Wat Bonpong, Thailand

Zipping to and from Bonpong on the motorbike whether going to the markets or just for a ride, I always would stare in amazement at how stunning this place is.


This is a rice field near Bonpong, there are miles and miles of rice crops covering the countryside of northeastern Thailand. The vibrant green is such a breath taking view.

Bonpong is such a small village that there isn't a local market. The market is in a near by town about 20 minutes away. One afternoon Pa's niece took me there to pick up a few fruits and vegetables that we would bring to the temple the next day.



In preparation for Songkran, the entire community had been coming to the temple though out the week to help clean and assist the monks with all the tasks at hand.
Leang and the other monks really worked hard all day and into the evenings. I helped as much as they all would let me, but often I was commandeered to teach English to the children instead which as you can see was always a lot of fun.

There was much to do to prepare the temple for the festival. To start, we decided to clean the floor of the common area. This sounds easy, but there are no mops in SE Asia. We use booms that look similar to the kind you would see witches riding on during Halloween. They're made of a gathered group of sticks with a long handle like regular brooms have. We used them to scrub the cement and all the grooves since this floor is not finished, and the cement is uneven. So we used these brooms, with water and soap...and scrubbed, scrubbed, scrubbed!

Nongkim was always my shadow with whatever I do, and this cleaning day was no exception. She began running and playing while we all cleaned the floor. I didn't want to get my scarf dirty so I laid it on a chair, and since we were scrubbing the floor, I rolled up my pants and set my shoes aside also. The monks and I became very focused on the cleaning, this place was a mess! After a little while, I realized I didn't hear Nongkim any longer. There are only a few reasons when a child becomes quiet: they are content playing with something, doing something naughty, eating, sleeping, or they left. I turned around to look for her and she was sitting in the chair by the computer with my scarf wrapped around her and my shoes on. I laughed and she looked up at us all and smiled. I hurried and grabbed my camera to take her photo. She is so adorable!

The resident monk living here takes care of all the electrical, computer and production equipment for the temple and festivals. Here he is in this photo at the top of one of the power poles wiring speakers to broadcast the announcements to the community during Songkran.


These are decorative ribbons that the resident monk made around each support beam in the common building where the main ceremonies during Songkran are to be held.



This is a photo of the upstairs of the common area where the children of the community came to help sweep and organize everything. We all had a blast together, and although it is a large area and was very dusty from the construction, it was completed relatively quickly because there were so many of us working together.

There were many things to move and reorganize because of the construction at the temple. Some areas of Wat Bonpong are still unfinished, and is a work in progress, but oh, the progress that has been made so far!!!

The Abbot has done so much with this temple it really is incredible. He has reconstructed the entire place. The common area used to be much smaller, and on the other side of the property. He had it moved it to its current location in October this past fall because he felt it would open up the parking lot for festivals and events. In this photo Leang is moving a huge pile of wood beams and boards which are still being used for the construction of the floor and ceiling of the common area, to the other side of the property so they won’t be in the way during the festival.

By having the main building located where it is now, it allows for there to be more landscaping, and so Achan decided to landscape the entire temple grounds. Many people, most of which were the teenagers, came and helped out by volunteering and planting trees around the property to provide shade for sitting areas. People have also built or donated benches that are now scattered throughout the gardens.

One really remarkable thing that the Abbot has also done, was he led the construction of the ‘bot’.

The bot is a building at temples that serves as the prayer hall, where chanting and meditation take place, where ceremonies are held-such as when a monk is ordained, and most importantly, where the main Buddha statue is located and available for people to come and visit.

When the Abbot first came to this temple there were not many people from the village that would frequent the temple. It’s not that they weren’t devout; they most certainly were however over the years the people became more and more withdrawn from the unity of the temple in this village. Children growing up didn’t realize that they belong here to, and were often shy to come alone. Their parents were busy and didn’t have a lot of time to come to a place where they couldn’t simply relax with family and enjoy themselves among friends. It was a place where Achan mentioned that the Abbot before him was a very old man, and my guess is that things sort of drifted into a state that was not so beneficial for the Buddhist community. It was not anything he did wrong, it’s simply he was only one monk living here back then, and to run a temple alone with a village of followers is a huge undertaking. Upon his death, Achan took over this temple and moved to Bonpong. Not surprisingly, the temple didn’t have a lot of financial support, but he did the best he could in making this place welcome to all people.
At this particular temple, the bot that they built is not all that large; during Songkran the events are held in the common area where there is more room for the entire village to come. Leang told me they built the bot in 1995. Although it was constructed, it is still being worked on and is not yet completed.

After it was built, they needed a Buddha statue for inside, since they had none. The Abbot raised money within the community, and people donated their gold from jewelry and they melted it all down and mixed it in the gold the Abbot purchased with the money from the community. A ceramic structure was created by pouring it over a wax mold that was designed by a man that the Abbot hired. This ceramic form was then covered with the molten gold mixture. When heated once again, the ceramic was solid and the wax within was melted down and removed.
Thus a huge, one-of-a-kind statue of Buddha was created especially for this particular bot, at this particular temple, in this particular village. Leang told me that the investment made by the individuals in the community is really special to them because it shows that the temple doesn't belong only to the Abbot, or the monks that live there, but that each and every person owns it.
The construction of this bot and the Buddha within was one of the most important moments in many of these Buddhist people’s lives since both of these creations may last hundreds of years upon completion. This is not an event that happens every year, let alone every lifetime. This was special, and the people knew it. They felt important, and they felt they really belong at this temple. They are a part of it. After Leang told me this story about how it was built, all the time and effort that was put into it, I felt really happy to have met such amazing people. I was so proud of these monks. I asked Achan about it, and Leang translated for him and I. Achan smiled and explained the basics of the events, but told me to come back that evening to the common area.
Through out the day I began to feel as if I was perhaps coming down with something. I decided it was probably nothing, and later that evening after dinner I returned to the temple. Some community members were gathered there with the Abbot paying their respects and visiting with him. They had a TV set up, and they welcomed me as I settled into a place on one of the straw mats on the floor and paid my respects to Achan. For the next 2 hours we watched a video of the entire ceremony. Edited of course, but stunning. The elation all the people must have felt was truly visible in their attitudes, laughter, and smiles. The music, the parade, everything looked so utterly joyful. I really wish I could have witnessed an event like this. On the video it showed one of the elderly women who was there sitting with us. She donated her gold jewelry in the video for the creation of the Buddha statue. She told me that even long after she is gone, her grandchildren will be able to look at that statue and know that when they see Buddha, they will remember that she was a part of that community; it was her home, and all her life she tried to be as the Buddha was, and they should too.

Hopefully you now understand why a bot is such a pinnacle place in the temple.


In a small village like Bonpong the people now use their temple as a community place. It is where celebrations for births are held, it is where funerals are held, it is where Songkran is held, it is where the children come to learn the Dharma and Pali language from the Abbot and monks. The people come to seek education here aside from what is taught in school. This is a place where every single person belongs. This is a place that during the day you will find groups of children playing around the gardens, you will see in the evening the old men reading the paper or watching the news in the common area. You will see the young men and women sitting at the temple speaking quietly with elders hoping to gain wisdom from someone who has lived life and knows more than we do. The temple is the center of the community in villages. And it was a blessing to witness the care and investment everyone contributes here.