Erawan Shrine
A run of hotel construction disasters — injuries, cost overruns, a lost shipload of Italian marble — was stopped in 1956 by building a Brahma shrine on the site.
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Commissioned by the Fine Arts Department to neutralize bad karma from a wrongly dated foundation, the shrine fuses Hindu, Buddhist, and Thai animist belief into one open-air corner altar. Classical dance troupes perform here whenever devotees' prayers are answered, making it as lively as the shopping intersection surrounding it.
What to look for
- The Phra Phrom (Brahma) statue, cast and consecrated by the Fine Arts Department on 9 November 1956
- Thai classical dance troupes performing beside the altar — hired by worshippers in thanks for granted prayers
- Five smaller shrines around the Ratchaprasong intersection dedicated to Ganesha, Lakshmi, Trimurti, Indra, and Narayana
Exit Chit Lom BTS Station — an elevated walkway runs directly above the shrine at the Ratchaprasong intersection, giving a clear overhead view before you descend.
Erawan Shrine is one of 38 sights worth the detour in Bangkok, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Bangkok pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Bangkok
- Grand PalaceIn 1782 a king moved his entire capital from Thonburi to Bangkok and built this walled city — Thailand's seat of power for the next 143 years.
- Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha)Every Thai king since 1783 has personally added to this temple — and the reigning king still presides over state ceremonies here today.
- Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn)Named for Aruna — the Hindu charioteer who drives the sun at dawn — this riverside spire was built to face the light it honors.
- Baiyoke Tower IIBangkok's tallest hotel stacks an observatory, a bar, and a revolving roof deck across three floors at 309 metres.
- BTS SkytrainBangkok sits in chronic gridlock — three elevated lines run above it on 70 kilometers of track connecting the city end to end.
- Rajamangala National StadiumThailand's largest stadium swells like a concrete wave — narrow at each end, rising steeply until the stands crest exactly at the halfway line.