Wat Khunaram — the mummified monk

Luang Pho Daeng died in meditation in 1973 and sits in a glass case, sunglasses on, exactly as he asked to be left. Odd, calm, and entirely serious.

📍 Coordinates · 9.44982, 100.00060🧭 From Chaweng · ≈ 10 km🛣️ Getting there · On the ring road (route 4169)🥾 Walk · 1 min on foot🎟️ Entry · Free🕒 Allow · 30 min🌤️ Best time · morning, any time of day

Why go

Luang Pho Daeng died in meditation in 1973 and asked to be left as he was, as a reminder that the body is temporary. He sits in a glass case at Wat Khunaram, saffron robe on, sunglasses over the eye sockets, and he has been Samui's strangest and most serious sight ever since.

What you will find

The case stands in an open pavilion beside the ring road, so the visit takes ten minutes and costs nothing. The temple around it is ordinary and alive: a school, dogs, monks' quarters, the smell of incense. Read the plaque — the point of the display is his own teaching, not the curiosity of it.

Good to know

It is a place of worship, not a curiosity: no flash, no posing. Free.

Worth knowing before you go

It is a place of worship, not an exhibit: no flash, no posing beside the case, and keep your voice down.

Place

On the map

On the map…

Open the full island map · Driving directions · Google Maps · © OpenStreetMap

Places

Nearby

The closest places on the map, straight-line distance.

Zipline, Na Muang

The second zipline course, strung above the Na Muang valley — easy to bolt onto a waterfall morning.

Wat Samret

A quiet inland temple with a seated Buddha carved from coral stone, brought here from Sri Lanka. Almost nobody stops.

Hua Thanon fishing village

A Muslim fishing village on the south-east coast, its painted longtails drawn up on the sand and its fish market busiest before 8 a.m.

Read more

The island guide · Temples & shrines of Koh Samui · Koh Samui map

See it with us · Island Temples

Want someone to drive you there?

Half of these places are easier with a driver who knows which hill road is paved. Tell us which ones you care about and we will build the day around them.

💬WhatsApp