Wat Ban Rai

Thailand's most psychedelic temple

By Grant Cameron

April 21^st, 2019

The Elephant Temple

Thailand has some of the most beautiful and amazing temple structures and giant Buddha statues.

But the one to crown them all is Wat Ban Rai, (วัดบ้านไร่), the Disneyland of Buddhist temples, and in its own way, quite colourful and psychedelic; certainly it is not in the traditional style.

The whole temple is covered with interesting artwork, mosaics, paintings and sculptures, the focus being on local, Hindu and Buddhist beliefs with a modern twist. Allegedly over 20,000,000 pieces of broken ceramics make up the mosaics that appear in many colours throughout the temple and its art.

The elephant of the lake

Wat Ban Rai (วัดบ้านไร่) is in the middle of a lake comprising an area of 48,500 square meters.

The revered monk Luang Phor Koon Parisuttho พระเทพวิทยาคม (คูณ ปริสุทฺโธ), who had been ordained as a monk at the original rural temple in his early twenties, conceived the idea for the temple as we see it now.

The temple was completed in November 2013 but, sadly, Luang Phor Koon passed away in May 2015 aged 92.

Cost? Unknown!

It is clear that the complex would have cost a considerable sum of money to build and decorate, but the actual cost is not known. Estimates vary from between 100 million to 120 million Baht, about 2.8million to 3.3 million Euros.

However, the temple’s mastermind, Luang Phor Koon, was a bit of a celebrity, for he was famed nationwide for his magical healing powers, magic spells and amulets, and that fame was of course useful in soliciting donations for the construction. The story goes that even former PM Thaksin Shinawatra donated several million Baht.

A temple in technicolor

Going up the traditional walkway leading to the elephant structure, two long and massive Naga balustrades, entirely covered in mosaic, guard either side, but these Naga serpents are larger than any normal Thai temple - did you notice the size of their heads!?

As you approach the elephant structure, the detail, colours and images just jump at you, they are stunning, and almost from a fantastical movie . . in technicolor, saturated technicolor!

Nothing is as you'd expect, here, of a Buddhist temple - it becomes even difficult to tell whether it is the blue statue or the monk on the mobile phone which is real.

Buddhist Disney-world

Looking closely at the images on the walls or the statues, they are not all of Hindu or Buddhist beliefs or origin, many seem to come from the minds of weird and demented souls, or masters of the creative world such as Picasso or Dali.

It is definitely a place to take children . . without the exorbitant Disney-like prices (though there are no rides).

Garthok?

I have no idea of the significance of this particular statue, there were few signs around explaining any of the statues or images.

But I was particularly reminded of the ferocious "Garthok" from the movie Coneheads (giving my age away), whom Dan Ackroyd's character, Beldar, had to defeat to have his wish to return to earth granted, using his earthly obtained golfing skills.

OPEN TO RIDICULE

Now, I'm all too well aware that some of you, dear viewers, are having a good laugh and mentally ridiculing me for comparing a Thai Buddhist temple to a science fiction comedy film.

Go on, laugh. I accept the ridicule.

But then tell me - in which other Buddhist temple that you know of, is there a statue of a blue god playing a heritage cherry Gibson SG guitar?

There is here, below the elephant tusks! And lots more weird images and statues, besides!

Now, getting traditional

What Thai temple would be complete without the seven chummy monks seeking alms, one for each day of the week? And here they are.

Some Aerial shots

Before we leave, here is a selection of aerial shots to give you an idea of the size of the temple, and its structure . . and its "uniqueness".

The golden figure statues atop the roof of the main structure are the Lord Buddha, of course, and the temple’s mastermind, Luang Phor Koon.

From these angles you can glean some similarity with another large elephant-like structure in Thailand, that of the Erawan Museum (albeit that that is a three-headed elephant) . . watch this space, another story comes!

Getting There

Wat Ban Rai is a little over 260kms from Bangkok, and the journey time by car would be around three and a half hours. It is definitely a full day's trip, but especially worthwhile if combined with an overnight or two in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat). The temple hours are 8am to 5pm and admission is free, but like most Thai temples, donations are accepted throughout the grounds.

The map shows the position of the temple, but for the GPS coordinates I have given the location of the road entrance so that you will clearly know where to turn if coming from either direction.

Wat Ban Rai, Kut Phiman: 15.289039N, 101.735407E

If you enjoyed this article, please do subscribe, and . . . . a click on the “ENJOY” button would be particularly appreciated, many thanks!