A temple of 1,5 million beer bottles in Thailand
wave breach / Shutterstock.com
The 'Beer Bottle Temple' in Khun Han near the Cambodian border is also known as 'The Temple of a Million Bottles'. The official name is Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew, the Temple is a monk's dream.
In itself it is not special that a building is made of recycled beer bottles, but the remarkable design of the temple complex in particular makes it unique.
The Beer Bottle Temple in Sisaket
The temple is located in the remote northeastern province of Sisaket, about 650 km from the capital Bangkok.
Forty years ago, an idea arose at Heineken to design a building made of beer bottles and parts of Volkswagen vans in collaboration with designer John Habraken. Unfortunately, this project was scrapped. It is now remarkable that Heineken bottles are also used in the 'Beer Bottles Temple', in addition to the Chang (Thai beer) bottles.
The combination of green and brown bottles creates beautiful contrasting colours.
Environmentally friendly Theravada Buddhism
The environmentally friendly Theravada monks of the Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew started collecting beer bottles as early as 1984. Until then, the discarded bottles were only used for making decorations.
Rumor has it that a monk was fed up with all the litter and asked the locals to collect empty alcohol bottles. Over the years, the number of beer bottles increased sharply. One day it was decided to use the bottles as building material. The bottles were incorporated into the concrete. With the help of the local community, the monks have been able to build their beautiful temple out of beer bottles.
20 buildings, one and a half million beer bottles
So far, the 'Beer Bottles Temple' consists of a complex of no less than 20 buildings that consist almost entirely of beer bottles. The complex includes prayer rooms, a crematorium, a water tower, toilets for tourists and the temple.
The main temple is an intricate design, built partly over the water. There are also several bungalows, which serve as accommodation for the monks, both inside and outside the complex. Nothing goes to waste here, as even the Buddha mosaics are made from recycled bottle caps! An estimated 1,5 million beer bottles have been used in total!
The local authorities are also helping the monks collect the vials so that more can be built. The monks prefer beer bottles because they are easy to clean. The colored bottles also provide a beautiful illumination of the buildings.
Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew is now a well-known attraction for eco-travel in Southeast Asia. Well worth a visit, but not easy to find!
Indeed this temple is unique, I was there for the first time about 10 years ago, I have now been there 3 times, and it is still great to see what they have built up from all those empty bottles, even the toilet block and the martuary is built of empty bottles,, I would say if you are ever in the area, you just have to go there,,,,, Thailand has thousands of temples, but here is only one of them in all of Asia,
Gerbrand Castricum,
We have been there and found it quite nice (definitely not beautiful, but special) to see. It is of course a unique fact: an entire temple complex of beer bottles. We wondered whether the crematorium, made of beer bottles, could withstand the heat of a cremation.
There is a very aggressive dog on the property. We joined a group of people who were also throwing stones to get rid of the dog, and quickly fled the area. The dog was really very annoying present! Just scary. And we have been cycling through Thailand for months, see dogs every day, also barking, but never as aggressive as this one!
In addition, it is quite a strange combination: monks who can be expected not to use stimulants, build temples from beer bottles. Well….
Been there 2 times is near a Dutchman's resort
In any case, you could not buy beer to support the collection of empty bottles… I also saw that they also used many other types of bottles, not only beer, but also many of those small M150 bottles… it was otherwise beautifully boring and empty affair ..nice to have been there but certainly not for an annual mission ...reasonably close (well, everyone is quite close again,) is also the Thai imitation of the Indonesian Boerobodour ..also nice to see
The temple is located in the town of Khunhan , before the roundabout turn right then left and it is on the right side .
A friend of mine lived there for 10 years and built the toilet, among other things.
She still talks about it often.
Beautiful temple and
a nice environment in Khunhan
Does anyone have coordinates for finding this temple?
Thank you.
14.618516, 104.418962
Piet, do you have information about that Dutch resort?
Very nice to have seen, we have a resort nearby (Pongsin resort and restaurant) the whole area there is beautiful with lava durian fruit, waterfalls and of course Khao Pra Wihan National Park.
Hello Peter
Yes, the name is Pongsin Resort in the town of Khun Han
The owner John himself has already responded to this message
His resort is very nicely decorated with nice detached bungalows and a good restaurant
I have been there several times with great pleasure (don't forget to bring your swimming trunks, beautiful private pool)
The bottle temple is not far away and can be reached fairly quickly by car
Have fun
Piet
pete,
Thanks for your information.