we're out here in the early morning in the thonburi district of bangkok thailand
and we wanted to show you something really special that you might not have seen before
today we're visiting wat pak nam phasi charoen
but it's more commonly known as wat paknam
i'm so excited because i've wanted to visit here for absolutely ages
you're going to find out why really soon
let's go check it out
the temple is located in an older area of bangkok
so there are canals all around the temple
they're actually hundreds of years old
in the more modern parts of bangkok where they used to have all the canals
they've actually been paved over now
this is one of the few areas where you can come and see the canals still working like they used to
back hundreds and hundreds of years ago
we're here really early in the morning and the light is just amazing
we haven't seen that many boats go past this morning
but we have seen loads of massive fish in the water
it's just turned 8 a.m so we're gonna head over the bridge and enter the temple now
we just can't wait to show you this
we really want to show you uncharted places all
throughout bangkok and the rest of thailand as well
so let us know if you're enjoying these videos
in terms of how to get here
a lot of people have said that you need to take the skytrain
and get a motorcycle taxi the rest of the way here
but we actually took a taxi right to the front door of the temple
so you can get there pretty easy
i think i can see it just over here
i just saw a little glimpse through a gap in the buildings and it's even bigger than i expected
wow i can't wait to get closer
this is the biggest buddha in bangkok
it's about 69 meters tall which is roughly 20 stories
it's 40 meters wide and it's really really big
we arrived by taxi but there's actually a pier located right outside the walk
so if you wanted to rent a boat from the chao phraya river you
could actually charter your own service and arrive right here
this buddha is so large i'm actually having huge trouble filming it
we use a super wide angle lens so normally i can fit anything into the shots no problem
but today not the case
hopefully we can get a little further away from it later and
see if we can get some better shots of it for you
so the other thing i've noticed is there's these giant floodlights all around the temple complex
i think if we came back here one time at night it would look amazing
this is the biggest buddha in bangkok
the previous biggest was 32 meters tall this one is 69 metres tall
it's over twice as big
honestly it's just massive
so the construction of this buddha started in 2017 and it's only recently been completed
while walking around you can still see there's a little bit of construction going on
this is often the case in thailand
a lot of the temples are continuously being renovated and added to
they're a huge source of pride so the community never really stops decorating them
you might not be a buddhist yourself but it's still a very calming experience
coming and hanging out at one of these temples
this buddha statue actually cost a hundred million baht
that's three million us dollars
it's a 69 metre bronze statue
three million dollars sounds like a pretty good deal if you ask me
wat paknam is on the canals of one of the oldest parts of bangkok
you can see old bangkok absolutely everywhere
in the buildings and the way of life and of course in the beautiful temples that are all around us
the temple that the buddha is attached to was actually founded in 1610
1610
that is a long time ago
it's really hard to believe that i'm sitting right here where someone
may have sat about 400 years ago
i just can't really get my head around it
it's such a bizarre feeling
you're probably wondering if this is the biggest buddha in all of thailand
surprisingly it's not
that honor goes to wat muang which is
in the ang thor province about 140 kilometers north of bangkok
this is a temple so obviously we need to take our shoes off when going inside
there's a sign here saying beware of shoe thieves
but that's not something you need to worry about in thailand
we're going to take a look inside the building now
apparently there are lots of buddha images in here
beautiful amulets and a meditation hall
i've also heard there's an amazing view of the big buddha from up here
let's go inside and check it all out
we're inside now it's a practicing temple so we need to be really quiet
we're on the first floor now as soon as you walk in you see the most
beautiful shrine that's right behind me
let's have a look
all right let's go up and see what else is here
we've made it to the second floor and behind me you can see hundreds and hundreds of relics
this place is kind of like a museum
wow there are the most amazing pocket watches over here
check these out
the other thing i've noticed is on this floor all around the edge of the room
there are these like fans
i'm not sure exactly what they represent
if you know anything about it please let me know down in the comments
it's hard to even know what to look at in here
as well as all of the amazing relics you just need to look up
the ceilings are decorated with the most amazing gold paint designs
there are so many buddhas in here
take a good look at the buddha behind me
it's so similar to the huge buddha outside this temple
except we can actually fit it in the frame
we've just noticed some english translations on some of the statues around the museum
so they're obviously expecting this is gonna be a huge tourist attraction in the future
okay we're done looking around this bit
we're gonna head up the stairs now
we're going up to the next floor now
i actually have no idea what this is
it's all fenced off and i've never seen anything like this before
if you know what it is let me know in the comments
i really want to know
we did actually come here to see bangkok's largest
buddha statue but there's something else really amazing just upstairs
let's go have a look
right at the top of the building is this amazing glass chatti
it has emerald light being projected through it
and it looks like it's glowing
have you ever seen anything like this before?
i haven't
and just through these doors up here i think we're gonna have the most amazing view of the big buddha
right now we're five stories up and the big buddha is still looming over us
hopefully this puts it into perspective just how big this thing is
wow i'm so glad we found this balcony
this is such a good way to see the big buddha
so there's a lot of competition going on with these riverside temples in bangkok
for the longest time ever the buddha statue behind me was
the biggest in the thonburi area that i'm aware of
now the big buddha statue at wat paknam completely dwarfs this one
but as you can see they're already onto it and they've already started renovating the statue
so who knows in a couple of years this could be 100 meters tall
if you want more uncharted bangkok check out our video about the david beckham temple
and we'll catch you in the next one