Phrathat La Nong

Phra That La Nong — also called Phra That Klang Nam, “the stupa amid the water” — is a Mekong-riverfront shrine on Rim Khong Road in Nong Khai town. It’s free to visit, with no set hours, and it marks the spot where a 16th-century chedi collapsed into the river in 1847 and still lies submerged offshore.

The original stupa was built around 1566 by Chao Chai Chettha Thirat (King Setthathirat) of the Lan Xang kingdom of Vientiane, in the Lan Xang architectural style shared with temples across the river in Laos. Local tradition links it to the same relic cycle as That Phanom further south — a group of stupas said to enshrine footprint relics of the Buddha. For nearly three centuries it stood on the riverbank, but the Mekong’s current steadily undercut the ground beneath it. On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month in 1847, as evening fell, the chedi cracked into three pieces and toppled into the water. Erosion has since moved the shoreline, and the ruin now rests an estimated 180 metres out from the current bank.

In 2005, the local community built a replica chedi on the riverfront near the original site — 15 metres from base to spire tip, on a 10-by-10-metre base — so pilgrims would have somewhere to make offerings. That’s the structure most visitors see and photograph today; the golden spire and saffron-clad monks doing their rounds belong to this newer shrine, not the submerged original. On clear dry-season days when the river is unusually low, parts of the old ruin are occasionally visible from the bank, though this isn’t something to count on for any particular visit.

Insider Tip: Time your visit for early evening, when the light over the Mekong turns gold and the replica chedi catches the last sun — it’s also when the riverside promenade fills with locals out for a walk.

Watch out: Don’t expect to see the actual 16th-century stupa up close. What’s on the riverbank is a 21st-century replica; the historic structure is underwater and mostly out of sight.

Pair the visit with a walk along the Mekong promenade to Wat Pho Chai, home to Nong Khai’s revered Luang Pho Phra Sai Buddha image, or Phrathat Bang Phuan, another historic chedi a short drive out of town. Both sit within Nong Khai, the Mekong border town this shrine calls home.