Let's start with the serious intro...but don't worry. It's not going to last!
One of the 'must-see' places to visit for any traveller to Ko Samui is the Big Buddha statue which presides majestically over Wat Phra Temple in the North of the Island, close to the tourist haunts of Bo Phut and Chaweng.
Let's start with the money shot because this is what you have come to see! It was rather a cloudy day because it's monsoon season on Samui but look carefully at the man himself, he's looking down at me and smiling for the photo!
Construction started in 1972 and was complete in 1974 and actually lies on a separate, tiny island named Ko Fan that was linked to Ko Samui with a short road that sits atop an embankment. The huge Buddha itself provides a reference and landmark for the island and can be seen as you come into land at the island's airport just 4km away.
Ko Fan was historically used as a sacred burial ground for babies and children under 10 years old as part of the Plai Laem Temple. I know some stuff me, don't I ?
OK. I can read!
I'll be honest. Temples are not my thing but as I mentioned before, we had visitors down for the first time and it would have been amiss of me not to take them although it had changed a lot since the last time I was here as like everywhere on this part of the island, most of the shops, market stalls and restaurants that line the car park and that you need to pass through to get to the temple were closed due to the lack of tourism caused by the pandemic.
As with many temples in tourist areas, they push the boat out with the decoration and the whole temple is lavishly embellished with intricate adornments and Buddhist imagery, much of which is painted in the traditional golds and reds for good luck.
There are 'monk' things on sale for you to donate to the monks for their everyday living, fortune-telling, and a whole plethora of signage to provide me with lots of cheap humour.
You can't beat monks for entrepreneurialism when it comes to raising funds for their temples as you will see later, but being fair, the cost of upkeep at temples like this must be phenomenal and it is a genuine working temple providing spiritual assistance for those who want it and incorporates a Buddhist study and meditation centre and library.
All joking aside (temporarily!) there are some amazing artworks on display here that time a huge amount of time and skill to produce as well as the incredibly intricate sculptures that decorate the pavilions and staircases.
First up, you need to dress properly!
Again, despite my gentle mocking, this is a serious temple and as such, appropriate dress should be worn. For a woman, that generally means no bare shoulders or mid-riffs or short-skirts and for a guy, definitely not vest tops of shirtless. Shorts are just about acceptable but if you are about to commit a Buddhist faux-pas, they have you covered!
Many of these scenes were created to depict famous stories from Buddhism. This is one famous story where lots of green monsters emerged from the river on elephants to try and attack a girl who was bathing there and Buddha showed up with a big sword and twatted 'em.
In Buddhism, famous monks through history get their own statues and are immortalised at the temples they served! Like this guy for example although I'm not sure they quite got his fingers right... He can't have been that important though as he's only been fibreglassed. The really famous ones get concrete and gold leaf! A least he's been shaded to stop him from melting!
All good tourist attractions need a gift shop and the temple is no exception. Lots of lucky charms and lucky string to wrap around your wrist and mini Buddhist figures, but buyer beware!
It is strictly illegal to take ANY Buddhist image out of Thailand, yes, even things like this so if you're caught with it in your luggage, you have a big and expensive problem to deal with.
Proper pictures...
Seems a little bit hypocritical to tell us not to sit when that's all these statues and Buddhists seem to do but what I think they're trying to say is don't sit next to the statues for photos. Show some respect!
It's a working temple so no one needs to pay to enter but as I said, they will think of every day possible to empty your pockets of a few quid which is fair enough in my book! People ought to donate to show some gratitude and appreciation. It's just so funny and lovely! Donate for the electricity, the water or buy a brick to help maintain the temple!
These are the 'monk-essential' packs you can buy that contain basic necessities for living. Toothpaste and I kid you not, shampoo....yes, shampoo for monks, none of whom have any hair! What generally happens with these is that they get bought, given to the monks who then put them back out to sell and pocket the profit. The items they contain, nowhere near add up to the things in the pack!
The other nice thing here is that it's done with a trust box! That's really cool.
Want to light some joss-sticks or have a flowery good luck garland to stop you dying in the psychopath, driven mini-van on the way home? No problem. Drop the money in the box!
I thought my missus having two faces was bad enough. This old girl has four!
I have no idea! Just another green monster with strange fangs to give you nightmares as you leave in case you forgot to drop your 20B in the box! Why they are selling shirts here I've also no idea but looking at the size of that satellite dish, I guess they're able to pick up every porn channel in the known universe!
Anyway, that's it. All pictures were taken by me and I'm expecting huge upvotes as having seen this post, I have saved you the bother of having to visit 'yet another' temple whilst you're in Thailand. That's me, the Mr Public Service guy of Hive!
@nathen007