AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Perched on the Phu Thap Boek highlands of Phetchabun Province, Wat Pa Phu Thap Boek is a forest monastery said to sit at the highest elevation of any temple in Thailand. Its crowning feature is the Phra Maha That Chedi of the 37 Factors of Enlightenment — a striking multi-spired pagoda inspired by the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya — which rises dramatically from a sea of mountains and seasonal mist.↗↗
Established in 1991 by the local Hmong and Thai communities of Thap Boek Village, the temple occupies more than 50 rai of forested mountain terrain. It offers a rare blend of spiritual significance, architectural wonder, and raw natural beauty at an altitude that keeps the air cool year-round.↗
The 37-Spire Pagoda
The Phra Maha That Chedi Bodhipakkhiya Dhamma is the reason most visitors make the uphill drive to this temple. Its 37 spires represent the core principles leading to enlightenment in Buddhist teaching: the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Four Right Efforts, Four Bases of Power, Five Spiritual Faculties, Five Powers, Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path. The design is a contemporary reinterpretation of the great Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, rendered in a Rattanakosin-applied style that gives it a distinctly Thai identity while honoring its Indian inspiration.
