#  >  > Thailand Festivals, Beaches, Scuba Diving and Temples, Tell us Your Tales >  >  > Thailands Wats Temples and Mosques >  >  Thailand's oldest temple, anyone?

## Bruno

The Mrs. seems to think it is wat-po in Bangkok, and she may well be correct. However, I always thought Ayutthaya or even Chiang Mai might boast an older temple. Google hasn't really cleared this one up, so does anybody know where Thailand's oldest temple is located?

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## aging one

Wat Po is the oldest in Bangkok, but I would think some old Kymer temple up in Pimai. Dont know if Kymer would count as Thai but its from the 1100s I think.

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## Thetyim

Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang looks very old
No idea if it is the oldest though

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## dirtydog

Be one of the historical parks that has the oldest I would imagine.
TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum Historical Parks & Ancient Temples in Thailand

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## Grower

Sukothai has some dating from 1200; the Thai language was born there under King Ramkhamhaeng, he invented it. Ayutthaya is newer by about 200 years. It was sacked in 1767.
Good luck with getting a definitive answer though. Too bad, as I love history and Thai history is couched in obscurities it seems.

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## aging one

> Too bad, as I love history and Thai history is couched in obscurities it seems.


No kidding. Pity it is. Pimai is a paradox to the Thai's. Its Buddhist but its Khymer. What about Phra Wiharn?  

Oblique?  :Smile:

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## trabant

must be many Khmer era temples still operating, if they are to classified as wats?
i have been to one near the Poipet border, on the thai side about 15km  south, the leaflet i got said it dated to 647AD which puts it about 400+  years before Phimai and Angkor Wat
could only find this french site, it says 637AD but what's a few years
it is still used there are two monks houses there but empty when i went,  maybe out shopping or across border at a casino, and people doing the  incense thing
this is the site there must be a english one somewhere also
Prasat Khao Noi

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## aging one

nice post, then we add wat and temple. more problems.  :Smile:

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## Marmite the Dog

Some of the Khmer ones should be the oldest and were originally Hindu, like the main complex at Angkor Wat.

Wat Po is positively modern compared with most in Thailand.

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## DrB0b

Wat Phra Pathom in Nakhom Pathom was the first Buddhist temple in Thailand, built in the 4th Century AD. It's still in use but I'm not sure if any of the original temple is left. Wat Po in Bangkok is only about 200 years old, as is Bangkok. Not even an American would consider that to be old :Smile:

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## Grower

> No kidding. Pity it is. Pimai is a paradox to the Thai's. Its Buddhist but its Khymer. What about Phra Wiharn? 
> 
> Oblique?


Ha, indeed. Still looking...

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## Grower

> Wat Phra Pathom in Nakhom Pathom was the first Buddhist temple in Thailand, built in the 4th Century AD.


Link please...

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## DrB0b

> Originally Posted by DrB0b
> 
> Wat Phra Pathom in Nakhom Pathom was the first Buddhist temple in Thailand, built in the 4th Century AD.
> 
> 
> Link please...


FFS. How the hell would I know. Not everything I know comes with a URL attached. Go find out for yourself, you lazy sod. Sometimes the sheer bloody bone idleness of some people just astounds me. Are you even able to take a dump without help?

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## Grower

> Sometimes the sheer bloody bone idleness of some people just astounds me. Are you even able to take a dump without help?


Ooo, hyperbole aside; I've been looking. Why are you so grumpy, geez, I just asked.
I definitely would have followed it (the link) as I don't take anything for granted or fact until I fact check it to my satisfaction; clear mai? Cheers.

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## Norton

> Some of the Khmer ones should be the oldest and were originally Hindu, like the main complex at Angkor Wat


Not operating but I've been there. In Surin. Old as dirt. 7th century.

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## Zooheekock

> Link please...


 There's a page on  Dhammathai which says it's regarded as one of the oldest sacred sites in Thailand.

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## Notnow

> Wat Phra Pathom in Nakhom Pathom was the first Buddhist temple in Thailand, built in the 4th Century AD. It's still in use but I'm not sure if any of the original temple is left. Wat Po in Bangkok is only about 200 years old, as is Bangkok. Not even an American would consider that to be old


It's funny but true about 'old' to an American.  Funnier still, most  buildings in Alaska are 20th century, the exceptions being from Russian days, mostly Orthodox churches.  This really amazed visiting British friends.  A large number have been built since the oil boom in the 1970's.

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