The Finest Fifty Years of Lao History Told Through Four Temples (And a Stupa)

Modern day Laos was once known as the Kingdom of Lan Xang, the Kingdom of a Million Elephants. Its founding goes back to King Fa Ngum in 1353 but it reached the zenith of its power in the sixteenth century. During a period of about fifty years three kings extended the power of Lan Xang to reach over all of modern day Laos and Northern Thailand. During this time these kings promoted Buddhist culture and built some of the most important Buddhist temples and stupas in Laos, sites which today are still highly revered by the Lao people whilst being promoted as major tourist attractions. In this article we visit five of these magnificent Buddhist sites and explain their place in Lao history.

October 28, 2023 1

Khrua In Khong and the Introduction of Western Art to Thailand

The introduction of Western style art to Thailand is often attributed to the Italian Corrado Feroci who established Silphakorn University in 1932. But in fact nearly 100 years earlier a Thai monk named Khrua In Khong was painting large temple murals using Western themes and techniques. His murals are quite unlike those seen in other temples. He paints scenes of people in European dress, grand buildings and modern technology. So who was this monk painting scenes of the modern world and how were such murals appropriate in a Buddhist temple? This is the story of Khrua In Khong, a Thai Buddhist artist who painted futuristic riddles.

March 22, 2023 0

Wat Phou – Birth Place of the Angkor Empire

Wat Phou, a small Angkorian era temple, is the chief tourist attraction of Southern Laos. Most visitors to Wat Phou consider it as a remote outpost of the great Khmer empire centred on Cambodia's Angkor Wat. But in fact this small mountain temple is the birth place of that once mighty empire. It's history is shrouded in much mystery so here we shall delve in to what is known about Wat Phou, ranging from serene Buddhist sanctuary to site of bloody human sacrifice.

October 1, 2021 1

Beautiful Temples and Forgotten Power Struggles in Ubon Ratchathani

Ubon Ratchathani located 600km from Bangkok historically marks the boundary between Bangkok's power and that of the ancient kingdoms of Laos. It is home to some beautiful temples of national significance which also hold some subtle messages relating to power struggles now long forgotten.

May 10, 2020 0

Borobudur – the World’s Largest Buddhist Temple

If asked to locate the world's largest Buddhist temple many people might suggest Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Relatively few people would point to the world's largest Muslim country and the Temple of Borobudur.

April 22, 2020 0

Discovering Old Lanna at Wat Phra That Lampang Luang

Located just 15km from the northern city of Lampang is one of Thailand's oldest living temple complexes with some of the best preserved examples of early Lanna architecture in the country and many fascinating cultural artifacts.

October 25, 2019 0

Hidden Treasures on Phra Pradaeng Island

Phra Pradaeng is a great place to escape from the city and for Siamrat one of the hidden treasures there is the pair of old temple buildings at Wat Bang Nam Phueng Nok.

September 14, 2019 0

Thailand’s Greatest Heroines

As any visitor to Thailand quickly discovers, this country has a deep culture and history replete with miraculous tales of heroic deeds. Quite a few of these tales involve strong women who through bravery and sometimes a bit of powerful magic overcome adversaries and save the people from certain destruction.

March 7, 2019 5

Following the Journey of the Emerald Buddha

The Emerald Buddha is the most venerated Buddha image in all of Thailand and is the highlight for many of the 8 Million visitors to the Grand Palace each year. But few of these visitors consider where this sacred image originated from or are aware of the journey travelled by the Emerald Buddha prior to being installed within the Grand Palace

January 29, 2019 8