Wat Tham Pa Archa Thong

According to local accounts, the abbot named his horse "Archa Thong" (golden steed), and the name passed to the temple. Some say an abandoned golden-horse shrine stood on the hill before he came, and there is a legend of a Buddha footprint — unverifiable tales.

The founder is Phra Khruba Nuea Chai Kositto, also known locally as Khruba Suea Khrong ("the tiger"). A 2017 Thai blog gives his lay name as Samoe Chaipinta, born on Monday 3 September 1962, matching an English blog, though mainstream media have not confirmed it. English-language sources say he is Tai Lue, from a farming family; he studied in Bangkok, boxed Muay Thai from age 13 and, after his father died, joined the cavalry, where he became a well-known army boxer.

Around age 30 he left boxing. Several accounts say that after a close friend died and he had a vision, he meditated in a cave near Mae Sai and then set out on a wandering pilgrimage north, living on alms for weeks until he reached this hill. Most of these biographical details come from foreign articles and have not been confirmed by Thai documents.

No source gives the founding year. The Thai blog says he was ordained in 1992, and counting back from articles of 2004 and 2008 also suggests about 1992–93, though one journalist says about 1998 — so the early-to-mid 1990s is the safest statement.

The area is near the Golden Triangle and Doi Mae Salong, and the abbot preached against opium growing and drug trafficking. Stories tell of attempts on his life and of confrontations with Khun Sa's forces, which the teller himself admits were embellished. What is documented is that on 25 February 2006, MGR Online reported, gunmen shot at the abbot, who was unhurt, during his dispute with land encroachers near the temple; more than 20 forestry officials investigated and confirmed the encroachment.

The temple became a refuge for orphans, Akha, Lahu and Shan hill-tribe children and children with drug problems, who ordained as novices and learned Dhamma, reading and writing, Muay Thai and riding — making it home, school and monastery at once. The abbot encourages donors to support schools and teachers' wages rather than grand buildings.

Horses are used because the temple is several kilometres from the villages along mountain paths, with an alms route of about 5–10 km. Accounts differ on the first horse — bought from a poor family about to sell it for slaughter, or donated — and more rescued horses were later given to the temple. Most go unshod and without saddles.

The number of horses has varied: Tricycle reported up to 120 at times in 2007, Kapook more than 70 of various breeds in 2009, and a travel blog about 200 in 2011. Elephants, cattle and buffalo have also lived there. There is no official current count.

In 2004 the Tourism Authority of Thailand used images of the horseback alms round in its Unseen Thailand campaign, earning the abbot the nickname "the Unseen monk". In 2006 Dutch director Mark Verkerk's documentary Buddha's Lost Children, filmed at the temple over more than a year, screened at over 88 festivals and won the AFI Grand Jury Prize and the Silver Dove at Leipzig.

In April 2011 an ordination of Lahu novices was held, with a procession around the stupa on the hill above the temple, which then had guest quarters for visiting monks, vegetable gardens and a small café under construction.

Near the hilltop is Tham Pa Archa Thong cave, at least 200 m long and bell-shaped, with a central chamber of fallen rock, a 6–7 m shaft and Buddha images inside. Bring a torch if you go in.

After the alms round come a morning sermon and outdoor chanting; the abbot sometimes preaches from horseback. There is an area where visitors can see the horses, and in recent years the abbot has sculpted cement Buddha images and led tree-planting with villagers.

The temple has drawn both praise and criticism. ThaiPublica in 2014 questioned some scenes in the documentary, the novices' childhoods and an incident in which a horse broke its leg crossing a river, while Tricycle told the same story as one of novices nursing the horse back to health. In 2013 the abbot received an honorary degree from a US institution that the DSI later said was unlicensed.

The latest news found: on 29 March 2023 Daily News reported the abbot leading monks on an alms round in Wang Nam Khiao, Nakhon Ratchasima; a 2024 travel article says he still lives at the centre; and in 2025 it received a kathin under the Ten Thousand Temples project. The usual alms route goes down to Ban Si Muen Rai, about 5 km, with no fixed time — one visitor arrived around 07:30 and the monks were still out after 08:00. Some reviews say only a few monks remain and that on some days they do not ride far, so check ahead.

It remains a simple hill temple, quiet and unadorned — good for anyone wanting to see forest-monastery life and the horses — and easy to combine with Choui Fong tea plantation, Pa Tueng hot spring or Doi Mae Salong on the same day.