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  1. #1

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    The Sanctuary of Truth

    The Sanctuary of Truth is down Soi 12 in Naklua right on the beach, got to admit it is quite an amazing place, never seen so much carved teakwood in one place, but lets start on why we were swayed to go and visit The Sanctuary of Truth in the first place.

    Every where mentions the dolphin show they have, there really is nothing better than watching a trained dolphin jumping through hoops to be thrown a fish, we all watched Flipper as kids and would have liked to have kept him in our own fish tank or swimming pool, the bad news is Flipper is dead, there is no more dolphin show at The Sanctuary of Truth.

    Entry is 500baht which is quite steep just to see a wooden building and a pretty crappy cultural show, but, there aint no where else in the world I think you will see a building like this, as I said before, it is quite an amazing place.

    The set up of the place is a bit dis-organised, ie you park up and get your stuff out of the car, then look for a ticket office, no signage for it but it is by the entrance, buy your tickets and they try to sell you extras, thought she was offering me a massage but it turns out you can get it on the ticket price if you pay more, plus they got other rubbish they will try to sell you as you wonder what the hell they are going on about.

    Then they tell you to get back in your car and drive down the road, this is after unloading all your crap for the day, park in the new car park, you can see this amazing building in front of you and you want to take pictures of it, but some security guard is calling you to get you to walk down the alley next to the toilets where you can't take pictures, let alone see the building, he tries to guide you past the workshop and souvenier shop in the hope you might buy some junk.

    Fact or Fiction?

    Supposedly when the guy first started building this teak house he was told by a soothsayer he would die when it was completed, now it was here when I first moved here 20 odd years ago so it's going quite slowly, at present there are around 50 Thai staff carving wood and working on it, at the present rate of progress the bloke should live till he is in his early 200's, it is a big place, the building covers 2 Rai, nearly an acre, and is 105 meters high.




    I took hundreds of photos of this Sanctuary of Truth, it's hard deciding which ones to post as just about everything has carvings on it and is quite outstanding, even the risers on the stairs were carved, only wood I could see that wasn't carved was the floor boards.



    Must be millions of dollars of teak wood gone into this project, down the road but still on the grounds is their store of teak wood tree trunks, now these are big, must be millions of baht just laying there doing nothing but waiting their turn to be carved up into something nice looking.



    The carved elephant heads are pretty much life size, although the humans they are carrying are Thai size



    A view out to the sea, the next beach along is Wong Amat Beach which is quite nice, also in the local area are many good German restaurants, so you could quite easily spend the day in Naklua.

    More on Wong Amat Beach.



    In The Sanctuary of Truth grounds are horses for horse rides, also horse and carriage rides, a speed boat to see the temple from the sea, some ATV's which you can rent, plus a few other things, nice place to kill a couple hours in the morning or afternoon.

    The Sanctuary of Truth.
    206/2 Moo 5, Naklua Soi 12, Naklua Road, Banglamung, Chonburi, 20150
    Tel +66 (0)-3822-5407
    Open 08.00 Close 17.00

  2. #2
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    Its an amazing place. I have been told the founder was the man who first imported Mercedes Benz cars into Thailand. He got very rich and was advised by a monk to give something back to the people. So he started the Sanctuary of Truth which has carvings representing all the eastern world philosophies and religions. Craftsmen and women from all over Asia have are invited to come and work on it and during their stay their families are provided for.

  3. #3
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pattayardm
    He got very rich and was advised by a monk to give something back to the people.
    Did the monk also tell him to charge 500 baht to look at it ?

  4. #4

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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    Teak Wood Floor Planks

    Yeah, whats 500baht to your normal Thai worker? About 2 and 1/2 days wages, so it's not quite the bargain it could be.

    Lets have a look at some of the floor planks of teak wood at this Sanctuary of Truth, teak wood is rock hard, this whole run they couldn't bed the nails.



    Nobody has ever said I have dainty or petite feet, they are like slabs of meat and a nice size 11, 43-44 in that foreign rubbish I think, so here is a picture of my flip flop on one of the floor planks in the building, that teak wood plank was not from some 10 year old tree, look at the size of it, wonder what that piece is worth...


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    dirtydog's Avatar
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    The Sanctuary of Truth

    The carving is done with handtools, ie hammer or pestle and chisel, some is done in the work shop then fitted to the building, some is actually done after the teak wood is already fitted.

    This piece the design has been drawn on and is being carved in the work shop.



    In the Temple and carving a big piece of teak.


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    When i went, there was just a manky dolphin show that was a bit hit and miss to say the least. The food there wasnt too bad, though
    Plus the aforementioned horse carriage from the entrance to the main area of it, and that was about it, unless we missed a lot of the stuff
    One thing i didnt reckon on was the compulsary wearing of the hard hats in the building itself.
    Quite an impressive place that held my attention for....minutes !!!!!

    Reg

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    Mind you, i DID take the best pics i have ever taken at the place
    Even at full res they are as clear as a bell.
    All taken with just a point and shoot Canon at full zoom, too !!!!









    Reg

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog
    Lets have a look at some of the floor planks of teak wood at this Sanctuary of Truth, teak wood is rock hard, this whole run they couldn't bed the nails.
    Maybe he should've invested in a drill?

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    [QUOTE=dirtydog;2112541]Yeah, whats 500baht to your normal Thai worker? About 2 and 1/2 days wages, so it's not quite the bargain it could be.

    Lets have a look at some of the floor planks of teak wood at this Sanctuary of Truth, teak wood is rock hard, this whole run they couldn't bed the nails.



    Sweet...what dolt allowed the use of mild steel nails in a marine environment.

  10. #10

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    Sanctuary of Truth Wood Carving

    All the inside walls are covered in intricate carvings.



    The risers on the stairs are also hand carved.



    Something discrete and tasteful like this would look great at the entrance to any house



    Plenty of carved wooden tits throughout the building.


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    Thailand Expat VocalNeal's Avatar
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    Might even be the same place as this?

    https://teakdoor.com/the-teakdoor-lou...the-truth.html

  12. #12
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    Nice pics and Hard Tits too!

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    Like it a lot. It's my next trip there. Thanks

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    The Sanctuary of Truth

    A few photos of the carvings.

    To give an idea of the depth they carve down to.



    One of the pillars supporting a small roof.



    This young lady is a bit chubby.



    This one is made from several planks of teak wood, also gives an idea of how deep they carve into the wood.



    The restaurant, this is the starting point for going round the building, you get your hard hat here, also where the cultural show is held, hassome good food which is priced real cheap, the show is a tad un impressive to say the least.


  15. #15
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    Thanks for these photos. I have stayed at the Zign Resort and Grand Mirage before and seen the exterior of this, but wondered why the entry fee was so extortionate and that put me off going.

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    Glad to hear the dolphins have gone - keeping dolphins in captivity is quite disgusting.
    I went about 8 years ago and 3 years ago and I noticed two different pods were being held each time - presumably because the first ones had died - total horror show.
    THe carving is interesting - however the quality leaves much to be desired - I'm sure much of the wood (and where does THAT all come from??) is very unsuitable for carving and this may not be helped be poor design and craftmanship.

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    The guy is already dead! Same originator of Muang Boran & the big three headed Elephant. The carving and the structure itself are not that great in the main and are only impressive from a distance.

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    The best tourist attraction in Thailand

    Quote Originally Posted by dirtydog View Post
    A few photos of the carvings.

    To give an idea of the depth they carve down to.



    One of the pillars supporting a small roof.



    This young lady is a bit chubby.



    This one is made from several planks of teak wood, also gives an idea of how deep they carve into the wood.



    The restaurant, this is the starting point for going round the building, you get your hard hat here, also where the cultural show is held, hassome good food which is priced real cheap, the show is a tad un impressive to say the least.

    This place is awesome! Truly the most impressive place to see in all of Thailand. The scale, scope of it are incredible, the decades of (ongoing) work show a long term commitment to an extraordinary site. I have taken every foreign visitor there for the past ten years, all have said the same thing-this is the best place they have been to in Thailand. Beats any temple tour to hell! Thanks for the pics and thread, DD.

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    the nails are temporary and are only there until the wood is dry enough, then will be pulled out and the board will be fastened with teak dowels, then finished !!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Figurate View Post
    the nails are temporary and are only there until the wood is dry enough, then will be pulled out and the board will be fastened with teak dowels, then finished !!
    That's correct. They explain that clearly when you take the tour, which is given by excellent, knowledgeable guides, mostly young women.

  21. #21
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    Been a couple of times now. First one was on my first trip after seeing some pics a friend had taken the year before.

    Awesome building.

    Second time was in 2009, which was my last trip.
    Especially liked the workshops where the Thai ladies do a lot of the carving.
    The lathe deserves a mention, does it really have a Toyota gearbox?

    Looking forward to having another look in August.

  22. #22
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    what a magnificant building,

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    I suppose one should be grateful that so far none of the impressionable driven to describe this example of grandiose cottage industry as " awesome " has made a comparison with Angkor Wat.

    If they are so impressed with these rudimentary carvings one wonders how they might describe the work of Grinling Gibbons?

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