Pattaya’s Nongyai Temple has unseated Chachoengsao as home to the country’s tallest Luang Poh Sothon statue – with a larger-size replica of the iconic Phra Phuttha Sothon image.
Abbot Samuyongyuttkametaro said the original plan, when the golden Buddha was started in 1994, was to simply replicate the Sothon Wararam Worawihan Temple image, which is visited by tens of thousands of Thais each week seeking everything from a cure for cancer to enhanced fertility.
But as the project proceeded, the copy of the Luang Po Sothorn Buddha, as it known colloquially for its association with Wararam Worawihan’s former abbot, it grew, literally.
Now complete, the Pattaya Buddha is 10 meters wide, 14 meters tall and has a 10-meter-wide lap. It must be accessed via two 14-meter staircases, making Pattaya’s Phra Phuttha Sothon image the highest in Thailand.
The temple is open daily for those wishing to pay their respects.
