Pattaya/Things to do/ culture
Wat Phra Yai, the Pattaya Big Buddha
The seated gold Buddha on the top of Pratumnak Hill between Pattaya and Jomtien, up a naga staircase, with the bay laid out below the hill.
What we checked, 18 September 2026
Checked on 18 September 2026. Neither Pattaya City nor the temple publishes admission, hours, dress rules or closures that we could find, and the temple has no website we could locate. The only official statement about the hill concerns the city's sign on it. This listing therefore gives the location and the reasons to go, and nothing invented around them. We have not been.
Verified via. OpenStreetMap records the Big Buddha on Pratumnak Hill at 12.9141, 100.8687. Pattaya City confirms the hill, Khao Phra Tamnak, as the site of its own PATTAYA CITY sign above the Bali Hai pier, which it describes as a symbol of the city.
Admission
No authority and no site run by the temple states an admission charge, or says in words that entry is free. Every secondary source says there is no ticket, which is very likely right for an active temple, and is still not a source. Dress as you would for any temple.
Wat Phra Yai sits on the top of Pratumnak Hill, the headland between Pattaya Bay and Jomtien, with a large seated gold Buddha at the head of a naga staircase. It is quieter than almost anything else in the city, which is most of its appeal.
What we can tell you, and what nobody official will. OpenStreetMap places the Buddha at the top of the hill, and Pattaya City confirms the hill as the home of its own PATTAYA CITY sign above the Bali Hai pier, which the city calls one of its symbols. Beyond that, no authority and no temple channel we could find publishes admission, hours or rules. Every secondary account says there is no ticket, and the hours in circulation run from 07:00 to either 18:00 or 22:00.
Combine it with the viewpoint. The Pratumnak viewpoint, looking north over Pattaya Bay, is on the same hill, and the two together make an easy hour. Go late in the afternoon for the light over the bay.
Dress as you would for any temple. Shoulders and knees covered. Nothing official we found states a dress code here, and it is the norm at an active Thai temple regardless.
What we have not done. Been. Jesse and Stacey spent five nights in Pattaya in March 2025, and this listing waits for his account like the rest.
Best for
Half an hour of quiet above the city, combined with the viewpoint on the same hill
Skip if
You need a confirmed price or opening hours. Nobody official publishes either
Where it actually is
Pratumnak Hill, Pattaya, Bang Lamung, Chon Buri 20150
Pratumnak, Pattaya
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.View larger map
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