Wat Jong Kham and Wat Jong Klang Temple

Address: Wat Jong Kham and Wat Jong Klang, Mae Hong Son town, Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand

Hours: Daily, dawn-dusk

Admission: Free

Wat Jong Kham and Wat Jong Klang are two neighboring lakeside temples in the centre of Mae Hong Son town, positioned on the shore of a small urban lake. They are visually linked and commonly visited together.

Wat Jong Kham sits right at the water’s edge and features wooden and Lanna-Burmese decorative elements; Wat Jong Klang lies immediately adjacent and forms the pair often seen in photographs taken from the lakeside promenade. The temples and their reflections on the lake are particularly photographed around sunset.

Both function as local community temples within Mae Hong Son town and reflect the hybrid Lanna and Burmese architectural influences of the region. They are a short walk from Mae Hong Son’s central market and municipal area.

• Lakeside setting: Located on the shore of a small central lake in Mae Hong Son town, making the pair a popular subject for sunset photography.

Wat Jong Kham and Wat Jong Klang sit beside the small lake in downtown Mae Hong Son. From Chiang Mai you can take the daily minibus/van service from Chiang Mai Arcade Bus Terminal to Mae Hong Son (the trip is a long mountain drive of roughly 5-6 hours, about 250 km by road). Once in Mae Hong Son town the temples are a short walk from the main road and the local bus/van drop‑off (typically around 500-800 m); local songthaews or tuk‑tuks can also drop you at the lakefront.

• Visit around late afternoon into sunset to catch the temples reflected on the small lake and to combine the visit with Mae Hong Son's evening market without the midday heat.
• Approach from the lakeside promenade that runs through town rather than trying to find a back road; the main lakeside entrances put you closest to the wooden Burmese-style bell towers and viewing points.
• Take time to circle both temples-many visitors only photograph the lakeside façade and miss the teakwork, carved windows and quieter prayer halls on the far side of the complex.

Both temples were built in the early 19th century by local Shan people, and both were rebuilt during the 1970s. Each is topped with elaborately decorated rooftops in the Shan style.

It is worth taking a look inside Wat Jong Klang, which holds several glass paintings made over a century ago and a collection of surprisingly lifelike teak carvings depicting characters from the Jataka tales, the stories of the previous lives of the Buddha.