Thailand Life Tools

Buddhism in Thailand

HOW

Most Thais are Buddhist, and daily life shows it: food for monks, shrines on street corners, amulets on chains. This hub explains what people do and believe. The Bangkok temples page covers fees and hours.

BUDDHISTS
92.5%
SCHOOL
Theravada
PRAYER PLACES
4

Share of Buddhists: Wikipedia, 2021 figure.

Sources read on 6 November 2026; no source here is the National Office of Buddhism

Buddhism is the largest religion in Thailand, around 92.5% of people in 2021, and most Buddhists follow the Theravada school (Wikipedia).

One way Thais give is food for monks on their morning round (tak bat). Sets of goods for monks (sangkhathan), flowers and incense at shrines and gold leaf on images are the others a visitor meets.

Thais call giving of this kind “making merit” (tham bun). Pages here say what people do and what they believe, not what it achieves.

Where Thais go to pray

Places with a source we could read. Each line says what the source gives; hours are shown only where the place’s own page states them.

  • Bangkok City Pillar Shrine (Lak Mueang)

    The shrine’s own page sets out the order of respects: a lotus for the Buddha images and alms-food for the image of your birth day, incense and candles at the model of the shrine, gold leaf, garlands for the pillar and the five spirit shrines, and a lamp of oil for your birth day. A 2026 review reports incense, candle and flower sets at the information desk for ฿60.

    Open daily 06:30–18:30 on the shrine’s page. A 2026 review puts it a 13-minute walk from MRT Sanam Chai exit 1.

    Bangkok City Pillar Shrine (Official institution) · Nestopa (Secondary source, 18 February 2026)

  • Trimurti shrine (in front of CentralWorld)

    The Government Public Relations Department lists what Thais bring and when: nine red incense sticks, a pair of red candles and nine red roses, with 9:30 and 21:30 named as good times. When people feel a prayer has been answered, the page says they return with coconut, sugar-cane juice and milk as thanks.

    In front of CentralWorld by BTS Chit Lom.

    Government Public Relations (thailand.go.th) (Official institution, 3 March 2023)

  • Erawan Shrine

    A shrine to Phra Phrom (Brahma), open daily 06:00–22:00 (Thairath, 6 August 2026). Incense and candles are no longer lit there; the temples page has the rest.

    By BTS Chit Lom.

    Thairath English (Secondary source, 6 August 2026)

  • Wat Saman Rattanaram (pink Ganesha) · Day trip

    Known for a large pink Ganesha; a tourism portal lists it as free and open 08:00–17:00 daily.

    In Chachoengsao province, about 1.5–2 hours from Bangkok by road, so a day trip.

    LoveThailand.org (Secondary source)

    Day trips from Bangkok

Related pages

STEP BY STEP

Where to start

  1. Giving something

    Food, goods for monks, flowers and incense, and why this site does not suggest buying animals to release: see the merit-making page.

  2. Amulets and taking them home

    What the common types are called, how Thais are said to wear them, and what the Fine Arts Department says about taking images out of Thailand.

  3. Visiting temples as sights

    Fees, hours, dress and the walking routes are on the Bangkok temples page, not here.

Questions

Is Thailand a Buddhist country?
Wikipedia gives about 92.5% Buddhists in 2021 and says most follow the Theravada school.
Does this site recommend amulet shops or sak yant tattoo artists?
No. No seller or tattoo shop is named or linked.
Where are the temple fees and opening hours?
On the Bangkok temples page, each with its basis and check date.