Big Buddha
A 45 m white marble Buddha on the hilltop above Kata, reopened in March 2026 under new management and new rules.
6 places
Phuket's temples and shrines, compared
The Buddhist temples and the Chinese shrines of the Old Town side by side: how you get there, entry, time to allow and when to go.
Phuket's religious sites fall into two families. The Buddhist temples (wat) are Thai: the Big Buddha on Nakkerd Hill, reopened in March 2026, Wat Chalong, Wat Mongkol Nimit in Phuket Town and Wat Phra Thong in Thalang. The shrines of the Old Town, among them Jui Tui and the Shrine of the Serene Light, are Chinese, and they are the heart of the Vegetarian Festival every autumn.
The Big Buddha and Wat Chalong, about 8 km apart by road, fit into one morning; the shrines and Wat Mongkol Nimit are best seen on a walk through the Old Town, and Wat Phra Thong on the way to or from the airport. Cover shoulders and knees, and take your shoes off before entering a building. Our guide to the Big Buddha and the temples covers each one in detail.
Compare at a glance
| Places | Access | Entry | Time to allow | Best time | Distance (from Patong) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Buddha | By road | Part of a morning, with Wat Chalong | At opening time, 9 am | 8 km | |
| Wat Chalong | By road | Free | Part of a morning, with the Big Buddha | Early, before the late-morning crowds | 7 km |
| Jui Tui Shrine | By road | Free | A short stop on an Old Town walk | Any day; busiest at the Vegetarian Festival | 10 km |
| Shrine of the Serene Light | On foot from the road | Free | A short stop on an Old Town walk | In the daytime, on a walk | 10 km |
| Wat Mongkol Nimit | By road | Free | A short stop on an Old Town walk | During an Old Town walk | 10 km |
| Wat Phra Thong | By road | A short stop | On the way to or from the airport | 16 km |
Wat Chalong
The island's best-known Buddhist temple, with a tall chedi holding a relic of the Buddha, and firecrackers set off for wishes come true.
Jui Tui Shrine
The Chinese shrine of the Nine Emperor Gods, where the Vegetarian Festival begins every autumn.
Shrine of the Serene Light
A small Hokkien family shrine at the end of a passage, behind a large Chinese gate on Phang Nga Road.
Wat Mongkol Nimit
Phuket Town's main working Buddhist temple, a royal temple since 1953, at the northern end of Soi Romanee.
Wat Phra Thong
A temple built around a golden Buddha of which only the head, shoulders and chest rise above the ground.
See these places with us
Things to do · temples
Big Buddha & temples
A white marble Buddha on the hill above Kata, reopened in 2026 after a deadly landslide; the island's best-known Buddhist temple, at Chalong; Chinese shrines in the Old Town; and a golden Buddha half-buried in the ground at Thalang.
Things to do · the Old Town
Old Town
A grid of painted shophouses built on tin money, a food culture that earned Phuket a UNESCO City of Gastronomy title, and a Sunday market that fills Thalang Road: the Old Town is the part of Phuket that is not about the sea.
Things to do · the south
Rawai and the south
The south of Phuket ends in a cape where crowds gather every evening for the sunset. Around it are Nai Harn, a bay with a lake behind it, the small cove of Ya Nui, Rawai with its longtail pier and seafood market, and Chalong, whose pier is the island's busiest for boat trips.
Where to stay · Kata and Karon
Kata and Karon
Three beaches south of Patong, quieter in the evening and popular with families. Which one to sleep at, what the sea does in the monsoon, and who would be happier somewhere else.
Common questions
Is the Big Buddha in Phuket open?
Yes. It reopened on 3 March 2026, after being closed since the landslide of August 2024, and is open every day from 9 am to 6 pm. As of March 2026, only the statue, the main stairway, the temple area and the terraces were open.
Do Phuket's temples charge an entry fee?
Wat Chalong, Wat Mongkol Nimit, Jui Tui Shrine and the Shrine of the Serene Light are free to enter; Wat Chalong welcomes donations. At the Big Buddha, entry was free for the first month after it reopened in March 2026, and we found no confirmed fee since.