Wat Nivet Thammaprawat Temple

Address: Bang Pa‑In area, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya (Ayutthaya Province), Thailand

Admission: Free (may be visited as part of Bang Pa‑In Royal Palace; palace entry fee may apply)

Wat Niwet Thammaprawat is a royal Buddhist temple located on the Bang Pa-In (Summer Palace) island in Ayutthaya province, Thailand, notable for its European Gothic-style ordination hall. The temple was commissioned by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in the late 19th century as part of the royal palace complex.

The temple’s most striking feature is an ordination hall built to resemble a small Gothic chapel, complete with stained-glass windows and a nave-like interior while serving traditional monastic functions. Visitors often combine a temple visit with a tour of the adjacent Bang Pa-In Royal Palace grounds.

Built during the reign of King Chulalongkorn, the temple served royal ceremonial purposes and reflects the 19th-century Thai interest in Western architectural forms blended with Buddhist function.

Geographically the temple sits on an island in the Chao Phraya River at Bang Pa-In, about 60 kilometres north of Bangkok and within Ayutthaya province; it is accessible from the Bang Pa-In Palace complex.

• Royal foundation (Rama V): Construction was commissioned by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) in the late 19th century and the site functions as a royal temple within the Bang Pa-In complex.

What to See#

• Gothic-style ordination hall: The ordination hall (ubosot) is designed in an unusual European Gothic church style, with stained-glass windows and a nave-like interior that distinguish it from typical Thai temple architecture.
• Royal temple in Bang Pa‑In: The temple was built as a royal temple within the Bang Pa-In royal complex and is commonly visited together with Bang Pa-In Palace on the same island in the Chao Phraya River.

Wat Niwet Thammaprawat (Bang Pa‑in) is reached from Bangkok by train on the State Railway of Thailand’s Northern/Central line - get off at Bang Pa‑in station (the palace and temple are adjacent). By car it is about a 60-70 km drive north of central Bangkok via Phahonyothin Road (Route 1); after parking you can walk into the Bang Pa‑in Palace complex to the temple (a few hundred metres from the station/parking area). Local buses and tourist vans to Ayutthaya/Bang Pa‑in also stop nearby and tuk‑tuks can cover the short final leg.