Wat Tham Suea, Krabi
A forest monastery below a limestone karst, with 1,237 steps climbing to a gilded Buddha on the summit.
Wat Tham Suea, Krabi
Wat Tham Suea - the Tiger Cave Temple - sits a few kilometres north-east of Krabi town, at the foot of a limestone karst. It began as a forest meditation monastery in caves at the base of the cliff, and monks still live in kutis scattered through the trees behind the main compound.
What draws most visitors is the staircase: 1,237 uneven concrete steps climbing the side of the karst to a terrace at the top, where a large gilded Buddha and a footprint shrine stand about three hundred metres above the plain. It is a genuinely hard climb, steep and exposed, and it takes most people well over an hour. The reward is a 360-degree view over Krabi's karst landscape to the coast.
A second, gentler path leads into the forest circuit behind the temple, past large trees and a further set of caves, and requires no climbing at all. The name comes from tiger-paw markings said to have been found in the original cave.
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