Let Me Be Mean... Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya for #Monomad Challenge

The journey was planned to be easy - a quick bus ride from Bangkok's outskirts to the Eastern bus station and a 2-hour (only) trip on a minivan to Pattaya.

The main destination was Ko Lan (island). But we chose to stay in Pattaya City since all Ko Lan properties had been booked at the moment of the decision except a few very expensive ones (that's Songkran holiday break - everything booked and sold).

We chose the Sanctuary of Truth as the main attraction in Pattaya. I disliked this option but agreed to go there. After all, many call the place a top-10 or even top-5 attraction of Pattaya... Though, some call it a tourist trap:

Scam. Avoid! This is a tourist trap. It isn’t a temple, it’s a privately owned vanity project by a local tycoon. The temple is a monument to capitalism, materialism, and animal cruelty - the source

Posters at the entrance hint that the place is a temple ("dress appropriately"). The name of the place ("sanctuary") and the religious theme both hint the same thing. However, the Sanctuary of Truth isn't a temple. You can see that with your own eyes in the building, moreover, the the official guide said the building isn't a temple.

Then, why "dress appropriately"?

The official website calls the construction the largest wooden castle in the world... We live in a world where anything can be called anything based on someone's wishes or emotions. But let me use the common sense for a change. That's how Google explains the word "castle":

a large building, typically of the medieval period, fortified against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and in many cases a moat.

The Sanctuary of Truth was founded in 1981 and is still under construction, so you can't call it "medieval"; and it has no connection to fortification. Thus, the Sanctuary of Truth isn't the castle.

They also call it a museum. If so, first time in my life, I visited a museum without a collection. There is only the interior and exterior of the building to look at. Official guides also talk only about the interior and the exterior. There is no collection.

While it has impressive wood craftsmanship, it has no religious, cultural, or historical significance, so 500 BHT for entry per person is just a very steep price - Google.Maps

Chinese tourists gaze intently at the rich interior

So, what's the Sanctuary of Truth? That's a tourist business which you can describe as an amusement park. The main attraction of it is a large wooden building decorated with excessive carvings on the topic of Oriental religions. They also have horses and elephants to ride on them, a mini zoo, boat tours, etc. 500 baht for a ticket, as much as the admission fee to the Grand Palace.

Food and drinks are not allowed

You are not allowed to bring food with you and even water; instead you are supposed to buy water from them, for 20 baht (3 times more expensive than in a convenience store).

This demonstrates the attitude towards visitors - milk and milk again.

The building is undoubtedly impressive: it is very big and full of decorative elements drawn from different cultures. But the general impression is controversial: on the one hand, you can't help feeling "wow" witnessing thousands of carved figures and patterns, on the other hand, I felt the building lacks artistic taste and rather resembles a huge souvenir product. The guide’s pseudo-spiritual demagoguery in the spirit of “it’s good to be good, isn’t it?” only complemented this impression.

There were some weird things at the Sanctuary of Truth... On the way to the building, we saw people working with wood. The guide told us that the construction and decoration work keeps going non-stop.

We were shown craftsmen working with wood. These craftsmen were all young women, and some of them had thanaka on their faces. Thus, these girls were probably from Myanmar (ubiquitous cheap labor from the neighboring country) and their work was to pretend to be craftsmen.

The guide told us the building had been built without nails. That's what we found in the Sanctuary of Truth:

We weren't alone who noticed that:

The wood work is impresive dont get me wrong, but the stories about it being built in traditional methods with no nails is also false, everything that is surrounding the “temple” is just wrong in all ways - Google.Maps

They boast they have never stopped constructing since 1981... Why? In search of perfection or? I am afraid to assume... At least, they give everyone a construction helmet, thanks for that.

Although I wrote a lot of criticism here... But in fact I was solely focused on photography. Sharing what I took.

Entering the building with a group.

You cannot explore it yourself, only as part of herd - Google.Maps

The crowd of visitors in helmets.

Sticker on the floor explaining where to take images from.

Chinese tourists are having rest.

A kid faking religious faith. One second later:

A goat in a mini zoo of the Sanctuary of Truth:

Yes, you can take beautiful pictures at the Sanctuary of Truth. And that's what everyone likes.

Weird, very weird experience.

More images and stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.

I took these images with a Nikkor 24mm / 50mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on April 13, 2024, in Pattaya, Thailand.