Chiang Mai/Things to do/ culture
Wat Phra Singh
The Old City's most important temple, at the western end of Ratchadamnoen, home to the Phra Buddha Sihing image and a textbook piece of Lanna architecture.
What we checked, 18 September 2026
Checked on 18 September 2026. The location and the fact that the Lai Kham viharn houses the Phra Buddha Sihing come from provincial and municipal pages. Nothing official gives admission or hours, and the temple publishes no website we could find. We have not been.
Verified via. The Chiang Mai Provincial Office of Tourism and Sports gives the location as Samlan Road, Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai, with the temple's telephone numbers. Chiang Mai Municipality records the Phra Buddha Sihing image as housed in the Lai Kham viharn. OpenStreetMap records the temple at 18.7886, 98.9814, linked to Wikidata Q1657130.
Admission
No authority states an admission charge or says entry is free. Secondary figures for foreigners run from nothing to 50 baht, one of them attached to a specific building rather than to the grounds, and none of them has a primary source. Carry small notes.
Wat Phra Singh sits at the western end of Ratchadamnoen Road, where the Sunday market ends, and it is the temple the city treats as its most important. Chiang Mai Municipality records that the Phra Buddha Sihing, the image the temple is named for, is housed in the Lai Kham viharn, a small wooden hall with some of the best-preserved Lanna murals in the north.
What the provincial tourism office gives us. The address, on Samlan Road in Phra Sing subdistrict, and the temple’s telephone numbers. That is the whole of the official record we could reach. It says nothing about fees, hours or dress.
What it costs, as far as anyone knows. Figures from nothing to 50 baht circulate for foreign visitors, and at least one of them refers to a particular building rather than to the grounds as a whole, which is common at larger Thai temples. We are not choosing one.
Why it is worth the walk anyway. The main viharn in the photograph above is the image of a Lanna temple that most people carry home, with the tiered roofs and the gilded gable, and the Lai Kham hall behind it is the quieter and older half of the visit. Songkran week is when the Phra Buddha Sihing is carried through the city, and the temple is at its busiest.
What we have not done. Been.
Best for
The classic Lanna temple, ten minutes' walk from Wat Chedi Luang
Skip if
You are relying on a published price or hours. The temple publishes neither
Where it actually is
Samlan Road, Phra Sing, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50200
Old City, Chiang Mai
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.View larger map
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