Anek Kuson Sala (Viharn Sien)

Viharn Sien — officially Anek Kuson Sala — is a three-storey museum-shrine about 15 km south of central Pattaya, built to house a collection of Chinese and Thai art gifted to the Chakri dynasty. Entry costs a flat 50 THB for every visitor, and the halls are open daily from 08:00 to 17:00.

Construction began in 1987, when Thai-Chinese businessman Sa-nga Kulkobkiat built the complex on land granted with royal permission from King Bhumibol Adulyadej to mark the king’s 60th birthday. Inside, the three floors hold bronze statues, jade carvings, and Chinese-style paintings alongside Buddha images and replicas of the Terracotta Army soldiers unearthed near Xi’an. An 8-metre carved scene of the Eight Immortals dominates one courtyard, and dragon columns and Chinese-style murals run through the main hall. The building sits close to Wat Yansangwararam and Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, both easy add-ons to the same trip south of the city.

Watch out: Viharn Sien gets marketed online as a “Chinese temple,” but it isn’t an active wat with monks or merit-making rituals — it’s a privately built museum-shrine. If you want a working temple in the same direction, Wat Yansangwararam next door is the real thing; come here instead for the art collection.

Galleries are air-conditioned in parts but the outdoor courtyard areas between halls have limited shade, so the visit is more comfortable earlier in the day before the midday heat sets in. Informational panels run in Thai and English throughout, and staff are used to independent visitors rather than only tour groups.

Insider Tip: Pair the visit with Nong Nooch Tropical Garden a short drive away — both are well south of the Pattaya strip, so combining them into one half-day trip saves doubling back.

Visitors who come expecting a temple sometimes leave disappointed; those who come for the art collection — the scale of the bronze and jade pieces, the replica terracotta soldiers, the sheer density of carving — generally rate it one of the more distinctive half-day stops outside Pattaya’s beaches.