Wat Sakawan (วัดสักกวัน) a Buddhist temple in Chiang Rai, situated outside the city's centre, roughly 1.5 kilometer north of the Kok (กก) River. It has an octagonal bell-shaped stupa surrounded by eight mondop (มณฑป)-like edifices with niches that each contains a gilded Buddha statue according to the days of the week, in line with the Phra prajam wan (พระประจำวัน)-system. The current white chedi (เจดีย์), decorated with gold ornaments, was built over the former more squarish gilded pagoda, between 2015 and 2016. The ubosot has a staircase with a pair of green coiling naga while on the inside it features the Phra prathaan (พระประธาน) and some colourful murals with scenes from the chadok (ชาดก). On the northern side of the large sala hall is a staircase with balustrades in the form of colourful dragon-like chang patjay naak (ช้างปัจจัยนาค), i.e. a mythical creature that is described as a snake with the head of an elephant, and also referred to as chang hua naak (ช้างหัวนาค), which translates ‘elephant-headed naga’; on the western side of this large hall is smaller staircase flanked by gilded makaras, i.e. mythological creatures known in the northern dialect as mom (มอม) and is said to be the mount of the god of the storm clouds, Thep Patchanna (เทพปัชชุนนะ). Also on the temple premisses are statues of the Burmese spirit or nat-like deity Bo Bo Gyi, who in Thailand is known as Thep Than Jai (เทพทันใจ), and of Shin U Pagok, another deity originally from Myanmar and in Thailand known as Phra Upakhut (พระอุปคุต). 回