NAKHON PHANOM: A century-old wooden sermon hall and its ancient murals were destroyed by a fire on Wednesday night in That Phanom district.
The hall, made of old teak wood, at Wat Phokham was registered as a heritage building in 1998 by the Fine Arts Department.
The cause of the fire had not yet been confirmed, and the total extent of the damage was stil being assessed, police said.
It took fire crews about two hours to bring the blaze under control.
Phra Wangchai Thamawaro told police that monks at the temple were awakened by what sounded like fireworks, and then saw the wooden hall engulfed in flames.
Surathawit Khantiyarat, the mayor of tambon Nam Kam municipality, said records show that the hall was built around 1897, making it about 120 years old.
It served as a venue for religious ceremonies as well as a learning place for monks, Mr Surathawit said.
Most importanly, it had ancient oil-paint murals depicting stories revolving around Buddhism and local cultural life, he said.