Bangkok Wat Suthat (Giant Swing), Bangkok

Right outside Wat Suthat stands something you don’t see every day—a towering, fire-red frame known as the Giant Swing. It looks almost playful at first glance… until you learn what it was actually used for. During an annual ceremony, young men would launch themselves skyward, trying to grab a sack of gold suspended about 75 feet in the air. Miss it, and you’d swing back down. Miss badly… well, let’s say the stakes were higher than the prize. After a number of fatal attempts, the ritual was finally banned in the 1930s—proof that not every tradition ages gracefully...

And no, this wasn’t just a random spectacle—it was part of a full calendar of royal ceremonies tied to the Thai lunar year. Rising slightly over 21 meters from base to top, the swing became both a symbol and a survivor, marking a time when Brahmanism had a strong foothold in Siam. Its story begins in 1784, just two years after Bangkok became the capital, when a Brahmin named Kratai convinced King Rama I to support Brahmanic rituals. The result was not just one, but three Brahmanic temples, and, of course, this gravity-defying centerpiece right in the heart of the city.

Meanwhile, just behind the swing, Wat Suthat offers a rather different kind of spectacle—less adrenaline, more awe. Built to house a massive Buddha statue brought by boat from Sukhothai, the temple features one of Bangkok’s tallest prayer halls, surrounded by cloisters lined with over 150 Buddha images. These statues originally arrived as ballast in trading ships from China—arguably the most spiritual recycling project in history... Inside, murals stretch across the walls, illustrating the last 24 lives of the Buddha, while painted columns quietly narrate the early days of the city itself.

As for the swing, what you see today isn’t the original. Time—and tropical weather—took its toll, so it’s been rebuilt more than once, most notably in 1920 during the reign of Rama VI, and again in 2006. Still, the idea remains intact: a bold, slightly reckless piece of history standing tall in modern Bangkok. Not shy—and definitely not built for second thoughts...