Wat Doi Khoi Khao Kaeo
(วัดดอยข่อยเขาแก้วและวัดกลางสวนดอกไม้ ตาก)
Tak
Wat Doi Khoi Khao Kaeo and Wat Klang Suan Dokmai are located off the Bypass Jor. 3, Mae Tho subdistrict. It is only 250 meters away from the west bank of Mae Ping River. Historically speaking, the legend of the temple concerns the divination conducted by King Taksin the Great when he was Phraya Tak (the governor of Tak province). Back then he casted lots and determined that “If I possess adequate righteousness or virtues to help my subjects achieve the salvation, may the bell mallet which I am going to hurl break only the narrowest part of the glass which is placed at 10 meters away, and may no other parts of the glass crack. Miraculously, the result turned out as he wished. This divination was widely perceived by those who went to make merits at Wat Doi Khoi Khao Kaeo, so the rumor went on that “Phraya Tak possesses the righteous power as a result of accumulated merit.” After the divination, he had a marble installed on the top of the pagoda in Wat Doi Khoi Khao Kaeo, while the citizens had another marble installed on the top of the pagoda in Wat Klang Suan Dokmai. Several years later, both marbles disappeared due to the collapse of the pagodas. According to the Royal Chronicles, the second time King Taksin visited Chiang Mai in 1774, he sought an audience with the abbot of Wat Doi Khoi Khao Kaeo and questioned about the missing marbles from the time when he was Phraya Tak.
Based from the historical record, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab assumed that the temples had undergone a massive restoration due to the royal command of King Taksin before he left Chiang Mai in 1774. Highlights of ancient remains within the temple ground include the ordination hall and its twin Sema stones to show that the temple is under the royal patronage, and the pagoda. There is also the duplicate Buddha’s footprint inside. A couple of pagodas in the front enshrine ashes of King Taksin’s father and mother. Currently, the registration as one of the national ancient remains by the Fine Arts Department was officially declared in the Government Gazette (volume 52, section 75) on the 8th of March 1935. Not only that Wat Doi Khoi Khao Kaeo and Wat Klang Suan Dokmai are full of historical anecdotes, they can be regarded as historical and cultural tourist attractions.