Chiang Mai/Things to do/ culture
Wat Chedi Luang
The ruined giant chedi in the middle of the Old City, broken by an earthquake centuries ago, and home to the city pillar.
What we checked, 18 September 2026
Checked on 18 September 2026. The temple publishes nothing we could read, and several other Thai temples share the name, including ones in Chiang Rai and Nakhon Si Thammarat, whose hours and figures turn up in search results for this one. The municipality's festival notices are the only official record we could attach to it. We have not been.
Verified via. Chiang Mai Municipality co-organises the annual Inthakhin city-pillar festival at the temple with the temple and the province, and published the 2026 festival as 13 to 19 May with the procession on 20 May. OpenStreetMap records the temple at 18.7870, 98.9869, linked to Wikidata Q1454288.
Admission
No authority publishes a charge, and the temple has no website; its only channel is a Facebook page that cannot be read without logging in. Secondary sources give 40 or 50 baht for foreign visitors with Thais free, described as a site maintenance fee rather than a ticket. Whether it is compulsory or a donation is not officially confirmed.
Wat Chedi Luang is the temple with the enormous ruined brick chedi in the centre of the Old City. It was once far taller, and it lost its upper section in an earthquake centuries ago, which is why it looks the way it does: massive, broken at the top, with naga staircases climbing four sides to nothing.
What the municipality does publish. The city pillar, Sao Inthakhin, is kept here, and Chiang Mai Municipality co-organises the annual festival for it with the temple and the province. In 2026 it ran from 13 to 19 May, with the pillar procession on 20 May. Expect the temple to be crowded while it runs.
On admission, a name-clash warning first. There are several temples called Wat Chedi Luang in Thailand, in Chiang Rai, in Chiang Saen and in Nakhon Si Thammarat among them, and their hours and details leak into search results for this one. What circulates for Chiang Mai specifically is 40 or 50 baht for foreign visitors, with Thais free, usually described as a maintenance fee. Nothing official confirms it, so it is here as circulation rather than as a price.
The monk chat. The temple runs sessions where visitors can talk with monks, and OpenStreetMap records them as 09:00 to 18:00. It is one of the more genuinely useful things you can do in a Chiang Mai temple, if you go with questions.
One rule we have not confirmed. It is widely repeated that women may not enter the city-pillar shrine. Nothing official we could find states it, and we would rather tell you that than repeat it as fact or ignore it.
What we have not done. Been.
Best for
The most dramatic piece of architecture inside the moat, and the monk chat if you want to ask questions
Skip if
You need a confirmed price. Nobody official publishes one, and the figures in circulation disagree
Where it actually is
Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50200
Old City, Chiang Mai
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.View larger map
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