Wat Sila Ngu

Wat Sila Ngu is a popular temple with the local Thai Buddhist population. If there's a celebration or festival on the calendar, Wat Sila Ngu does it in a big way.

The Wat was built on the rocky shores between Lamai and Hua Thanon, it has a lovely seated area overlooking the bay towards Hua Thanon. With the contrasting Mosque on the horizon it's great place to take a seat on the shores and enjoy the cool breeze.

As you enter the Wat you will notice a new temple being constructed. From a distance you might think it is going to look nice when finished, you must take a closer look.

We would have been kicking ourselves had we not bothered to venture over and have a look at this stunning masterpiece in the making, one word for it 'wow'!

This temple has been under construction for 3 years, it has cost 15 million Baht to date and apparently is only 10% complete.

The exterior has some fantastic hand-made sculptures, with painstaking attention at every point, but wait until you get inside.

It truly is jaw-dropping, the whole inside of the temple has been handcrafted with 3-D sculptures of stories from the Buddhist scriptures. The amount of man-hours that has gone in to every detail, every millimetre of clay, is staggering.

It is such a testament to the spiritual faith that inspires such an endeavour. When viewing the temple in its current state it is hard to imagine the actual completed outcome. It surely will be one of the finest examples of Buddhist architecture in Asia.

There is no completion date and one could not expect there to be with such a huge task, we will keep you posted as the site progresses.

Wat Silu Ngu is beachside on the ring road between Lamai and Hua Thanon. Just keep your eye out for a clay coloured temple under construction.