Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang

Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang share a single walled compound on the edge of Nong Chong Kham lake in Mae Hong Son town, with a public garden out front used for festivals and ceremonies. Both reflect Tai Yai (Shan) architecture with heavy Burmese influence, but they’re different temples with different histories rather than one site under two names.

Wat Chong Kham, founded in 1827, is Mae Hong Son’s first Buddhist temple — built by Tai Yai artisans and named for its gold-leaf-gilded pillars. Its roof follows the castle-shaped Tai Yai style, reflecting the belief that a high court building should resemble a monarch’s residence. Inside sits Luang Por To, the province’s largest Buddha image at 4.85 metres across the lap, cast by Burmese craftsmen in 1926 as a replica of the Phra Buddha Sihinga at Wat Suthat in Bangkok.

Wat Chong Klang came later, established as an independent temple between 1867 and 1871 to host Burmese monks visiting from Mawkmai for an abbot’s funeral. It’s known less for a single Buddha image and more as a small living museum: glass panels painted with scenes from the Vessantara Jataka and the Buddha’s life, most captioned in Burmese script and attributed to a Tai Yai craftsman from Mandalay, alongside a collection of wooden figurines of people and animals brought over from Burma in 1857.

Insider Tip: Walk around to the lakeside path in the late afternoon — the temples’ castle-shaped roofs reflected across Nong Chong Kham are the view most photographs of Mae Hong Son are built around, and the light is best an hour or two before sunset.

Watch out: Wat Chong Kham’s original wooden buildings burned in a 1970 fire, so much of what’s standing today is reconstruction rather than the 1827 original — worth knowing if you’re expecting untouched 19th-century woodwork.

Pair the visit with the Royal Folk Arts and Crafts Center nearby, where Shan and hill-tribe artisans sell the textiles and silverwork the region is known for beyond its temples.