Sanctuary of Truth
A hundred and five metres of carved teak facing the gulf, under construction since 1981 and never finished.
Duration
1 hr – 1 hr 30 min
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
To confirm
The sanctuary was begun in 1981 by a Thai businessman who wanted a building made entirely of wood, without a single nail, covered in carvings drawing on Hindu, Buddhist, Chinese and Khmer cosmologies. He died in 2000 and the work goes on.
It will never be finished, and that has become the point: teak rots under the monsoon faster than it can be carved, so craftsmen are permanently replacing what the climate takes. You visit a building being made and unmade at the same time, wearing a hard hat.
Getting there
At the end of Soi Naklua 12, north of Pattaya. A baht bus from the main beach takes a quarter of an hour.
What the price covers
paid entry, rate to be checked on site
Rules on site
A hard hat is compulsory and provided: this is a working site and chips fall. Shoulders and knees covered, as in a temple.