Wat Ban Laem

Wat Ban Laem — officially Wat Phet Samut Worawihan — sits on the Mae Klong River in Samut Songkhram town, home to Luang Pho Ban Laem, a 167-centimetre standing Buddha image and one of the most revered Buddha images in central Thailand. The temple was founded around 1764, when residents fleeing conflict in Ban Laem, a village in Phetchaburi, resettled here and named their new temple after the home they’d left. Royal patronage later elevated it to a third-rank royal temple, giving it the formal name Wat Phet Samut Worawihan that appears on official records.

Local legend surrounds the Buddha image itself. According to tradition, fishermen found it floating in the Mae Klong River as one of five Buddha images said to have drifted down from the north together, before separating and settling in five different provinces — a story that also anchors Wat Sothon in Chachoengsao, among others. Luang Pho Ban Laem is unusual among the group as the only one in a standing posture, cast in the early Ayutthaya artistic period; this is worth hearing as genuine local tradition rather than a claim this guide is verifying as documented history.

The ordination hall houses the image itself, and the temple stays active as a working site of merit-making rather than a museum piece — expect local worshippers, incense, and the everyday rhythm of a functioning Thai temple rather than a curated tourist stop. The riverside setting adds to that, with the Mae Klong running alongside the temple grounds much as it has for the town’s entire history.

Insider Tip: Pair a visit with the nearby Maeklong Railway Market, where vendors pack up their stalls off the tracks each time a train passes — the two sit close enough in Samut Songkhram town to cover in the same outing.

Watch out: Photography restrictions apply around the main Buddha image in some sections of the hall — check with temple staff before shooting rather than assuming it’s allowed everywhere.

Wat Ban Laem is an easy stop alongside Mae Klong Railway Market and the Amphawa Floating Market, with Don Hoi Lot further out toward the river mouth if you have time for a longer loop through Samut Songkhram.