Thailand Guide
The north
Wat Rong Khun
Address: 13km south of Chiang Rai on the west side of Highway 1
Website: www.watrongkhun.com
Wat Rong Khun almost defies description. Begun in 1997, it's the life's work of local contemporary artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat, who has rediscovered Buddhism in a big way since spending time as a monk in 1992; he is also training dozens of "disciples", as he calls them, to finish the temple long after his death. Taking traditional Buddhist elements such as serpents and lotus flowers, and features of northern Thai Lanna art such as long, slender banners, Chalermchai has enlarged and elaborated them, adding all sort of frills, layers and tiers.
Surrounded by ponds, fountains and bridges, and done all in white – to stand for the Buddha's purity – inlaid with clear glass tiles – to represent his wisdom – the end result is like a frosted wedding cake. Inside the main sanctuary, which houses an eerily lifelike waxwork of the wat's former abbot, you can watch Chalermchai's disciples at work on the golden-toned murals, to the sound of loud, piped-in Thai pop music.
In the adjacent Hall of Masterwork, some of the artist's original paintings are on display, which may remind some visitors of Athena posters – and indeed reproductions are on sale (to raise money for the project) in the souvenir shop, along with a useful booklet on the temple in English, which explains the meaning of the complex design.