Sim (Ubosot) of Wat Sa Thong Ban Bua

A small brick sim (ordination hall) in the rice-farming village of Ban Bua, Mancha Khiri district, this 1913 building earned a UNESCO Asia-Pacific Award of Merit in 2002 for heritage conservation — one of only a handful of rural Isan temple structures to hold that distinction. It’s no longer an active prayer hall; the Khon Kaen temple that owns it built a newer central-Thai-style ubosot for services and kept the old sim standing as a protected monument.

The building itself is what draws the trip. Instead of the hup taem mural paintings found at nearby sims like Wat Chaisri, the builders decorated the brick walls with low-relief stucco: figures riding elephants face the single front door on either side, and the gable above carries a three-tiered chatra motif studded with inlaid mirror glass that catches the afternoon light. Fine Arts Department records list the sim as a national ancient monument (registered 2001), one year before the UNESCO award. Inside, a red sandstone Buddha image in classic unadorned Isan style sits on the altar — heavier and plainer than the gilded Buddha images common in Bangkok temples, and original to the building.

Ban Bua stays quiet outside the odd passing tour group, so there’s no crowd to work around and no set schedule of ceremonies to time a visit against — the sim is a heritage building you look at and photograph rather than a hall you sit and chant in. Insider Tip: ask at the temple office for someone to unlock the door; it’s sometimes kept closed outside weekends, and the low-relief stucco is worth seeing up close rather than through the window bars. Watch out: there’s minimal shade in the compound and no food stalls nearby, so bring water if you’re visiting at midday.

Dress modestly — covered shoulders and knees — and remove your shoes before stepping inside. If you’re building a wider tour of Khon Kaen’s Isan temple architecture, pair this stop with Sim Isan at Wat Pa Saeng Arun or the mural-painted sim at Wat Chaisri — both show the alternative, hup-taem approach to decorating the same type of building.