Wat Mae Ya Som

Wat Mae Ya Som sits in Ban Pa Ta Baek, a village in Sa Kaeo province’s Khlong Hat district near the Cambodian border, roughly 45 km from Sa Kaeo city. Entry is free and the grounds are open daily 08:00-17:00.

The temple’s whole reason for being is Mae Ya Som herself — not a monk or a historic monastery, but a spirit local tradition says has watched over this stretch of Khlong Hat since ancient times. Farmers described seeing an elderly Khmer woman dressed entirely in white, sitting quietly at the edge of their fields; she came to be regarded as a guardian of the land rather than a conventional Buddhist figure. The current temple exists because a Bangkok resident reported dreaming that she asked for a proper shrine, and paid to have the present buildings constructed — a project said to have cost more than 2 million baht.

That origin shapes what’s actually on the grounds. Alongside the shrine to Mae Ya Som herself sit a large Ganesha statue, a Buddha image in the “opening the world” gesture associated with prosperity, a Rahu figure, a naga, and a shrine to a spirit known locally as Tan Jai. It reads less like a conventional monastery and more like a fortune-and-merit complex — the kind of place Thai visitors travel to specifically to make offerings for good luck, rather than to admire historic architecture.

Insider Tip: Go on a weekday morning if you want the place to yourself. Weekends bring a steady stream of visitors from across Sa Kaeo and neighbouring provinces, here specifically to pray for good fortune.

Watch out: this isn’t a heritage site — the buildings are modern and built for devotion, not preservation. Come for the spirit lore and the prosperity shrines, not expecting centuries-old architecture.

Dress modestly — covered shoulders, no short shorts — as at any Thai religious site, and carry small bills if you’d like to make an offering. There’s no public transport directly to the temple; a car or motorbike from Khlong Hat town or Sa Kaeo city is the practical way in. Combine the trip with the Khmer ruins at Prasat Sadok Kok Thom or the border market at Rong Kluea, both within a comfortable drive.