Wat Pathum Khongkha

Wat Pathum Khongkha’s ordination hall dates back more than 200 years, built for a Mon community that settled this stretch of Pak Thong Chai district in the late 1700s — temple records date the founding to 1774. Most people know it by its everyday name, Wat Nok Ok, after the subdistrict it sits in.

The ordination hall carries clear Chinese influence in its carved wooden details, with ceiling paintings depicting Himmapan forest creatures and Himalayan-style flora — hand-painted with mineral pigments rather than modern paint, and showing their age. A scripture library built over the water once held the temple’s collection of dharma cabinets and manuscripts; most of that collection has since moved to Khon Kaen University and regional museums for conservation, so what remains on site is the architecture itself rather than the artefacts. The government granted the temple royal consecration in 1980, though the working community around it has stayed much the same size for generations.

Local legend explains the name Nok Ok differently depending on who tells it — one version holds that ponds near the temple once drew a bird locals described as a cross between an eagle and a crane, a bird nobody claims to have seen in living memory. Whatever its origin, the name stuck to both the temple and the surrounding subdistrict.

Watch out: there’s no visitor centre or English signage, so this is a spot for travellers comfortable navigating with a translation app rather than a polished tourist stop.

Entry is free and there’s no published fixed schedule — mornings are the safest bet if you want to see the ordination hall’s interior, since it may be locked outside of ceremony times. The temple is a short drive from Pak Thong Chai town centre; there’s no public transport directly to the gate, so a car or motorbike is the practical option. Wat Na Phra That, another Pak Thong Chai temple, and Jim Thompson Farm are both in the same district if you’re building out a day trip from Korat.