Mueang Nakhon Si Thammarat District · TH

Phra Wihan Sung

Phra Wihan Sung—also called Ho Phra Sung, the “Tall Shrine Hall”—is a small brick viharn perched on a man-made mound just outside the old north wall of Nakhon Si Thammarat. Its name is literal: the hall was raised on an earthen hill roughly 2.10 metres above the surrounding ground, so that the Buddha image within looks out over the open field once used as the town's parade and battleground, Sanam Na Mueang. For locals it is far more than a roadside ruin. The mound, the hall and a single serene Buddha are wrapped in two of southern Thailand's most persistent legends—a cannon platform against a Burmese invasion, and a whispered tradition linking the site to the final days of King Taksin. Inside, gilded stucco Buddhas, delicate “falling flower” murals and a set of coded Chinese symbols make it one of the most quietly intriguing monuments on Ratchadamnoen Road.