Cathy and Gary's South East Asia Travel Pages
WAT SRISOONTHORN PHUKET
Wat Srisoonthorn was originally called Wat Lipon and renamed by King Rama 1. It was built in 1792 and I am sure there is a nice original story re this Temple but for us it was a total tourist trap that caters to many hundreds of Chinese tourists that arrive nonstop by the bus load.
Nearly everything including the main Temple is locked up. There is one huge area that is open so in we go.
Inside were many tourists sitting on the floor listening to their Chinese tour guides giving them a history lesson, well we assume that is what was happening and then they are directed over to the shop counters which are all around the inside of the building with thousands and thousands of various gold Buddha’s and amulets.
Now the selling starts.
There were about 8 Chinese staff whose job was to sell these Buddha’s. No, we do not want to buy a 780,000baht Buddha lol. It was obvious this is no longer a nice peaceful place, it is now only there to sell Buddha’s to the hundreds of Chinese tourists who come in by the busload.
There is even a coffee shop there with tables and chairs with ashtrays. Wat Srisoonthorn is north of the Heroines Monument on the left side of Thepkasattri Rd. Not a Temple I would bother going back to.
