The Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya

Posted On May 12, 2022

This placed is truly amazing and you must visit it if you go to Pattaya. I would say you go to Pattaya specifically to see the Sanctuary of Truth. It is a massive wooden hybrid castle, right on the ocean side, that has magnificently carved wooden sculptures within it and around it. I have never seen another castle or temple that compares, it really is spectacular.

What is the concept behind the Sanctuary of Truth?

The Sanctuary of Truth was designed by a Chinese business man and millionaire, Lek Vinyaphant, in 1981. He also built other cultural projects including the Erawan Museum and Ancient Siam near Bangkok.

It stands 105 metres high and covers 3,200 sq. metres. It is the largest wood only building in Thailand, built using traditional Thai woodworking techniques. They don’t secure anything permanently with nails, all pieces of wood are made to fit into each other and nails are made from wood if needed.

The Sanctuary of Truth attempts to portray the concepts of truth and the meaning of life. It pays tribute to Heaven, Father, Mother, Earth, Sun, Moon and Stars. You will see carvings that show imagery from Thai, Hindu, Chinese and Khmer traditions. If you do the guided tour, you are told lots of stories about the carvings and how they show the different paths people can choose and what is right and wrong and the life they ultimately carve for themselves.

The building is set to be completed in 2025, however they work appears to be ongoing as they are constantly replacing parts that are weathered from the ocean. As you walk through to start the tour, you can see many people working on the carvings and sections that will be replaced in the structure.

Where is the Sanctuary of Truth and how do you get there?

The Sanctuary of Truth is located in the Naklua area of Pattaya, an hour from Bangkok. We spent two nights in Pattaya cause we thought it was nice and wanted to explore. Then on day two we woke up with food poisoning and didn’t leave our hotel room. We had shared a paella at this beach club the night before, it was only warm and not hot. We shouldn’t have eaten it, and now we will never eat paella again. Lucky we woke up fine the next day and were able to cruise out to the Sanctuary of Truth before we left for Bangkok!

We jumped in a baht bus to get out there, they are Utes with cages on the back and every ride is 50 Baht – about $2 AUD. They carry like up to 20 people at a time I would imagine, like a mini bus. But there are taxis and moto taxis that you can jump in to get out there as well. The baht bus is just really cheap so we opted for it once we realised what it was.

When does it open?

Online it says it opens at 8am, and you can buy tickets at 8am, but the gates don’t open until 9am and closes at 5pm. We got there at 8am cause we were so keen, so we had to wait. They only had one little place making drinks and no other food available. Maybe as it gets busier more food carts and the like will appear. Luckily for us there was a small zoo with lots of animals there to keep us entertained! So random!

What do you wear to the Sanctuary of Truth?

Make sure you wear something that covers your knees (male and female). Although, in saying that and looking at our photos – Lawsons knees are exposed! They didn’t say anything to him or ask him to cover up, so maybe men don’t need too. It is a construction site so they will give you a hard hat to wear around while you walk inside the building itself.

How much is entry to the Sanctuary of Truth?

The entry fee was 500 Baht, which is about $20 AUD. Its more expensive then other temples and the like, but its definitely worth a look. Its so beautiful and very unique!

What else is there to do at the Sanctuary of Truth?

There is actually quite a lot of activities at the Sanctuary of Truth. As I said above, there is a small zoo out the front. They had goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, geese and deers that were all in their pens. But at different times they let the animals out to roam around the grounds which is cool. They had ATV rides, cruises on Thai Gondolas, elephant rides, fast boat rides, small cafes and juice bars.