Enigmatic White Temple of Chiang Rai Thailand • Art to Set You Free

✍15 Oct 2024. Chiang Rai's White Temple, known in Thai as Wat Rong Khun วัดร่องขุ่น is one of the northern Thailand province's most visited attractions.

The temple attracts locals and lots of tourists.

The White Temple is open year-round. Entrance fee is THB 100 for foreigners and free for Thai citizens.

Dress code is casual but do ensure that shoulders and knees are respectfully covered (for both male and female). Footwear off inside sanctuaries.

I was very excited as our car approached the White Temple. I normally do not research destinations before travelling because I like raw, full on surprise delights during trips.

I never expected a Thai temple to look like this - pure white with shimmering light, like a fantasy that appears only in dreams or movies.

This was the first time that I ever saw a white Thai temple. It had me curious, wondering what Thai tradition was this.

The temple is made mainly of cement / concrete, the exterior white washed, white plastered and inlaid with glass and mirror mosaic.

It obviously wasn't a historic relic.

Nearly 30 years ago, the original Wat Rong Khun was decrepit and in disrepair. Chiang Rai artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat undertook the mammoth task of completely rebuilding Wat Rong Khun from scratch with his own design and funds.

It was a pure white canvas for Chalermchai Kositpipat, so to speak. The White Temple is Chalermchai Kositpipat's personal take on life, death, and Enlightenment.

Chalermchai Kositpipat who has devoted his life to this project, envisioned a 27 building complex targeted for completion in 2070. Constructed in phases, Chalermchai Kositpipat opened the White Temple to the public in 1997.

Chalermchai Kositpipat accepts donations for his project but nothing above THB 10,000 (USD300 at 2024 rate) as he doesn't want anyone to have control of the project other than himself.

The centre of the White Temple is the ubosot, the main sanctuary, which represents the human mind.

The ubosot is surrounded by peaceful, placid ponds and moats.

The ubosot is reached by crossing two bridges over the moat.

First, the Bridge of Cycle of Rebirth which leads the way to happiness by foregoing temptation, greed, and desire.

At the head of the bridge, hundreds of outreaching, grasping hands symbolise unrestrained desire and greed, the root of human suffering.

After the Bridge of Cycle of Rebirth, we arrived at the "Gate of Heaven", guarded by Death and Rahu (who decides the fate of the dead).

Numerous meditative Buddhas surround the ubosot.

No photography was allowed inside the ubosot sanctuary.

This public domain photo of one of the murals is from Wikipedia. I didn't take any photos of the inside.

From memory, I saw an eclectic mishmash of mural images of orange flames, demons interspersed with Western and Asian pop icons such as Michael Jackson, Neo from The Matrix, Freddy Krueger, Kungfu Panda, Hello Kitty, Sailor Moon, Doraemon, Terminator, nuclear war, missiles, the 911 World Trade Center attack, and oil pumps driving home the message of destructive impact that humans wrack on earth.

In the surreal snowy landscape, two gold coloured buildings stood out.

Whereas the white ubosot represents the human mind, this golden building represents our body. Gold symbolises worldly desires like possessions and money.

This rather grand building was actually the public restroom 😂 It is all an illusion. Chalermchai Kositpipat has a quirky sense of humour. His message - let go of the things that poison our bodies 😅

Even if I initially got the impression that the White Temple was a tourist trap, by now I begin to sense that it was the insightful musings of a kindred spirit.

For example, Chalermchai Kositpipat seems to be drawing attention to how pop icons sap our spirituality. He encourages us to recover our spirituality through his message in the ubosot murals.

The entire White Temple complex was dotted with Chalermchai Kositpipat's whimsical take on life, death, spirituality and Buddhism.

The other golden building is a Hindu temple.

Steps away for the white ubosot the golden Hindu temple was also surrounded by a moat and accessed by a (golden) bridge.

Like the ubosot, we need to cross a golden bridge to reach the Golden Hindu temple.

The golden Hindu temple is dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the remover of obstacles.

Truth be told, my first impression of the White Temple was it was rather touristy and even a bit gimmicky. It challenges our traditional conception of what Thai Buddhist temples should look like.

But, once I understood the symbolism a little more, I found the White Temple quite interesting, even if some of the objects still feel a little kitschy in my humble opinion.

They say art sets you free by opening your mind. Chalermchai Kositpipat's White Temple does exactly that.

Come again? I certainly will. Those quirky murals, sculptures are loaded with deep meaning. To me, it's like visiting the gallery of Chalermchai Kositpipat.