Wat Chedi Ai Khai

Ai Khai is a boy spirit associated with an old chedi at this temple in Sichon district. The account given locally is that he was a disciple of a monk, possibly connected to the Ayutthaya period, left to guard treasure at the site, and remained there after death; a small statue of a boy in the shrine is the focus. What draws the crowds is a reputation for granting wishes - specifically for lost property, lottery numbers, examinations and business - and the payment when a wish is fulfilled is a rooster statue, because the spirit is said to like them. The result is visually extraordinary: tens of thousands of ceramic and concrete roosters of every size massed around the shrine and across the grounds, in a pile that keeps growing. Firecrackers are set off in thanks. It became one of the busiest sites in southern Thailand in the 2010s, with the commercial fringe that follows.

What you actually see

• The rooster mass - tens of thousands of statues left as payment for wishes.
• The boy shrine - the small figure the whole thing centres on.
• The firecrackers - set off in thanks, constantly and loudly.
• The commercial fringe - statues, offerings and lottery goods sold at the gates.

When to go

January to April is the driest window in the south. Weekends and holidays bring very large crowds. An hour covers it.

Honest expectations

An active devotional site drawing very large crowds, with heavy commercial selling and constant firecrackers. Lottery-related belief drives much of the traffic. It is not a quiet temple visit.

Nearby

Sichon beaches are east; Khanom and the pink dolphins are north.