Wat Pho at opening time

Wat Pho is the best argument for an early start in Bangkok. Its courtyards are a maze of chedis faced in glazed tiles, cloisters lined with seated Buddha images and gateways that frame one courtyard from the next, and for the first hour after the gates open they are close to empty. A low sun catches the tiles from the side, which is when the colour reads; by the time the tour groups arrive, the light has turned hard and the shade has shrunk to the cloisters.

The temple's most famous image is the reclining Buddha, about 46 metres long and covered in gold leaf, the soles of its feet inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Photograph it on its own: the hall is a place of worship, and posing in front of the image is exactly what visitors are asked not to do. A session's frames belong outside, among the chedis and in the gateways.

Dress is checked at the gate — shoulders and knees covered for everyone, men included — and shoes come off before entering any hall. Foreign visitors pay an entrance fee; check the hours the night before. The Grand Palace, a short walk north, is not a place for a session: its dress rule is the strictest in the city, and there is no photography inside the chapel of the Emerald Buddha. Rules for photographers are set temple by temple — another Bangkok temple, Wat Ratchabophit, banned wedding and commercial shoots in 2024 — so the photographer clears each site before the day.