Just under 30 miles from the capital, the central region province of Pathum Thani was founded during the Ayutthaya period. Originally a settlement for the Mon people, the province took its name after the lotus flowers offered to King Rama II during a royal visit.
Famous for its many temples from the Mon era, the province is home to a beautiful city pillar shrine in the form of a lotus stem. Constructed in 1977, the four-gabled enclosure in the likeness of the Narai god has a Buddha image in the Sukhothai style of ‘subduing evil’ enshrined on one side.