The forest-tradition monastery on the Bang Pu mangrove shore, and the thirteen white stupas of the Phra Thutangkha Chedi begun there in May 1962.
วัดอโศการาม · Wat Asokaram
| Official name | วัดอโศการาม — Wat Asokaram |
|---|---|
| Where | Thai Ban, Mueang Samut Prakan, Samut Prakan |
| Royal temple class | Not established from an official register. |
| Monastic order | Not recorded in any register we could read. |
| Ancient monument | Not established. |
Thai Ban, Mueang Samut Prakan, Samut Prakan
The exact location has not been confirmed yet.
Thai temple histories mix two different kinds of statement, and this guide keeps them apart. What a register, a gazette entry, an inscription or a dated royal act shows is one thing. What the chronicles and the temple itself hold is another, and it is worth telling as what it is.
The founder's full monastic title and the monastery's sect are not stated in the record read here, so neither is asserted on this page, and no National Office of Buddhism entry was reached this run.
Wat Asokaram sits on the old Sukhumvit road at Bang Pu, in Thai Ban subdistrict of Mueang Samut Prakan, with mangrove and the head of the Gulf behind it. It is the newest monument on this province page by more than a century, and it is here because it is the second place in Samut Prakan that people actually travel to. The Ministry of Culture's cultural-information database gives its address as 136 Sukhumvit Road, Mu 5, Thai Ban, and its extent as about thirty-three rai.
Its dates are unusually exact for a monastery this guide has covered, because the record is administrative rather than traditional. The Ministry of Culture database records permission to build granted on 13 April B.E. 2498 (1955) and the monastery formally constituted on 16 October B.E. 2499 (1956). The land was given by Nai Sumet and Nang Kimhong Kraikan. The preaching hall went up in B.E. 2499, the ordination hall in B.E. 2502 (1959), and Pali instruction began in B.E. 2503 (1960). There are around a hundred monastic dwellings and three principal images in different manners. None of that is a chronicle claim; all of it is in the record.
The founder is known throughout Thailand as Luang Pho Lee, or Than Pho Lee, one of the best-known teachers of the northeastern forest lineage and a disciple of Phra Ajahn Mun. The Ministry of Culture record explains the monastery's name as his: Asokaram, after the emperor Ashoka, whom he is said to have thought of while keeping a retreat in India. That is an explanation the monastery gives of itself rather than a documented act, and it sits on the tradition side of the line here. The record read for this page does not state his full monastic title, and this page does not supply one.
The building everyone comes for is the Phra Thutangkha Chedi. The Ministry of Culture database records it as begun on 18 May B.E. 2505 (1962), on a three-tiered square plan carrying thirteen separate stupas, and as enshrining relics. The name is the point: thutangkha renders dhutanga, the thirteen ascetic observances that define the forest tradition Luang Pho Lee belonged to, so the thirteen stupas are a doctrinal statement rather than an arrangement. Painted white and standing on flat coastal ground, the group is visible for some distance, and the provincial government's own page notes that the monastery also holds relics associated with other well-known teachers of the same lineage.
The Phra Thutangkha Chedi — thirteen white stupas on a three-tiered square plan, begun 18 May B.E. 2505 (1962) and enshrining relics.
The ordination hall of B.E. 2502 (1959) and the preaching hall of B.E. 2499 (1956), with three principal Buddha images in different manners.
Around a hundred monastic dwellings spread across the thirty-three rai, which is what a forest-lineage monastery of this size looks like in practice.
The mangrove shore at Bang Pu behind the monastery, which the provincial government names as part of what people come for.
This is a working place of worship for millions of people rather than an attraction, and it is treated as one at the gate. Where a figure below is blank, no source we are prepared to cite states it.
| Hours | Not established from an official source. |
|---|---|
| Admission | Not established from an official source. |
| Dress | A working forest-lineage monastery where people come to practise rather than to look. Covered shoulders and knees are the ordinary expectation, and quiet is more than a courtesy here; no dress rule specific to this monastery was published by any official source read for this page. |
| Photography | No source we found states a rule, so we print none. |
| Getting there | At 136 Sukhumvit Road (the old Sukhumvit), Mu 5, Thai Ban subdistrict, Mueang Samut Prakan, in the Bang Pu municipal area. No coordinate is published by any source read for this page, so no map or directions link is shown. |
Every temple reference repeats claims nobody has checked. These are the ones we went looking for and could not stand up, listed so you know exactly where this page stops.
The Ministry of Culture's cultural-information database records permission to build granted on 13 April B.E. 2498 (1955) and the monastery formally constituted on 16 October B.E. 2499 (1956), on land given by Nai Sumet and Nang Kimhong Kraikan.
Because of the name. Phra Thutangkha Chedi renders dhutanga, the thirteen ascetic observances that define the forest tradition the founder belonged to. The Ministry of Culture record dates the chedi's beginning to 18 May B.E. 2505 (1962) and describes a three-tiered square plan carrying thirteen stupas.
The teacher known throughout Thailand as Luang Pho Lee, of the northeastern forest lineage. The record read for this page does not give his full monastic title, so this guide does not state one.
Not established. No official source read for this page publishes hours or an admission figure for this monastery, and this guide does not copy a time from a travel site.
Before you go, read the guide to Buddhism and temple etiquette in Thailand — dress, footwear, where photography is not welcome and how to behave around monks. The rest of Samut Prakan’s temples are covered here too.
Every temple here sits in a place worth reading about on its own terms. The nationwide temple guide covers the other provinces to the same documentary standard as this page, and says on each one what the record establishes and what it does not.
If you are thinking about more than a visit: work out which Thai visa route fits your situation, and see what is available to rent and buy in residences across Thailand.
Every fact on this page is drawn from the sources above. Where they disagree, this page says so rather than choosing silently. Registrations, fees, hours and access change; confirm anything you are relying on with the authority concerned. BAANLYY LLC is a Nevada company and a listing portal, does not represent any temple, and offers no legal or religious advice.