The Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya
An immense all-teak temple on the shore at Naklua, carved continuously since 1981 and still unfinished.
The Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya
The Sanctuary of Truth stands on a headland at Naklua, north of Pattaya, and is unlike anything else in Thailand. It is a hundred-metre-tall structure built entirely of teak, without nails, and every surface inside and out is carved - a dense programme of Hindu and Buddhist figures covering the four wings and the central spire.
Construction began in 1981 and has never stopped. Carvers work on site continuously, replacing weathered panels as fast as they add new ones, which means the building is simultaneously under construction and under repair and is not expected to be finished. Visitors wear hard hats inside for that reason.
The scale registers slowly: figures that look small from the floor are several metres across. It sits on the sea a short distance from Pattaya's northern beach and is the one thing in the city that has nothing to do with the resort strip.
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