Wat Rung Khun or the White Temple & Chalermchai Kositpipat

Our final stop on our tour of Northern Thailand was Wat Rung Khun or the White Temple. This is a modern temple still under construction. It was conceived and is being built by a famous Thai artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat, in his home village. He has planned a phased construction stretching over many years. Inside the temple is adorned with his art work, still to be finished. It depicts the trauma of modern life in the lower section, the Twin Towers exploding, a Rolex Watch, cars and so on. In the eyes of a huge crouching beast George Bush and Bin Laden can be seen. The section above shows scenes of peace with the Lord Buddha.

It really was like a white ice palace set with mirrors that twinkled in the sun and reflected ourselves entering into the temple. Keith thought it had a Disneyesque air about it. Lakes either side of the bridge into the temple were complete with white fish and high fountains added a further layer of sparkling froth. I thought about Nikki St Phalle and her Tarot Garden in Italy, I'm sure she would have loved this breadth of vision.


It is very popular and has certainly put his home village of Rung Khun on the map. It provides jobs for many in the workshops alone, which are open for people to visit, then there are all the spin offs, the food stalls, the Temple shop and so on. All of which is hugely beneficial to the area.

It was good to end our tour on an upbeat note.