Wat Phan Tao; established in 1391; forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means 鈥楾emple of a Thousand Furnaces' or 鈥楾emple of a Thousand Kilns' and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry; casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.

The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance; the ho kham or 鈥榞ilded hall' of Chao Mahawong; the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs; who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.

Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'); sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai'; is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296; and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.