Strange people in strange bars, strange happenings and goings on, strange and unconventional transport, Thailand can’t half be a strange place, and many of the things which are strange about Thailand are epitomized in Pattaya. There is even a strange Buddhist Temple in Pattaya, strange because of where it is, and strange because, well just take a look the pictures below.
This (see photo above), is what appears to be a very long pier at the Northern tip of Pattaya’s Krating Lai Beach, the structure in the center looks quite small from this distance, and there’s two charming little pavilions a short distance up the pier. Nothing too strange so far, in fact from the Southern tip of Krating Lai Beach it appears to be still under construction.
As you can see in the photo (above), the structure in the middle is not small at all, it’s actually pretty huge, viewed from up close it looks like an abandoned offshore construction of some sort, the columns on the upper level are all steel, probably about eighteen inches in diameter. Looking through the two central columns, framed by the columns at the further most end, you can see a tiny figure.
Once inside the building, that tiny figure transpires to be a Buddha statue, and as you can see from the photo (above) someone has been taking good care of Buddha, in fact there are two more Buddha’s in the building.
This photo (above) shows the second Buddha image stood behind the first, the Buddha images and the bench on the left of the picture give a sense of scale to the building, and it’s completely baron except for the Buddha images. Now you have to admit that looks strange, what are these Buddha images doing in an abandoned offshore construction at the end of a pier in Pattaya ?.
The third of the Buddha images (pictured above) sits alone at the farthest end of the building.
Perched on the extreme edge (pictured above) is an altar adorned with garlands of flowers and incense sticks. In the background you can see the high-rise condos and hotels on the Pattaya shoreline.
So what is this strange building on the end of a pier in Pattaya ?. It is actually an abandoned, forsaken project, it was going to be a grand Buddhist Temple built over the sea, but the funds dried up. And so it became a forsaken temple, but not forsaken by Buddha and the Monks who go there daily to worship, to worship at Buddha’s Unforsaken Temple.