Thailand Temple Dress Code

 

What to wear to temples in Bangkok and temples in other cities is a question that almost all tourists wonder

Hello everyone! Are you ready to visit Thailand?

Have you prepared Thailand Temple Outfit?

 

Thailand is famous for the beauty of abundant temples which are worth visiting. At those temples, you will see fantastic architecture including gorgeous art on both the exterior and interior of buildings. Some of them are hundreds of years old. It is thrilling that you shouldn’t skip it. Because these are religious places. Certainly, many tourists have questions about Thailand temple dress code. 

 

If there are temples in your itinerary to visit, preparing modest clothing will make your trip seamless.

The Must-Visit temples in Bangkok, especially The Temple of Emerald Buddha which is located in the area of The Grand Palace, you will not be permitted to enter if you wear inappropriate outfits.

 

So, What To Wear To Temples ?

No worries, we have the guidelines for you here. Let’s have a look!

 

Top

We know that the weather in Thailand is hot for you. You come from countries having winter with one number or minor temperature. If it is possible, you want to wear sleeveless shirts or spaghetti strap tops everywhere. We understand you. But the culture of Thailand’s temple dress code is what Thailand conserves. Clothing is symbolic that shows inner emotions from people to things, places, or events around them. Thailand temple outfit is required to express respect to Buddhism which has been valuable for Thai people and the kingdom from past to present. This is an attractive culture in Thailand. 

Yes

• Top with sleeves is required. It can be both short and long sleeves.

No

• Sleeveless tops are not allowed to be worn for visiting temples. 
• Although you have a big scarf to cover your shoulders, there is no flexible rule for sleeveless shirts.
• See-through tops are not allowed, although it is a dark color.
• Crop tops that uncover the waist or navel are not permitted, even though there are sleeves. The sexy look with a very short length of your top is not appropriate for visiting temples for Thai culture. You may think that ‘My top is not too short, it shows my waist just 2 centimeters’, but nobody cannot guarantee whether the guards think the same. If they don’t, you have to lose time in finding new tops. So, it’s better to wear long tops to make sure that you will not get a problem when you reach the temples.

Recommendation

• We recommend you choose tops made of comfortable fabrics with airflow qualification and make your body stay cool.
• Please avoid wearing tops made of thick textiles which keep heat. It is a factor that can cause you to get heat stroke.

 

Bottom

The best bottom garment item which is permitted for temple entrance is with the length covering your ankles and in the comfort loose feature.

Yes

• Long pants are recommended
• If you like wearing skirts. It looks pretty and sweet. We also love it. But please make sure that the length of your skirts covers your knees.
• Wearing Jeans pants is no problem. (But your jeans are not tight and torn)

No

• All styles of short pants are not permitted.
• Short skirts, mini skirts, and pants skirts are not permitted.
• You may go biking to explore the view of Bangkok in the morning and then visit temples. This is a fantastic itinerary for a fan of bike sports. But you cannot wear bike pants to enter the temples.
• Tight and skinny pants are not allowed.
• For women who love sports fashion. Yes, we do. But sports pants which are tight and skinny cannot be allowed to wear for visiting temples.
• Ripped jeans and pants are not permitted.
• Same as the rule of wearing tops, certainly, the see-through style is not allowed.

Recommendation

• If you want to experience the temple like local people, for example, sitting down on the floor to learn how to respect Buddha in Thai style or you enjoy spending time sitting and observing ancient murals on the interior wall of the halls, long pants with the loose at your legs are convenient for you to sit and stand up repeatedly.

 

Shoes

Thailand temple dress code shoes usually make visitors doubtful about what type of shoes are appropriate and allowed to wear to visit temples. 

Yes

• Shoes with features that cover all of your feet are the best such as sneakers, loafers, and oxfords.
• Shoes that reveal some parts of your feet but cover your heels are allowed such as sandals, flats, and pumps.

No

• Shoes that reveal your heels such as flip-flops may not be permitted. The rule of The Temple of Emerald Buddha Entrance is wearing polite and respectful clothing. Flip-flops look comfortable for walking on the beach but they don’t look polite enough for visiting the palace area as the attitude of Thai culture.
• The guards of the palace may or may not allow you to enter The Grand Palace with flip-flops. If they allow, they allow because they are kind to tourists. They understand that it is difficult to find new shoes around the palace but this is not what they expect. However, some guards are strict. So, to avoid wearing flip-flops is the best recommendation from us to make sure that you are permitted to enter the Grand Palace. It isn’t fun to root in front of the Grand Place that the guards allow you to enter with your flip-flops.

Recommendation

• If you get an injury or have medical problems with your feet that it is necessary to wear flip-flops, you can tell the guards.
• We do not recommend wearing expensive shoes. Because when you go into the halls in the temples, you have to take off your shoes and leave them out of the halls. There is no responsibility from temples if your shoes are lost.
• Shoes are important for your trip. Sneakers designed with excellent support are awesome! We don’t hope that you are so tired in your legs and feet, especially if this is the first day of your Thailand trip. Even if it’s not a trekking trip, walking distance from temple hopping which is quite different from your general daily routine probably makes your legs tired more than you expect.

 

Hat & Head Covering

There is no restriction about hats to visit temples. However, a hat or a cap is a good item for visiting temples to protect your face from strong sunlight because not only in the hall but also in outdoor areas of temples that have attractions to view such as stupas, belfries and huge statues.

Yes

• You can wear hats to enter the temples
• You can wear a fashionable head covering such as a hair scarf, headband

No

• But you are told to take off your hats when you go into the hall which is the house of respectful Buddha images.

Recommendation

• It’s awesome for those who exceptionally care for the face skin, particularly ladies to choose to wear wide brim hat

 

For Your Neck

Scruff is the area of your skin that faces the sunlight all the time while you are outdoors. The back side of the neck is the part that most people omit protecting from sunburning. There are many ways to cover it.

Recommendation

• It’s easy to choose to wear a shirt with a collar. You can put the collar up to cover your scruff when you are in the sunlight.
• Skinny scarf makes you look pretty but make sure that the fabric is thin and comfortable enough for you to wear in hot weather.
• If you like carrying a bag, bringing a small towel with you will be useful in case you need it.

 

Visiting other temples in Bangkok and temples in other cities.

Some temples don’t have guards to strictly check whether visitors wear appropriate clothing as the guards at The Temple of Emerald Buddha and The Reclining Buddha Temple such as small temples located among peaceful and silent villages. Flip-flops are acceptable to wear but sleeveless and see-through tops are not typically allowed. If there are caretakers at those temples, they will not let you enter the temples. If there is no caretaker, Buddhists around, or monks will come to give you a warning. Pants and skirts with the length shorter than your knees are not proper either.

 

Chiang Mai Temple Dress Code and Chiang Rai Temple Dress Code

Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, these two cities in the northern part of Thailand have many fascinating temples to visit. To wear clothes which cover your shoulders and your knees is the appropriate dress code. The sexy outfit is not proper.

Thai-northern local garments are well-known. Many tourists wear comfortable tops such as t-shirts matching long pants or long skirts which are local clothes with beautiful patterns and unique textiles. This looks so cool.

 

Elephant Pants

Pants with elephant patterns are so popular for tourists as you see on social media. It’s called ‘Elephant Pants’. Some people call them ‘Thai Pants’. Apart from the cool design, the fabric is very comfortable to wear that is made to be suitable in the weather of Thailand. The pants have several colors and patterns that you will enjoy choosing the pretty colors you like. You will see many tourists wearing elephant pants at temples. Photos of you at the beautiful Thai temples with chic elephant pants you wear are really impressive as a nice photo shot of your Thailand trip.

Do you know why elephants?

Elephant is the national animal of Thailand.

 

Colors not to wear in Thailand

There is no forbidden color to wear in Thailand. 

You can wear any color which you like to visit Thai temples and other places in Thailand.

During some occasions or for some activities, you may see many Thai people wearing the same shirt color. This doesn’t mean any mandatory clothes color by law.

However, we have information about clothing colors for occasions in Thai culture that is good to know for you.

 

Colors Wearing in Thailand

• Yellow is the color of King Rama the 9th. Some Thai people such as tour guides wear yellow polo shirts with the number 9 in the Thai alphabet as the mark on the shirt to remind them about his royal grace.
• Sky blue is the color of the Queen of King Rama the 9th. If you visit Thailand in August, which is the month of the Queen’s birthday, August 12th, you will see many Thai people wearing sky-blue shirts.
• Yellow-orange, you generally see this color shade on the monks’ garments in Thailand. You may see different shades of monks’ clothing in some areas of Thailand such as red, brown, and black brown.
• At funerals, Thai people wear both top and bottom clothes in black or white.
• Chinese New Year in February, you will see a lot of Thai-Chinese people wearing red tops and dresses. They believe that red colors attract luck and money to them.
• Brown is the color of the Thai government. The Thai police uniform is dark brown. The government officers including teachers at government schools wear uniforms in soft brown one day per week. The cover of the Thai passport is red-brown.
• Songkran festival from 13-15 April of the year, which is the Thai New Year, people love wearing floral shirts in vibrant colors such as bright pink, blue, green and yellow. The atmosphere during this festival time is lively and this festival appeals to tourists around the world to come to Thailand.

 

Clothes you wear show your appreciation for Thai culture. Certainly, Thai people will appreciate you too.

We hope this guideline is useful for you. 

 

Now you are all set to visit fascinating Thai temples. Let’s go!