phisan Road in Chong Kham, Mueang Mae Hong Son, within the town area.

 

A: The temple was established in 1905.

 

A: Chao Para Mae Pok is the temple’s important Buddha image, created in 1915 and now enshrined in the sermon hall.

 

A: The sermon hall combines Chinese and Tai Yai styles and features columns decorated with clear and colored mirrored glass.

 

A: No. Entry is free.

 

A: Yes. It is one of the venues associated with the Poi Sang Long novice ordination tradition in Mae Hong Son.