Wat Phra Non ‘Pay respect to the Shan grand Buddha statue.’

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Speaking of good temples in northern Thailand, surely you can never skip this one, ‘Wat Phra Non’ in Mae Hong Son Province.

Wat Phra Non has a unique of its own. A gigantic Buddha statue of the lying-down manner is located there. In case you’re confused, the word ‘phra’ here means ‘Buddha statue’ and the word ‘non’ means ‘lie down’. Now, that makes sense why the temple was named as Wat Phra Non.

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The Buddha statue at the Phra Non temple is about 12 metres long. It was probably established in the year 1875 by Phaya Singhanatracha, the first ruler of Mae Hong Son. The legend says, there are 2 different reasons of building the statue: One, to be an honor of himself being appoint for the town ruler. Two, Phaya Singhanatracha wanted the Buddha statue to be a respectable architecture for all villagers in Mae Hong Son. However, a chaos had occured and Phaya Singhanatracha had passed away before the statue was finished. Many years later, his wife Mia became the second ruler of the town and finished the statue.

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The Buddha statue isn’t the only beautiful thing in the temple. In fact, the whole temple is beautiful. The whole temple is decorated in both Burmese style and Shan style. That is a kind of contemporary art, which is interesting.

There are also a lot of other statues within the temple, for examples, The Goddess Guanyin, Buddha statues of meditation manner etc. But that’s not the end of that! There are still some ancient items like amulets and utensils being stored in the antique room.

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Wat Phra Non is peaceful and natural, following its location. It may not be very big, but it is definitely a good place to go and comfort your mind. Just take a sightseeing around to get rid of your stress and sorrow. Or you can pay respect to the lied-down Buddha statue for your own good fortune.

How to get there 

Wat Phra Non is located on the opposite side of Wat Muay To, in Muang County To get there, you can keep going along the Highway No.108 before turning left at Phaya Singhanatracha. From that point, you should be on a rough and steep part, as it is a part that lead you up to a mountain area. Keep that path for about 1.5 kilometre until you see your destination.

Mae Hong Son Tour Packages
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Wat Phra That Doi Gong Mu

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Wat Kam Ko

Nearby Places

Can you believe that you will reach this temple within 5 minutes? That is true, really. Wat Phra That Doi Gong Mu is only about 1.7 kilometre away from Wat Phra Non. This is a beautiful temple in the middle of mountains. It is a respectable temple of the province, where the two Shan white pagodas are located. You can pay respect to them.

Wat Kam Ko  is opposite to Wat Phra Non, is a Burmese-style temple built in 1890.  A special architectural feature is the cover over the passageway from the entrance arch to the chapel.  It also stores text in Thai Yai script chronicling the Thai Yai history. Like all temples in Mae Hong Son, Wat Kam Ko is distinctly designed and decorated in the Shan style with delicate ‘doily’ like fretwork.