Golden Buddha Statue Travel tips you can trust

Why the

Golden Buddha Statue

is special

It has a fascinating history and staggering monetary value.

Golden Buddha Statue

tips and insights

Height, weight and value

The seated Golden Buddha in Bangkok is 3-meters (10-feet) high and weighs 12,000 pounds. At US$1,400 per troy ounce (the rate at this writing), the gold in the statue is worth $250 million dollars.

History in brief

13th century

The Buddha was cast in solid gold north of Bangkok during the powerful Sukhothai period.

18th century

The Golden Buddha was completely covered in plaster to make an invading army think it was a commonplace cement statue. The ruse worked, but too well. The secret was forgotten for centuries.

20th century

In 1955, while the "cement" statue was being hoisted into its new home, the rope apparatus failed and the sculpture heavily fell to the ground. The next day a surprised monk saw gold where a piece of the plaster had chipped off. The removal of the remaining plaster followed.

Security

Considering the Golden Buddha's whopping value, it is relatively unprotected. But whose going to steal a 5.5-tonne object sitting in an upper floor of the Golden Buddha Temple in the middle of a large city?

Location in Thailand

Know these Thailand tips and insights

In Bangkok

Floating Markets

Golden Buddha Statue

Grand Palace

Temple of Dawn

Temple Emerald Buddha

Temple Reclining Buddha

Beyond Bangkok

Ayutthaya Temples

Chiang Mai

Phanom Rung Hist Park

Prasat Hin Phimai

Phang Nga Bay

Phi Phi Islands

Phuket

Sukhothai Historical Park

More pages

Thailand wonders - Top 5 rankings

Thai cuisine - Famous dishes

Temple photo by Will Ellis - CC BY 2.0

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Share this page

World's Top 100 Wonders

World's Top 1000 Wonders

Site map

My credentials

About my website and criteria

Reader testimonials



