Wat Traimit is home to the largest solid gold Buddha image in the world — Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon, a seated image 3 metres tall and weighing 5.5 tonnes of pure gold, currently valued at over 250 million US dollars. The image sits in a purpose-built four-storey building constructed in 2010 to house it properly after decades in a modest shrine room inadequate for its significance.
The story of the image's discovery is one of the most remarkable in Thai religious history. For decades the image was covered in plaster and stored in a simple shed at the temple, assumed to be an ordinary stucco Buddha of no particular value. In 1955 a crane moving the image cracked the plaster covering, revealing the gold beneath. Subsequent investigation revealed the entire image — all 5.5 tonnes — was cast in solid gold, probably during the Sukhothai period between the 13th and 15th centuries and plastered over to hide it from Burmese invaders.
The temple sits at the entrance to Bangkok's Chinatown on the edge of Samphanthawong district, making it a natural stopping point for visitors exploring the area between Yaowarat Road and the riverside. The building housing the image also contains a museum on the history of the Teochew Chinese community in Bangkok on the lower floors, providing context for the neighbourhood surrounding the temple.
The image itself is extraordinary to stand before — the scale, the weight, the knowledge of what it is made of and the centuries it spent hidden in plain sight create an experience that photographs cannot replicate.
"5.5 tonnes of solid gold, hidden under plaster for centuries — discovered by accident when a crane dropped it"
Historical Note
The plastering of valuable Buddha images to hide them from invaders was a common practice during periods of conflict in Thai history. Dozens of images across Thailand have been discovered with gold, jewels or valuable materials concealed beneath plain exteriors. The Phra Phuttha Maha Suwan Patimakon at Wat Traimit is simply the most spectacular example of a tradition of concealment that runs through centuries of Thai Buddhist material culture.