Cathy and Gary's South East Asia Travel Pages
WAT CHALONG
PHUKET
Wat Chalong is Phuket's most important Buddhist temple. The prayer hall contains the statues of three of the temples most famous monks: Luang Por Chaem, Luang Por Chuang and Luang Por Gluam.
Luang Por Chaem is the best known and has given Wat Chalong its fame as a place of healing. In 1876 there was a rebellion by the Chinese tin miners and Luang Por Chaem the abbot of the monastery at the time, helped to stop the rebellion and acted as a mediator in the peace talks.
When visiting the temple people usually go to pay respect to the statues of the monks, make offerings and ask for their blessing. The abbot was also a herbal doctor and a setter of broken bones, so his skills were called upon to heal those wounded during the fighting.
If you hear lots of very noisy bangs, don't worry it is just the locals setting off fire crackers in the stack for good luck and they ask for things like lottery numbers and have their fortune told.
Wat Chalong is a beautiful place to visit, the buildings and murals are amazing. There are 3 building's you can go into and the views from the top are worth the climb up the stairs. You will see markets around the Wat where you can buy cheap souvenirs, drinks etc plus there is an atm.
From Phuket City take the Bypass Road heading south towards Chalong for about 8 kilometres. The temple will be on your left. There is a dress code for both men and women for entering Temples in Thailand so please show respect by covering your shoulders and knees.
