Wat Hat Yai Nai

Temple with a 35-metre reclining Buddha you can walk inside

The city's most famous sight is also one of its most photographed. Wat Hat Yai Nai's centrepiece is the Phra Phuttha Mahattamongkhon, a 35-metre reclining Buddha completed in 1972 and reckoned to be the third largest in the world. The figure lies on its right side, hand supporting the head, draped in gold-painted concrete and surrounded by a covered pavilion.

You can enter the statue itself — a small chamber inside the torso contains an altar and the unusual anatomy models that give the temple its odd reputation. The surrounding compound has the usual smaller shrines, a Chinese-style pavilion (reflecting Hat Yai's strong Sino-Thai population), and stalls selling amulets. About 4 km west of the city centre on Phetkasem Road.

things to do sight
A story
The reclining Buddha at Wat Hat Yai Nai — Phra Phuttha Mahattamongkhon — is hollow, and a small door in the side opens onto a chamber containing painted models of the human heart and lungs. The intent is meditative: visitors are reminded that the Buddha, like every body, was made of impermanent flesh.