Category Archives: Thai Temples

One of the most beautiful temples in Thailand, done in a modern contemporary style, is undoubtedly Wat Rong Khun. This temple, which is in Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand, is more well-known among foreigners as The White Temple. I recently went back for my second visit and was surprised to see that work was still continuing.

The temple is located in Ban Rong Khun, about 13 kilometres south-west of Chiang Rai city along Phahonyothin Road. It is the brainchild of Thai artist Chaloemchai Khositphiphat who started building it back in 1998.In an interview, he said that “maybe in 60 to 90 years after my death will the projected be completed”.

Chaloemchai Khositphiphat, in his lifetime has become a great Contemporary Thai artist that is admired by many people. He has not only revitalized an interest in the ancient Thai murals found in temples, but he has at the same time produce his only unique style. Most obvious is the choice of white for the temple while others are golden. He said that he believes that gold is only suitable for people who lust for evil deeds.

The attention to detail in the temple is remarkable and you do need to spend some time here studying the beautiful artwork. To reach the temple you have to cross a bridge over a pit of hell. Down below there are sculptures of people who are presumably trying to escape from hell. Inside the temple is a beautiful coloured mural of the Buddha. If you take a close look at the devil you will see small portraits of Bin Laden and George Bush in the Devil’s eyes. Also on the murals I spotted the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and also the creature from Alien.

One of the new buildings since my last visit is this Golden Toilet which is probably the most beautiful rest room in Thailand. Surprisingly it is also free, the same as for entry to the White Temple. Though obviously donations are welcome as up-keep of all the buildings is never-ending. You can buy reproductions of Chaloemchai’s impressive artwork in the souvenir shop. The White Temple is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Map showing location of Wat Rong Khun (The White Temple):
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The Golden Buddha at Wat Traimit, on the edge of Bangkok’s Chinatown, has been the highlight of many guidebooks for quite a few years now. It is certainly regarded as one of the main sights in Bangkok as it is included on the “City Temple Tour” that many people take if they are short of time. I was last here back in 2007 (see The Golden Buddha) and things have improved greatly since that time. The main difference is the completion of the Phra Maha Mondop which is a four storey Thai style pavilion with a golden spire on top. It formerly opened to the public just over a year ago. It was built to honour the 80th birthday of H.M. The King.

When I last visited, the Golden Buddha was housed in a small building towards the back of the temple complex. Now it has pride of place on the 4th floor of this magnificent mondop. If you didn’t know already, this 700 year old Buddha image is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest solid gold Buddha image in the world. What is most interesting about its story was that up to about 60 years ago no-one knew how valuable it was. This is because for hundreds of years it had a plaster casing. It was only when it dropped and cracked while some workmen were moving it to a new location did people realize that it was really made of gold. Today it is valued at 1.5 billion baht.

For me the most interesting part of this mondop are the two museums that can be found on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The one on the third floor gives you the story of the Golden Buddha image through the use of multimedia. But, I found the Yaowarat Chinatown Heritage Center to be more interesting. This costs 100 baht to enter but there is a lot to learn here as you journey aboard a junk from China on its way to Siam. The first room features an old man telling his grandson about the founding of Chinatown. You then walk from room to room learning about the commercial district of Sampeng and the emergence of the importance of Yaowarat. All of the signs on the displays are bilingual and you could easily spend an hour here.

Wat Traimit is a good place to start before exploring Chinatown beyond. You can get here easily by taking the subway to MRT Hua Lamphong. From there it is only a short ten minute walk to Wat Traimit. The Chinese Gate which marks the start of Yaowarat Road is just beyond this point. I was here last weekend and it took me just over an hour to walk the complete circuit up Yaowarat Road and then back along Charoen Krung Road to my starting point at the Odeon Circle. The Golden Buddha costs 40 baht for foreign tourists and the Heritage Center is 100 baht. The museum is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday.

Map showing the location for The Golden Buddha on the edge of Chinatown:

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One of the most beautiful of the daily Thai traditions is the early morning alms round. If you have been reading my blogs for a while now then you would know that I have written about and also taken part in quite a few different alms rounds over the years. I have even acted as a “temple boy” at one time carrying the bag of food for the monks. Most alms rounds involve monks setting off barefoot from their temple even before the sun has started to rise. I have also witnessed a number of times monks going on alms round by boat. But, today at the Wat Benchamabopit in Bangkok, I saw something completely different.

Wat Benchamabopit is more commonly known by tourists and tour guides as the Marble Temple because it was built with marble from Carrera, Italy. It is one of the most beautiful temples that can be found in Bangkok. It is certainly unusual with its blend of Western and Thai architectural styles. The Marble Temple is located on the corner of Si Ayutthaya Road and Phra Rama V Road in the Dusit area of the city. It is very close to the King’s residence at Chitralada Palace. It was built by King Rama V towards the end of the 19th Century.

I had heard that monks at this temple don’t go out on alms rounds like monks at other temples. Instead, they stand in groups in front of the temple and wait for people to come to them. So, I got up at 5 a.m. this morning and drove into Bangkok to go and see for myself. As it was a Sunday morning there wasn’t much traffic and so I was there by 6.15 a.m. Even though it was still dark, there were already quite a few monks standing in the car park in front of the temple. As I drove up and parked my car, a group of monks quickly came over to my car thinking that I had come to make merit!

At this time it was still too dark to take pictures so I sat in my car and just observed the activity. The way it worked is that a car would pull into the car park and the monks would walk quickly over to the vehicle where they would quietly form a line. This is even before the driver had turned off the engine. Usually there were about 9 or 10 monks in the line even though they didn’t know how much food was going to be offered. If another car came, some of the monks might leave this line to form another. The people making merit were giving food, flowers and incense sticks, and sometimes money in an envelope.

At first it felt a bit like vultures swarming around the people as they arrived. But, after watching for a while I decided it wasn’t as bad as that. It was actually a very practical situation for a modern society. These days, many people, particularly ones who live in condos or housing estates, aren’t on the route of the morning alms round. So, for them, it makes more sense to drive to the temple where monks are waiting patiently for them. The monks also weren’t taking more than they needed. As soon as their alms bowl was full, they would quietly leave.

A number of Westerners mistakenly think that the monks are begging. But, this is not true. Thai Buddhists are happily helping to support the monks by giving them food and at the same time they receive merit for doing this. However, there are strict rules on how monks should behave on alms rounds. A good monk should never go seeking for alms. He walks slowly and with purpose and only stops if he is beckoned or called. Then he stands there quietly, with the lid of his bowl open, while the local Buddhists give him rice. There is a worry that the monks at the Marble Temple may seem too eager to collect alms.

What do you think? Should the old rules of Buddhist monks be adapted for the modern lifestyle?
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