WatPhraKaeo Don Tao is Lampang's premier wat, holding the honor of being one of the few places known to have enshrined the Emerald Buddha, one of the sacred images of the Thai Kingdom. The Emerald Buddha, probably made of green jasper, is presently located in Bangkok but was originally discovered at WatPhraKaeo in Chiang Rai. Two years after its discovery, an elephant was recruited to bring the image to Chiang Mai for enshrinement.the creature made its own choices and continuously headed toward Lampang. This was taken as an omen, and the Buddha image was instead kept here at WatPhraKaeo Don Tao, from 1434 to 1468.