Wat Phra Borommathat Chaiya, Surat Thani

Wat Phra Borommathat Chaiya stands at Chaiya, north of Surat Thani town, and holds a chedi dating from around the ninth century - the best-preserved Srivijaya-period monument in Thailand and evidence that Chaiya was a major centre of that maritime empire long before the Thai kingdoms existed.

The chedi's form is quite unlike a standard Thai stupa: a square, tiered brick tower with small subsidiary towers at each corner and niches holding Buddha images, closer to Javanese and Sumatran work than to anything at Sukhothai or Ayutthaya. It sits in a walled courtyard lined with seated Buddhas, and a small national museum beside the temple holds sculpture recovered from the area.

Chaiya is also known as the home of Suan Mokkh, the forest monastery founded by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, a short distance away.