Koh Samui temples, mapped as a wheel

Thirty places to be still, set at their true bearing from the island's centre and numbered clockwise, the way a pilgrim walks around a sacred place.

1. Wat Phu Khao Thong (Hilltop temple) 1 2. Chinese Temple of Maenam (Chinese shrine) 2 3. Wat Bo Phuttharam (Wat) 3 4. Samui International Meditation Center (Meditation centre) 4 5. Wat Phra Yai (Wat) 5 6. Guam Im Shrine (Chinese shrine) 6 7. Wat Plai Laem (Wat) 7 8. Wat Sawang Arom (Wat) 8 9. Pagoda Khao Hua Jook (Hilltop temple) 9 10. Wat Teepangkorn, Koh Samui (Hilltop temple) 10 11. Wat Lamai (Wat) 11 12. Dipabhavan Meditation Center (Meditation centre) 12 13. Wat Sila Ngu (Wat) 13 14. Guan Yu Shrine (Chinese shrine) 14 15. Wat Samret (Wat) 15 16. Kamalaya Monk Cave (Garden, cave, footprint, pagoda) 16 17. Buddha's Footprint Shrine (Garden, cave, footprint, pagoda) 17 18. Wat Khunaram (Wat) 18 19. Secret Buddha Garden (Garden, cave, footprint, pagoda) 19 20. Wat Pradoem (Wat) 20 21. Laem Sor Pagoda (Garden, cave, footprint, pagoda) 21 22. Wat Laem Sor (Wat) 22 23. Wat Khao Chedi (Hilltop temple) 23 24. Wat Khiri Mat (Wat) 24 25. Wat Kiri Wongkaram (Wat) 25 26. Wat Nara Charoen Suk (Wat) 26 27. Wat Namtok Hin Lad (Wat) 27 28. Wat Chaeng (Wat) 28 29. Nathon Hainan Shrine (Chinese shrine) 29 30. Wat Na Phra Lan (Wat) 30
The wheel runs clockwise from north, the direction of a pradakshina, the traditional walk around a sacred place.
A dharma wheel with thirty spokes, one for each temple, placed at its true compass bearing from the island's centre and numbered clockwise from north.
#PlaceKindBearing
1Wat Phu Khao ThongHilltop temple2°
2Chinese Temple of MaenamChinese shrine3°
3Wat Bo PhuttharamWat36°
4Samui International Meditation CenterMeditation centre40°
5Wat Phra YaiWat45°
6Guam Im ShrineChinese shrine46°
7Wat Plai LaemWat47°
8Wat Sawang AromWat62°
9Pagoda Khao Hua JookHilltop temple63°
10Wat Teepangkorn, Koh SamuiHilltop temple105°
11Wat LamaiWat123°
12Dipabhavan Meditation CenterMeditation centre145°
13Wat Sila NguWat145°
14Guan Yu ShrineChinese shrine153°
15Wat SamretWat165°
16Kamalaya Monk CaveGarden, cave, footprint, pagoda171°
17Buddha's Footprint ShrineGarden, cave, footprint, pagoda172°
18Wat KhunaramWat173°
19Secret Buddha GardenGarden, cave, footprint, pagoda179°
20Wat PradoemWat182°
21Laem Sor PagodaGarden, cave, footprint, pagoda195°
22Wat Laem SorWat195°
23Wat Khao ChediHilltop temple197°
24Wat Khiri MatWat213°
25Wat Kiri WongkaramWat230°
26Wat Nara Charoen SukWat259°
27Wat Namtok Hin LadWat294°
28Wat ChaengWat294°
29Nathon Hainan ShrineChinese shrine298°
30Wat Na Phra LanWat353°

Which Buddha is yours

A Buddha for every day of the week

Ask a Thai friend which day they were born and they can usually name their Buddha image on sight. Each day carries its own posture, colour and planet, a tradition older than any temple on this island.

  1. Today

    Sunday

    Standing in contemplation

    Pang Thawai Net

    Sun

    For seven days after his enlightenment the Buddha stood gazing at the Bodhi tree without blinking, out of gratitude for its shade.

  2. Monday

    Calming the ocean

    Pang Ham Samut

    Moon

    The Buddha raised both palms to calm a storm at sea, or in another telling to stop his own kinsmen fighting over irrigation water.

  3. Tuesday

    Reclining

    Pang Sai Yat

    Mars

    The reclining figure shows the Buddha's final hours, passing peacefully into parinirvana after a long life of teaching.

  4. Wednesday

    Holding the alms bowl

    Pang Umbaat

    Mercury

    This posture marks the Buddha's first morning as a teacher, walking into town to collect alms like any other monk.

  5. Wednesday night

    Retreat into the forest

    Pang Pa Lelai

    Rahu

    When his monks quarrelled, the Buddha withdrew alone into the forest, where an elephant and a monkey brought him food each day.

  6. Thursday

    Seated in meditation

    Pang Samadhi

    Jupiter

    Half-lotus and still, this is the posture of the moment itself, the Buddha's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.

  7. Friday

    Hands crossed at the chest

    Pang Ram Pueng

    Venus

    Newly enlightened, the Buddha sits in quiet thought, weighing whether the truth he has found can be taught to anyone.

  8. Saturday

    Shielded by the naga

    Pang Nak Prok

    Saturn

    A seven-headed naga king raised his hood over the meditating Buddha for a week, sheltering him from a storm without a word.

The year in merit

The island's other calendar

Twelve dated observances decide when the island is dry, when temples fill with candlelight, and when the Chinese shrines light incense for the new year.

Wan Phra
Wan Phra, the Buddhist holy day, falls on the new moon, the first-quarter moon, the full moon and the last-quarter moon, roughly every seven to eight days, never on a fixed weekday.
Buddhist Era
Thailand counts years from the Buddha's passing, not Christ's birth. Add five hundred and forty-three to the Western year, so 2026 CE is 2569 BE on every temple calendar.
  1. Jan
    • -
  2. Feb
    • Chinese New Year Feb 17
  3. Mar
    • Makha Bucha Mar 3
  4. Apr
    • Songkran Apr 13
  5. May
    • Visakha Bucha May 31
  6. Jun
    • -
  7. Jul
    • Asalha Bucha Jul 29
    • Khao Phansa Jul 30
  8. Aug
    • Ghost Day Aug 27
  9. Sep
    • -
  10. Oct
    • Vegetarian Festival Oct 10
    • Ok Phansa Oct 26
    • Chak Phra Oct 27
    • Kathina Oct 27
  11. Nov
    • Loy Krathong Nov 25
  12. Dec
    • -

Next up

  1. Oct 10 Vegetarian Festival Nine days of meat-free eating and yellow flags at Chinese shrines, rooted in Hokkien tradition and best known from Phuket's version of the same festival.
  2. Oct 26 Ok Phansa The rains retreat ends. Some temples send off illuminated boats after dark, and merit-making resumes at the pace it kept before Vassa began. Alcohol sales banned
  3. Oct 27 Chak Phra A Surat Thani tradition on the day after Ok Phansa: a Buddha image is paraded by boat and by land, a custom Wat Nara Charoen Suk still keeps alive.
See the full 2026-27 calendar
The island's other calendar 2026
DateObservanceAlcohol sales banned
2026-02-17Chinese New Yearno
2026-03-03Makha Buchayes
2026-04-13Songkranno
2026-05-31Visakha Buchayes
2026-07-29Asalha Buchayes
2026-07-30Khao Phansayes
2026-08-27Ghost Dayno
2026-10-10Vegetarian Festivalno
2026-10-26Ok Phansayes
2026-10-27Chak Phrano
2026-10-27Kathinano
2026-11-25Loy Krathongno

Guardians and symbols

How to read a temple

Twelve recurring figures and symbols carry specific, sourced meanings across Samui's temples and shrines, a key to read them by, not decoration.

Five stories

Five stories behind the statues

  1. Wat Khunaram

    The monk who did not decay

    In 1973 the monk Luang Pho Daeng sat down to meditate at Wat Khunaram and did not rise again. His body has shown almost no decay since, and today it sits upright in a glass case, sunglasses added later to cover eyes long since sunken. He asked, before he died, that his body be kept on display exactly like this, not as a curiosity, but as a lesson in impermanence, the same teaching he gave in life now given in stillness.

    Wat Khunaram
  2. Wat Phra Yai

    Why the stairs are serpents

    A seven-headed naga king named Mucalinda once shielded the meditating Buddha from a week-long storm, raising his hoods overhead like a roof. Temple staircases carved as naga balustrades, like the one climbing to the Big Buddha, repeat the same gesture in stone. Climb the steps and the serpent is doing what it has always done: carrying a visitor from the ordinary ground below up into the sacred space at the top, one coil at a time.

    Wat Phra Yai
  3. Wat Plai Laem

    A thousand arms, eighteen of them here

    Avalokiteshvara tried to save every suffering being at once and her body shattered from the strain. The Buddha Amitabha gathered the pieces back together with many arms and many eyes, so she could reach everywhere suffering exists without ever needing to choose. Wat Plai Laem's lake-bound statue shows eighteen of those arms, rising fifteen metres over the water. Stand at the shore and count them; each one is doing something different, and none of it is decoration.

    Wat Plai Laem
  4. Wat Phra Yai

    The earth as a witness

    Before his enlightenment, the demon-king Mara challenged the Buddha's right to sit beneath the Bodhi tree at all. The Buddha touched the ground with his right hand instead of arguing, calling the earth itself to witness his years of past good deeds. The goddess Phra Mae Thorani rose and wrung a flood from her hair, sweeping Mara's army away without a word spoken. The Big Buddha here sits in that same earth-touching gesture, one hand still resting on the ground.

    Wat Phra Yai
  5. Laem Sor Pagoda

    A thousand hands up the hill

    In 1907, with no road and no machinery, close to a thousand people formed a human chain up the hillside at Samui's southern tip, passing coral-block bricks hand to hand for six months until the pagoda stood. Sri Lankan relics were installed inside it the following year. The chedi was later rebuilt closer to the shore after lightning damage, but the story of the chain, ordinary hands moving stone for a temple none of them would live to see finished, is the one still told.

    Laem Sor Pagoda

Read the full stories and symbols guide

Places to sit

Where to meditate, on and off the island

Seven places on Samui offer a formal place to sit, from a donation-based retreat above Lamai to a free evening session in Bophut, plus three verified options a half-day away.

  • Samui International Meditation Center
    What
    Middle Way Meditation (focus on the body's center); free daily drop-in evening session, plus 3-day, 7-day, and flexible-date residential retreats
    When
    -
    Cost
    free / donation for evening sessions
    Booking
    register via official website samui-meditation.com for retreats; evening sessions are drop-in
  • Dipabhavan Meditation Center
    What
    7-day silent Vipassana + Anapanasati retreat under Noble Silence (also shorter/flexible options mentioned in FAQ)
    When
    -
    Cost
    free / donation-based
    Booking
    register in advance via the official Dipabhavan website; participants meet at the Dipabhavan Foundation office near Wat Sila Ngu, then get a free truck up the mountain
  • Kamalaya Monk Cave
    What
    silent solo meditation inside the ancient monk cave (Tham Phra)
    When
    -
    Cost
    -
    Booking
    call ahead if not a staying guest
  • Wat Laem Sor
    What
    Anapanasati mindfulness of breathing in the dedicated Meditation Forest
    When
    -
    Cost
    -
    Booking
    -
  • Wat Khao Chedi
    What
    20-minute silent meditation session
    When
    -
    Cost
    -
    Booking
    -
  • Wat Namtok Hin Lad
    What
    occasional guided multi-day silent Vipassana retreats
    When
    -
    Cost
    -
    Booking
    -
  • Wat Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage
    What
    Ten-day silent retreat, 1st to 11th of every month, mindfulness of breathing
    When
    off island Chaiya, Surat Thani (mainland)
    Cost
    2,000 THB donation, paid on arrival
    Booking
    No reservations: register in person by 15:00 on the last day of the previous month
  • Vikasa Yoga Retreat
    What
    Daily hatha and flow classes, pranayama and meditation, multi-day retreats
    When
    off island Above Chaweng Noi, east coast
    Cost
    Drop-in classes and weekly or monthly passes; retreat packages priced separately
    Booking
    Online, walk-ins welcome for classes
  • Samahita Retreat
    What
    Two daily classes (07:30 and 16:30) of yoga, breathwork and meditation, plus themed retreats
    When
    off island Laem Sor, south coast
    Cost
    Retreat packages with accommodation
    Booking
    Online

Five steps to make merit

  1. 01 Dress modestly Cover your shoulders and knees before you reach the gate; sarongs and wraps are usually for rent or loan at the busier temples if you arrive without.
  2. 02 Take off your shoes Shoes come off before any hall with a Buddha image inside, left in a pile or on a rack by the door alongside everyone else's.
  3. 03 Wai when it's offered Press your palms together and bow your head slightly to greet a monk or return a blessing; let the other person's gesture set the height of yours.
  4. 04 Make a small offering A few coins in the donation box, incense at the altar, or food into a monk's alms bowl are all ways of making merit, not paying an entry fee.
  5. 05 Receive a blessing quietly If a monk offers a blessing with water or a string, sit or kneel below his level, stay quiet, and let it finish before you move on.
Read the full temple etiquette guide

Find them

The full directory, by tambon

All thirty places, grouped by tambon the way the road signs and the map group them, with hours, fees and how many steps stand between the gate and the shrine.

Loading the map

Maenam แม่น้ำ

Bo Phut บ่อผุด

Maret มะเร็ต

Na Mueang หน้าเมือง

Taling Ngam ตลิ่งงาม

Lipa Noi ลิปะน้อย

Ang Thong อ่างทอง

Before you go

Eight rules that cover every temple

Read the full etiquette guide

Beyond the gate

What's nearby

Every temple sits near a beach, a waterfall or a trail worth the same trip. Here is the closest of each, and the guides that tie the island's spiritual and physical geography together.

Nearest beach

  1. Wat Na Phra Lan from Na Phra Lan Beach 0.2 km
  2. Kamalaya Monk Cave from Laem Set Beach 0.2 km
  3. Wat Laem Sor from Laem Sor Beach 0.2 km
  4. Chinese Temple of Maenam from Maenam Beach 0.2 km
  5. Nathon Hainan Shrine from Nathon Beach, Koh Samui 0.4 km

Nearest waterfall

  1. Wat Sila Ngu from Sivatara Waterfall 0.9 km
  2. Wat Namtok Hin Lad from Hin Lad Waterfall 1.2 km
  3. Wat Khunaram from Wang Sao Thong Waterfall 1.6 km
  4. Wat Khunaram from Khao Yai Waterfall 1.9 km
  5. Secret Buddha Garden from Na Muang Waterfalls 2.2 km

Nearest hike

  1. Wat Nara Charoen Suk from Lardwanorn Waterfall Loop 0.5 km
  2. Wat Na Phra Lan from Maenam to Magic Garden Traverse 0.6 km
  3. Wat Sila Ngu from Lamai Viewpoint 0.9 km
  4. Guan Yu Shrine from Overlap Stone Samui Viewpoint 1 km
  5. Wat Pradoem from Secret Buddha Garden Trail 1.1 km

Read more

Before you ask

Questions people ask before visiting

How many temples are on Koh Samui?

This hub tracks thirty places to visit: sixteen wats, four hilltop temples, four Chinese shrines, two meditation centres and four sites that don't fit the usual pattern, from a stone garden to a beachfront pagoda.

What should I wear to a Samui temple?

Cover your shoulders and knees and take your shoes off before entering any hall with a Buddha image. Sarongs are usually available to rent or borrow at the busier temples if you arrive without one.

Which Samui temple matches my birthday?

Thai tradition gives each day of the week its own Buddha posture, colour and planet. Check the table above against your birth weekday, or use the date picker to find your image directly.

When does Thailand ban alcohol sales for Buddhist holidays?

Five days a year: Makha Bucha, Visakha Bucha, Asalha Bucha, Khao Phansa and Ok Phansa. Asalha Bucha and Khao Phansa fall back to back, making a forty-eight-hour ban each July.

Can I meditate on Koh Samui without booking ahead?

Yes. The meditation center in Bophut runs a free evening drop-in with no booking. Dipabhavan and the mainland's Suan Mokkh retreat both require advance registration.

What does BE mean on a Thai temple calendar?

Buddhist Era, counted from the Buddha's passing rather than Christ's birth. Add five hundred and forty-three to the Western year, so 2026 CE is 2569 BE.