Wat Traimit

In a temple near the edge of Chinatown sits one of the most surprising objects in the city: a Buddha image more than three metres tall, seated in calm meditation, made of several tonnes of solid gold. This is Wat Traimit, the Temple of the Golden Buddha, home to what is believed to be the largest solid gold Buddha in the world.

The image is genuinely solid gold, not gilded, and its weight runs to several tonnes, which makes its value almost beyond reckoning. Yet for much of its life no one knew what it was, because it was hidden beneath a thick coat of plaster.

The story of its rediscovery is the temple's great tale. The plaster-covered image was thought to be an ordinary one until, in the middle of the twentieth century, it was being moved and slipped, the plaster cracked, and the gold beneath was revealed for the first time in centuries.

Historians believe the gold was deliberately disguised under plaster long ago, probably to hide its value from invading armies. The disguise worked so well that the secret was lost, and the true nature of the image was forgotten until that lucky accident.

The Buddha sits in a hall at the top of the temple, serene and gleaming, and seeing it is the heart of a visit, a calm and astonishing sight once you know its weight and history.

The temple also holds small museums telling the story of the image and of the Chinese community of the surrounding district, adding context to the gold and to the neighbourhood it sits in.

Its position on the edge of Chinatown makes it a natural start or end to exploring that dense, lively quarter, and the temple's gilded spire is a landmark at the gateway to the area.

The image is a reminder of how faith and gold have long been intertwined here, and of how the troubles of the past, invasion and the need to hide treasure, shaped what survives today.

As at any temple, it is a place of worship, so visitors dress modestly and behave quietly, and many Thai visitors come to pray before the image rather than simply to look.

The temple is easy to reach and quick to see, so it pairs well with a wander through Chinatown's markets and street food, the sacred and the everyday side by side.

A few practical notes. Entry to the hall and museums carries a small charge; dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered, and remove your shoes in the hall. It sits near a transit station at the edge of Chinatown.

Stand before the great gold figure, knowing it lay hidden under plaster for generations, and the calm of the image and the strangeness of its story settle together. Wat Traimit keeps one of the city's best secrets in plain sight. When you step back out into Chinatown, the ordinary streets feel charged with the thought of what else might lie hidden.