23.12.2011 Bangkok Wat Thammamongkhon

[christianpfc]

23.12.2011 Bangkok Wat Thammamongkhon (continued from here: http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=25255&start=0)

tags: Wat Thammamongkhon, jade Buddha, Thai boys, Chakran Sauna

The inspiration for this trip came from Mini Siam, where I saw this model of Wat Thammamongkhon (р╕зр╕▒р╕Фр╕Шр╕гр╕гр╕� �р╕бр╕Зр╕Др╕е), there highest wat in Bangkok (about 95 m high), with a hair of Buddha and a Buddha made of 14 tons of jade (1) from Canada:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/Mini%20Siam/DSCN3183.jpg

My friend A comes by taxi in the afternoon (after several calls and misunderstandings about time of departure and time of arrival). I pay the taxi he took (i.e. the driver was waiting for payment when we met in front of my hotel, it took me a moment to understand, the first time someone pulled this stunt on me тАУ coming by taxi and not having the money to pay it). We take MRT and BTS to Punnawithi (Sukhumvit Soi 101, not that clever of me: he came all the way from On Nut by taxi, and now we are going back by MRT and BTS).

You can see the wat from the BTS station, but not from the ground (the view is blocked by houses apart from a few gaps). ItтАЩs about 500 m by air, but on the ground you have to take a detour which is about 1 km. From Punnawithi station either to the east, Sukhumvit 101/1, and then sub-soi 5, or to the west, Sukhumvit 101, and then the sub-soi that has a sign with the watтАЩs name. The wat is built in the style of Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India. Here you can see, the base is a truncated pyramid:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3408.jpg

Above ground level, there is an area around the wat and a side building which has a geodetic dome:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3409.jpg

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3410.jpg

This building houses the jade Buddha (? not sure, there is another one in the main building), notice the carving in the dome as well:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3412.jpg

and a statue of Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy):

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3413.jpg

View to the wat from this side building (the area you see is about 1st floor level):

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3415.jpg

We enter and take the lift/elevator. It doesnтАЩt go to the highest floor, so we have to take the stairs. After two floors, a security guard tells us that itтАЩs closing time (16:30). So I will have to come back to go to the very highest accessible floor. Here two pictures I took from higher floors:

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3417.jpg

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3418.jpg

After descending, we walk around inside on lower floors, and there is another Buddha in the first floor of the main building (here mostly hidden by the flags):

http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j412/christianpfc/wat%20thammamongkhon/DSCN3419.jpg

This leaves me to wonder: which one is the 14 tons jade Buddha, or is there even a third one in the chedi on top?

On our way back to Punnawithi station, my friend tells me that he has to work in the evening, so he canтАЩt come with me. (My mistake, I violated a basic rule: тАЬfuck first, talk laterтАЭ (2) - he was at my hotel, all I had to do was to invite him to my room тАЬfor a drinkтАЭ). We agree to meet after work (he finishes at midnight).

I take BTS directly to Aree station to go to Chakran Sauna, which has an advert тАЬgroup masturbation showтАЭ on Fridays at 9 pm. I am in Chakran from 18:50 to 21:40. I think I get pickier with every visit. In July/August, there were 3 boys who were my type, this time none out of about 50 customers. Around 9 pm, there is a fuck show (between swimming pool and jakuzzi). I think the perfomers are from X-Boys.

Later at night, I meet (several phone calls and half an hour late) a just friend B at Balcony. Music in Soi 4 is too loud, we have to shout at each other. Shortly after midnignt, I call A. Even at the very end of Soi 4 it is too loud, my limited Thai and his limited English make communication impossible. But my just friend B can understand him: he cannot come.

We return to Sathorn and have a drink in a restaurant near my guesthouse. A cute boy comes in and disappears in the kitchen. I knew him from before, we had a few short chats and he now lives in Europe with his boyfriend and is back in Thailand for holiday. I wonder what he does in the kitchen, half an hour later I go to check: he has left through the back entrance! I resign: I will not get laid this night!

(Two days later, I enquired with a waiter: the boy is looking for very rich Farang, I do not qualify!) It gets late (4 am), I wonder how my just friend will be able to perform at work 8 am to 6 pm. He calls his Thai boss and takes a day off! To save time, he stays with me over night.

Some links that I used to prepare this post:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/p/m/1333fe/
http://temple-thailand.blogspot.com/200 ... gkhon.html (http://temple-thailand.blogspot.com/2007/07/wat-thammamongkhon.html)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phra_Khanong_District

(1) I recently learned about different kinds of jade:
http://bangkokbois.wordpress.com/2012/0 ... erial-gem/ (http://bangkokbois.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/jade-the-imperial-gem/)

all I found for this Buddha was this information:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=351595

No idea where the mock jade Buddha is. FWIW......British Columbia jade is
nephrite and true jade is jadeite.
B.C. jade lacks all the qualities that make 'jade' a valued stone. Similar
to comparing a Big Mac with the phrase 'good food'.
(2) тАЬFuck first, talk laterтАЭ inspired by тАЬshoot first, ask questions laterтАЭ, fuck here used for sex in general. I lost count of how often I went out with a friend for drinking, eating, sightseeing, where I postponed sex for the time after return, to learn that time was up or friend needs key or too drunk.

christain can you answer a question for me please ?? the jade buddha and statue of Guanyin ... any plaques on them as to wether they are related to spiderman ??

[Jellybean]

I do so enjoy reading your reports Christianpfc. I found this one informative and funny with the added bonus of a great set of photographs.

IтАЩve never been to Wat Thammamongkhon before. IтАЩm always looking for new daytime places to see in Bangkok, having taken my guests to the Grand Palace and the Dusit Zoo so many times in the past that I couldnтАЩt face yet another visit. So IтАЩll add Wat Thammamongkhon to my list and check it out before I head back to the UK next month. Any other places you think are worth a visit?

I also sympathised with at your account of the boy turning up in a taxi and expecting you to pay the bill. This has happened to me before and IтАЩve ended up waiting for 1-2 hours whilst the taxi negotiates its way through Bangkok тАШrush hourтАЩ traffic and IтАЩm then expected to pay the 200+ Baht fare. When I ask, тАЬWhy didnтАЩt you just get the sky train? It would have been quicker and less expensive.тАЭ The reply is usually they didnтАЩt have the 25, 30 or 35 Baht fare, which is usually not a good omen of things to come!

[christianpfc]

So IтАЩll add Wat Thammamongkhon to my list and check it out before I head back to the UK next month. Any other places you think are worth a visit?
If you go, please check the top floor of the wat and let us know what they have there, and try to find out which is the jade Buddha.

All interesting places I know of and went to are in my trip reports.

[Jellybean]

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you Christianpfc. I had planned to visit Wat Thammamongkhon last Wednesday, but because of a change of plan at the last minute I was unable to do so.

We therefore went yesterday (22 March 2012). I had never travelled farther than Phrom Pong on the Sukumvit Line before and really wanted to look out of the window and see the sights. Unfortunately the seating arrangement on the Skytrain prohibits you from doing so, it wasnтАЩt until my Thai friend was able to sit next to me that I was able to turn round and look out the window. As you said, you are able to see Wat Thammamongkhon as you approach BTS Punnawithi.

We hailed a taxi and asked him to take us to the temple, unfortunately however, he took us to the wrong temple - Wachiratham Sathit and left us before we realised the mistake. I suggested having a look around the temple, but my friend said there was nothing to see and said we should get another cab. DonтАЩt know how he knew that. So 50 Baht down the drain! The one consolation was that the taxi driver was one of the most handsome cab driverтАЩs IтАЩve ever seen in Bangkok.

We caught another taxi, I paid a further 50 Baht and we went to the right temple this time.

You asked which Buddha is made out of jade. The jade Buddha (Buddha y├▓k) is the one under the dome, the one surrounded by the spiderтАЩs web effect in your photo, which was not there during my visit. My friend said the standing Buddha is a Chinese Buddha.

We then walked across to the temple with the pyramid like structure. I thought the room housing the black Buddha with the gold robe was impressive. We then took the lift up to the 10th floor and walked up three further floors to the top floor. You also asked what is on the top floor. There is an ornate structure with what looks like an urn at the top. There is also a series of photos taken on 23 October 2001 showing what looks like ghostly images (ectoplasm?) leaving or entering the urn. A sign says the photos show тАЬ. . . the arrival of the BuddhaтАЩs relics.тАЭ (See my two photos below, the photos of the ghostly images can be seen at the bottom right in my photos.)

On the other floors there were displays of pottery, which I thought could have been better presented. I thought the rooms looked rather shabby and in need of a new coat of paint and some new floor tiles.

On the floor second from the top there were numerous symbols four of which presented the тАЬFour Noble Truths: Suffering, The Cause of Suffering, The Cessation of Suffering and The Way Leading to the Cessation of Suffering.тАЭ

All in all an interesting visit.

[krobbie]

Thanks to all the posters on this thread. I also am forever looking for new places to visit in Bangkok. After discussion with my partner last night on Skype we are definitely going to check this place out. Now that the BTS goes out so far these places are easier to visit.

Great stuff.