Sanctuary of Truth: Your detailed guide of Pattaya’s iconic structure

If you appreciate beautiful architecture, you must definitely have Sanctuary of Truth in your itinerary during your Pattaya visit. It was a shame that we discovered it only recently from a Crime-themed TV programme.

Pattaya is a tiny city and there are not many highlights about it. Among the few that are worth visiting, Sanctuary of Truth hands down is the most iconic of the lot. The whole structure is carved in teak wood (without any metal nails). It was a great sight. We just spent the whole time just admiring it from different possible corners.

It is known to be a hybrid of a temple and a castle that is a symbol of philosophy, art, culture and faith, without being tied to a single religion. If you are interested more about its history, you can always hire a tour guide there.

How to reach Sanctuary of Truth from the bus station?

Get one point straight, Pattaya is pretty expensive in terms of commute in comparison to Bangkok. It’s always best to get a Grab Cab to avoid being ripped off. Unfortunately for us, we couldn’t manage to get a Grab Cab. We took a Baht taxi.

IMPORTANT TIP ABOUT BAHT TAXI: You must never ask the driver where he’s going. If the driver asks you where you are going, you must mostly not take that ride. Once you tell the driver your destination, he could well charge you a higher fee. You must always get on and check on the Google maps if he’s going in the direction you want to. You can always ask him to stop once that does not happen. This way, you can just pay him 10 BAHT or so.

Since we told the driver we wanted to go to Sanctuary of Truth, he charged us THB 200.

NO GRAB CAB OR ANY OTHER APP-BASED TAXI ALLOWED IN SANCTUARY OF TRUTH

Our next place on the list was a bar in the walking street, which is near Pattaya beach. It was clearly written at the entrance that you cannot call a Grab Cab. They had their own taxi service and if you do not have your vehicle, you have no choice but to use their services. It cost us THB 200.

Things to do in Sanctuary of Truth

Apart from exploring the structure, from inside and outside, here are some activities that you can do: A ride on the horse carriage around the sanctuary, horse riding, speedboat excursion, rowing boat, ATV ride tour, elephant ride and shooting. Here are the prices for the activities mentioned above:

Also, there are a couple of eateries and souvenir shops on the sanctuary’s premises.

Entry ticket: THB 500 per adult

Timings: Mon-Sun, 8 AM to 6 PM

To find out more about our Thailand trip, click here.