A cave monastery in Plai Phraya district founded after its abbot entered the cave on 9 July 1990 — named for the elephant Nalagiri, and holding an ordination hall built in the shape of a kneeling elephant.
วัดถ้ำปราสาทนาฬาคิริง · Wat Tham Prasat Nalakhiring
| Official name | วัดถ้ำปราสาทนาฬาคิริง — Wat Tham Prasat Nalakhiring |
|---|---|
| Where | Not recorded by the provincial office, Plai Phraya, Krabi |
| Royal temple class | Not established from an official register. |
| Monastic order | Not recorded in any register we could read. |
| Ancient monument | Not established. |
Not recorded by the provincial office, Plai Phraya, Krabi
The exact location has not been confirmed yet.
Thai temple histories mix two different kinds of statement, and this guide keeps them apart. What a register, a gazette entry, an inscription or a dated royal act shows is one thing. What the chronicles and the temple itself hold is another, and it is worth telling as what it is.
This is the youngest entry in the Krabi registry and one of the very few temples anywhere in this guide whose origin is recorded to the day. That is not because it is important; it is because it happened recently enough that somebody wrote it down at the time.
Wat Tham Prasat Nalakhiring is on the Ao Luek to Phra Saeng road in Plai Phraya district, the inland north-eastern corner of Krabi that almost no visitor reaches, and it is the youngest temple in this registry by a considerable margin. The Krabi provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism records the sequence closely: Luang Pho Kachit Kamlo was invited to head a monastic community in Plai Phraya in B.E. 2532 (1989), local people told him about a cave, and he first entered it on 9 July B.E. 2533 (1990). A temple grew from that visit. It is rare in this guide to be able to give a founding to the day, and the reason is simply that this one is recent.
The name is the interesting part. Nalakhiring is the Thai rendering of Nalagiri, the elephant in the Buddhist canon that Devadatta released, drunk and enraged, into a street in Rajagaha in order to kill the Buddha — and which stopped in front of him and lowered its head. It is one of the best-known episodes in the Pali tradition and a standard subject in Thai temple mural cycles. The provincial office records that the cave was named for it because of the shapes of its stalactites and stalagmites, which are said to suggest elephants, and the whole temple has been built outward from that association.
The most literal expression of it is the ordination hall, which the provincial office calls the Ubosot Chang — the elephant ordination hall — and describes as being built in the shape of a kneeling elephant, with doors carved as elephants and an interior mural cycle on elephants in Thai belief and culture. That office states it is the only one of its kind in Thailand. That is the provincial office's claim and it is reported here as its claim, not independently established; a strong architectural superlative is exactly the sort of statement this guide prefers to attribute rather than repeat.
The cave itself is the other half of the visit, and access to it is managed rather than open. The provincial office records that visitors must contact the temple to arrange a visit and that guides accompany them along set paths — a sensible arrangement in an active limestone cave, and a reminder that this is a monastery rather than a show cave. It also records a seasonal feature that is genuinely unusual: cave-dwelling larvae that spin silk webs across the formations, which catch the light when the cave is lit.
The Ubosot Chang, the ordination hall built in the shape of a kneeling elephant, with elephant-carved doors and an interior mural cycle on elephants in Thai belief and culture. The Krabi provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism describes it in these terms and states it is the only one of its kind in Thailand; that is reported here as that office's claim.
The cave, entered on guided paths by arrangement with the temple. The stalactite and stalagmite formations are the reason for the name — the provincial office records that their shapes are said to suggest elephants.
The silk webs spun across the formations by cave-dwelling larvae, which the provincial office records as seasonal and as particularly visible under the cave lighting.
This is a working place of worship for millions of people rather than an attraction, and it is treated as one at the gate. Where a figure below is blank, no source we are prepared to cite states it.
| Hours | Not established from an official source. |
|---|---|
| Admission | Not established from an official source. |
| Dress | A working monastery and an active cave. Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off in the ordination hall, and footwear with grip for the cave paths. |
| Photography | No source we found states a rule, so we print none. |
| Getting there | On the Ao Luek to Phra Saeng road, Plai Phraya district, in the inland north-east of Krabi province. The Krabi provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism records that a visit to the cave must be arranged with the temple in advance and that guides accompany visitors on set paths. |
Every temple reference repeats claims nobody has checked. These are the ones we went looking for and could not stand up, listed so you know exactly where this page stops.
Nalagiri is the elephant in the Pali canon that Devadatta had made drunk and released into a street in Rajagaha to kill the Buddha, and which stopped and lowered its head before him instead. The Krabi provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism records that the cave took the name because the shapes of its stalactites and stalagmites are said to suggest elephants.
It is very recent and unusually well dated. The Krabi provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism records that the abbot, Luang Pho Kachit Kamlo, was invited to head a monastic community in Plai Phraya district in B.E. 2532 (1989) and first entered the cave on 9 July B.E. 2533 (1990). Few temples anywhere in this guide have an origin recorded to the day.
No. The Krabi provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism records that visitors must contact the temple to arrange a visit, and that guides accompany them along designated paths. This is an active limestone cave inside a working monastery rather than a show cave, and no opening hours are published by any source read for this page.
The provincial office of the National Office of Buddhism calls it the Ubosot Chang and describes it as built in the shape of a kneeling elephant, with elephant-carved doors and interior murals on elephants in Thai belief and culture. That office states it is the only one of its kind in Thailand. This page reports that as its claim; nothing read here independently tests the superlative.
Before you go, read the guide to Buddhism and temple etiquette in Thailand — dress, footwear, where photography is not welcome and how to behave around monks. The rest of Krabi’s temples are covered here too.
Every temple here sits in a place worth reading about on its own terms. The nationwide temple guide covers the other provinces to the same documentary standard as this page, and says on each one what the record establishes and what it does not.
If you are thinking about more than a visit: work out which Thai visa route fits your situation, and see what is available to rent and buy in residences across Thailand.
Every fact on this page is drawn from the sources above. Where they disagree, this page says so rather than choosing silently. Registrations, fees, hours and access change; confirm anything you are relying on with the authority concerned. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal, does not represent any temple, and offers no legal or religious advice.