Ang Thong is a beautiful rural province in Thailand. Its proximity to Bangkok makes it a great day trip option. Magnificent Buddhas and temples await you in Ang Thong!
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📜 About Ang Thong
Ang Thong is also known as the golden basin or the rice basin of Thailand, the name also literally means gold basin in Thai.
This small province is touching and is located northwest of the Ayutthaya temples. From Bangkok, it’s a 1 1/3-hour drive to Ang Thong.
Farmers here grow 3 times a year rice, with the precious jasmine rice being the most important local crop.
This is a very rural province, and you will definitely feel it in the air.
In the Ang Thong province is home to over 200 temples. The two most important ones that you should absolutely visit are the Wat Muang and Wat Khun Inthapramun.
🛕 Wat Muang – Crystal Temple, Hell’s Garden, Largest Buddha
Wat Muang is rather special, and you will spend quite some time here. We were quite surprised when we discovered the place for a few reasons.
Here you can visit for free the Crystal Temple, the adjoining Hell’s Garden, which leads to the unmissable largest Buddha in Thailand.
Crystal Temple
The main attraction, which was also mentioned in the tour, is the crystal temple.
This particular temple is like a massive shiny mirror on the inside.
The hall is decorated with former Buddhist monk statues and saints.
Some saints are Hindu gods as well as Chinese gods (which is apparently totally normal).
There is also a mummy in the crystal temple of a former Buddhist monk.
You can go really close up to the glass coffin and see the mummy which, in my quirky mind and opinion, is totally wonderful.
Hell’s Garden
Wat Muang surprised us with the garden which is not just a regular flower garden but a Buddhist he’ll garden.
The place is decorated with statues of all sizes, depicting sinners in pain.
My wife found hell garden wonderful, not only because it was days before Halloween when we visited, but also because she has a thing for the dark side of Buddhism as it is rarely depicted that way in the west.
I liked it, but I wasn’t fully into it the way she was.
Largest Buddha in Thailand
At the end of hell’s garden sits the biggest Buddha statue in Thailand.
It was under renovation when we visited.
You get the best picture from afar with the rice fields.
🏛 Wat Khun Inthapramun – The largest reclining Buddha
The main attraction in Wat Khun Inthapramun is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand.
Behind the relaxing Buddha is an active temple that can be visited as well; however, the opening times are in the evening hours.
People here too dress up the reclining Buddha with a bright orange stitched together cloth and devotees press a piece of gold paper onto the Buddha’s feet.
The reclining Buddha reminded me of the dying Buddha in the Ajanta Buddhist Caves in India.
The Buddha is called a reclining Buddha when the eyes are open.
