The modern Wat Suan Mokkh (“Garden of Liberation”) is located on the highway going to Surat Thani, 6 km west from Chaiya, set in a beautiful jungle-like park. At former times pilgrims from Thailand as well as from all over the world used to come to the wat to get to know one of Thailand's most famous monk, Achaan Buddhadasa, who died in 1993.
The architecture and ornamentation of the buildings in the monastery are worth to see. The bot, for example, is built in the shape of a ship that symbolizes the passage to Nirvana. The central building is decorated with bas-reliefs on its outside walls telling the story of Buddha and these reliefs are cast from their Indian originals. The interior (called “Spiritual Theater”) seems like a magnificent exhibition of paintings, only that the various artists did not paint on canvas but directly on the walls.
All artists explain the path to enlightenment in different ways. The wandering, surrealist-inspired Zen Buddhist Emanuel Schermann gave a particular image to the building with its aphorisms and illustrations. On the second floor there are still empty places on the wall for artistically gifted people. East of the highway, about 1200 m, very pleasant hot springs are situated.
Accommodation and Food: There is a dormitory for women and a dormitory for men (on donation basis). Between the retreats it can be possible, depending on the number of people, to get a vegetarian meal in the monastery (30 Baht). There are also many small foodstalls located just outside of the monastery and they prepare various Thai dishes, especially famous for this region are cooked duck eggs preserved in salt.
Transportation: From the train station in Chaiya there are Songthaews (blue color) for 15 Baht to Wat Suan Mokkh until about 5 pm. Buses to Surat Thani cost about 30 Baht. If you come by bus either from the north or from the south you can ask the busdriver to stop at Wat Suan Mokkh on the highway.
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