Wat Ban Krang

It dates from the Ayutthaya period, said to be 400–450 years old. Legend says that after the elephant duel of 1593 King Naresuan's army camped by the river here and made 84,000 clay votive tablets, enshrined in a chedi to dedicate merit to the soldiers — a legend without documentary proof. Under Rama IV a twelve-cornered 'floating chedi' was built in the river and used for Loy Krathong rites; the channel later shifted, leaving it near the bank.

Around 1904 the decaying chedi behind the old vihara broke open and tens of thousands of terracotta Khun Phaen amulets spilled out. Monks piled them under a bodhi tree, and temple boys skimmed them across the river, as they had no value then. Today Ban Krang Khun Phaen amulets are among Thailand's best-known clay amulets, in more than 30 molds, such as the five-sided Khun Phaen, Song Phon and the double-figure Phlai Khu, read as Naresuan and Ekathotsarot.

On 19 October 1908 King Chulalongkorn visited the floating chedi during a tour of Suphan Buri. A mondop with a replica Buddha footprint was built in 1933, and in 2002 the temple opened an agricultural museum of ploughs, yokes, waterwheels, winnowers and oxcarts. The boundary stones around the ordination hall are shaped like the Song Phon Yai amulet — a rare sight — and the old vihara houses Luang Pho Kaeo. Local tradition links the district name to Nang Si Prachan, Nang Phim's mother in Khun Chang Khun Phaen.

It opens about 08:00–17:00 and is free. A riverside sala lets you feed fish. Most amulets sold at the gate are replicas, not genuine finds. The riverbank gets muddy in the rains, and museum labels are sparse. Pair it with Si Prachan old market. Phone 035-581-234 or 086-560-8110; the abbot is Phra Khru Sunthon Sinlasamban.