Baan Kang Wat

Baan Kang Wat means the house beside the temple, and it is exactly that: a cluster of small wooden buildings put up around 2013 on land behind Wat Ram Poeng, arranged as studios and workshops for artists and makers to rent, with a courtyard between them. What is there varies as tenants change, but the constant has been ceramics - several pottery studios run wheel and hand-building classes for visitors - alongside printmaking, leatherwork, textiles, a bookshop, a plant shop and cafes. A market runs on Sunday mornings with makers selling directly. It is small and can be walked in twenty minutes, and it is unambiguously a constructed and curated place rather than an organic one, which is the honest description. The atmosphere is calm and the classes are the substantive reason to go rather than browsing. Nearby is Wat Ram Poeng, a meditation temple running long silent retreats.

Highlights

• The studios - ceramics, printmaking, leather and textiles, rented by makers.
• The classes - wheel-throwing and hand-building sessions for visitors.
• The Sunday market - makers selling directly in the courtyard.
• The scale - small enough to walk in twenty minutes.

When to go

November to February; Sunday morning for the market. Studios keep their own hours and some close Mondays. Two hours, more with a class.

Good to know

Small - twenty minutes to walk it without a class. Studio tenants change and not all are open on any day. It is a purpose-built and curated village, not an organic artists' quarter. Classes need booking.

Nearby

Wat Ram Poeng is beside it; Wat Umong and Doi Suthep are west.