'Big Buddha'—Songkhla, Thailand. - Buddhist Temples and Public Shrines on Waymarking.com

The city of Hat Yai is the largest city in southern Thailand. The city lies in the Songkhla province, ~950km south from Bangkok and about 50km north of the Malaysian border.

To the east of the city is a prominent hill, atop of which is a large, open air Wat, ~6kms from the city centre. The centrepiece of this wat is a large golden Buddha statue, which looks to be ~20m high. The Wat differs from the norm (at least as I perceive it to be) in that there are no buildings, nor a crematorium. This is due, I surmise, to the nature of the Wat. There are no local inhabitants to use these services, people come for a day out of the town, and make a visit to the Wat, and return home.

There is something of an eerie 'feel' to the place. It is constructed of white stone (marble?), which generates a great deal of glare from the hot sun, with strong continual gusts of wind, also an empty quietness, which contrasts with the occasional sounds of the wat bells. All of this contributes to the feeling that you are no longer in a crowded, noisy Thai town. In fact, I took relatively few photographs, the sound of my camera 'snapping' seemed disrespectful and out of place, amongst the quiet, observant Thais.

The Buddha is situated so that it gazes down towards the town offering care and protection. From this locale there is also an excellent view of Hat Yai and the surrounds.

If you do visit bring a hat, sunglasses, and water. It is hot, with a long walk up a long winding path and then sets of steps (a car can be used, but then where is the journey?). I am not aware of any public transport to this spot, a taxi is required. If you make it this far you will be surrounded by the local Thais who will be very surprised to see a 'farlang' (a westerner) in their presence. (Limited English skills.) A donation is a courteous gesture. There are several other religious structures in the general vicinity.

Open to visitors?: Yes Photography Permitted Inside?: Yes Statue of the Buddha present?: Yes Related Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Include in your log one or two complete sentences. Logs containing a few words like "visited it" are subject to deletion.

Photos of the shrine are strongly encouraged when permitted otherwise please refrain from taking pictures inside and in any case, generally have respect for the religious nature of the site.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.