Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden

2/15/2020 Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden: A Glimpse of the Buddhist Underworld - The Bohemian Blog
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Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden: A Glimpse of th

Buddhist Underworld
Monday 10 June 2013
Dark Tourism, Folklore, Religion, Thailand
Hidden away down an overgrown road, in a village not far from Bangkok, there lies a curious museum known to many as th
‘Thailand Hell Horror Park’. Built adjacent to a local temple, the Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden – as it is correctly named
brings to life Buddhist teachings about the torments of the underworld, in a series of increasingly gruesome scenes. Curiou
to learn more, I set out in search of Hell.
WANG SAEN SUK HELL GARDEN

I first came across photos from the Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden a couple of years ago, after they had appeared in Th
Fortean Times. When I finally got to Thailand for myself, it was right up there on my ‘to-do’ list. After a little digging around
managed to find an address for Wang Saen Suk, apparently located at Sai 2, Soi 19, Saen Suk.
The village of Saen Suk is located close to Chon Buri – around

100km southeast of Bangkok – and while its pleasant beaches do
attract their fair share of domestic tourism, the majority of About Tours
foreigners pass this spot by in favour of nearby Pattaya or the
spectacular islands to the south.
I didn’t have much in the way of a plan; I simply woke up early one day and headed down towards Bangkok’s hectic bu
station beside Victory Monument. Getting there seemed to be a relatively simple affair. Regular coaches run from the capita
to the infamous sex-tourism hotspot of Pattaya, and they would all be passing Chon Buri on the way. From there I guessed I’
http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/06/wang-saen-suk-hell-garden-thailand.html 1/20
taxi it to the Hell Garden. Getting back worried me more, but I
decided to think about that later.
Sure enough, by 9am I was wedged into the back of an old bus
between a couple of elderly Thai women, with a breakfast of
noodles and a syrupy iced coffee. The journey took us just short of
two hours, escaping the horrific Bangkok traffic to leapfrog the
beach resorts which lie scattered along the coast east. One-by-
one the other passengers got off, until I was alone with the driver.
Every few minutes I’d ask him where we were, terrified of missing
my stop.
“This Bang Saen!” he suddenly declared, then, pointing off to the

right, “Saen Suk!” He hadn’t heard of the Hell Garden (and my
graphic mimery wasn’t helping), but I only had to get to Saen Suk
and look for the palace, or “Wang”. I thanked him and hopped off
the bus – into a bustling street of Chinese markets.
Getting from Bang Saen to the Hell Garden was not as easy as I
had imagined. Taxis seemed non-existent here, so for the next four
hours I walked up and down rural lanes flanked with high hedges,
beside highways and past grocery shops, barbers and massage
parlours.
To make things a little more interesting, the weather was fast

deteriorating. As the locals were dashing for cover, many of them
looked out in puzzlement at the stupid farang who had gotten lost
in a fishing village during a thunderstorm.
“Go home!” a mechanic laughed at me, when I stoppe

to ask directions. “Khaosan Road that way!”
He was pointing at Bangkok, and its heaving tourist district. Later I stopped for a coffee at a roadside shack, and the woma
running it made conversation while I drank. She spoke in Thai, and I understood around four words in as many minutes – bu
it was somehow flattering that she would try speaking to me in her own language. I did have to text a Thai friend to get th
word for ‘toilet’ however… that was one thing I wasn’t going to mime.
It was getting late in the afternoon by the time I reached Bang Saen Beach. I had been following a map copied by hand from
the Internet, but it seemed to bear less and less resemblance to the arrangement of roads in reality. I was tired and soakin
wet, wondering if I would ever find this place. I got talking to a bunch of youths outside a 7-Eleven. At first they made th
same mistake that others had – directing me to th
temple, or Wat Saen Suk instead of Wang Saen Suk. Th
palace was new to them.
I was almost beyond hope when a nearby man suddenl

joined the conversation. He was smoking in the rain, hi
feet propped up high on the handlebars of hi
motorbike.
“I take you to Hell for 20 Baht,” he said.
NARAKA & THE HUNGRY

GHOSTS
My Virgil left me by the entrance, where a great Buddha sat in watch over the gates of hell. From here it looked unremarkable
there were life-sized sculptures of men, women and animals, grouped to portray scenes of religious significance. A man wa
cutting off his hair in one diorama, while another man, presumably a saint of some sort, was slaying some mean-lookin
crocodiles. Here and there monks floated about, their orange robes wet from the storm, while a sign on the wall proclaimed
“Welcome to Hell!”
I followed the path around a corner, when suddenly the space ahead of me was opened up into a surreal tapestry of pain.
Two vast figures dominated the clearing, the emaciated forms of a man and a woman. At their feet, four sinners were boilin
alive as guards jabbed at them with spears. Around the cauldron and the giants, there danced 21 figures – all at a simila
height to me. Their twisted human bodies were conjoined with the heads of animals, and arrayed in a variety of threatenin
poses: lunging, reaching and clawing, or prancing about like fools.
In Buddhism, Hell is known as ‘Naraka’. It’s not eternal

damnation in the Abrahamic sense, but rather the
punishments of Naraka continue until the sinner’s
negative karma is spent. Texts such as the Devadūta-
sutta (a part of the Pāli Canon) give descriptive
accounts of the tortures conducted here, which are
decided by the particular crimes of the individual. The
tormented are not ‘cast’ into hell, as is the case in other
religions; but rather, it is the weight of their negative
karma that brings them here.
According to the Traiphuum Phra Ruang, the newly-
dead are brought before the ‘Death King’, Phya Yom. It
is Phya Yom who informs you of your fate, after
comparing your list of good deeds (inscribed on a gold
plate) against any bad actions you have committed in
life (listed on a scrap of dog skin).
The demon closest to me had the head of a savage pig,

and a plaque between its feet that read:
“Ones who make a corruption are punished in the hell,

they are named as the spirits of the pigs.”
I walked through the dancing rows, reading the

inscriptions as I passed. The ungrateful become tigers,
the jealous rabbits, and those who instigate brawls become ducks. Stealing aquatic animals earns you a fish head, whil
those who steal cooked rice are named as the spirits of the birds. All are punished in the hell.
Ones who sell the habit-performing drugs are punished in the hell, they are named as the spirits of the cows.
Phya Yom, the Death King, was seated in a grotto to my left. Before him stood two freshly deceased souls, chained about the
necks and awaiting judgement.
I wanted to find out more however, about the two figures tha
towered over all else: a male and a female form, with skeleta
features and stretched tongues hanging halfway to the ground. A
donation box was placed at the feet of each giant, while signs i
English explained the fate of these two tortured beings. They ha
transgressed the five sacred precepts of Buddhism, and “plunge
themselves into the four Causes of the Misfortunes”. Namely, “th
Connoisseur of Women, the Habitual Drinkers, the Habitua
Gamblers the Fellowship with the knaves and behaving against th
virtue or the moral principles”.
These colossal figures were named as ghosts. The male was ‘Na
Ngean-Nai Ngean’, guilty in life of vice and disorderly conduct. Th
female ghost – ‘Nang Thong-Nang Thong’ – had made mistakes o
“sexual intercourse, misconduct, mind without morality”.
There are many ghosts described in Thai folklore; often inhabitin

forests or coastal areas, they range in personality from the highl
aggressive to lost and lonely souls. Nai Ngean and Nang Thon
seemed to fit the description of Preta; or, ‘the hungry ghosts’.
The concept of preta is common to Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu and Jai

texts. These are spirits who have been greedy or jealous people i
life, and by punishment are afflicted with insatiable hungers in th
afterlife. In many traditions the object of their hunger is somethin
repulsive, such as human faeces or cadavers.
Stories about the preta vary from culture to culture. Generally though, they are characterised as having great height combine
with mummified skin, skeletal limbs and distended bellies. Their necks are long and thin, too narrow to allow them to fill the
stomachs – and serving as a visual metaphor for their hunger.
Preta are highly sensitive to heat and cold, and unlike the tormented souls of hell they are free to wander the earth – foreve
searching for nourishment. Some traditions say that the ghost’s food will burst into flames as it tries to consume it; othe
sources describe preta as being invisible, or visible only to humans in abnormal mental states.
Behind the hungry ghosts I examined another row of demons, some with less mammalian faces: a snake, a dragon, a lizar
and a lobster.
I learned that those who exploit and cause suffering to others are named as the spirits of the dogs; vandals are rats an
tortoises undermine the authority of others, while those who destroy the areas of wilderness are named as deer.
Ones who are employed to put fire on the others properties are punished in the hell, they are named as the spirits of th
snakes.
THE BOWELS OF BUDDHIST HELL

Thailand has a number of Hell Gardens, but the Wang Saen Suk Monastery Garden is the largest of them all. Entering th
garden proper, I passed a sign which warned;
“If you meet the Devil in this life, don’t postpone merit-making which will help you to defeat him in the next life.”
Naraka consists of eight large pits, each of them attached to a further 16 areas, giving a total of 136 pits altogether. Thes
regions vary in terms of punishment, and individuals are assigned to a pit based on the nature of their transgressions.
This formulaic system of torture shares much in commo

with the Christian traditions illustrated by Dante’s Divin
Comedy; unlike Dante’s own Inferno however, the dea
may be reborn from Naraka once their punishment ha
finished. Only one pit differs, and that is Avici: the ‘non
returning hell’. This deepest region of the underworld i
cold rather than hot like the others, and reserved fo
those who take the life of their parents, a Buddha or a
enlightened ‘Arhat’. Souls in Avici remain in torment unt
the birth of a new Buddhist era.
While Abrahamic religions focus on the Te

Commandments, the Buddhists live life by a series o
‘Precepts’. According to the Pali Canon the Fiv
Precepts forbid murder, theft, sexual misconduc
dishonesty and drunkenness. There are more precepts besides these however; novice monks must live by a series of 1
precepts, while an adult monk must uphold a total of 227.
As I walked around the garden, I was introduced to the various punishments prescribed for a range of different crimes. Ster
men dressed in Buddhist robes were appointed the role of torturers. In the middle of the courtyard some naked figures wer
climbing up a thorny tree; the dogs of hell harassing them from beneath while ravens pecked at their eyes.
Beside this diorama, a donation box explained:
“Ones who violate the third one of the Five Precepts “Infringing the
sexual intercourse, being paramour with the others’ wives or
husbands” receive the results of the bad action as shown in this
picture.”
Other punishments included a woman being penetrated with a

spear, as recompense for “injection, aborticide, birth control”;
“cheating and overreach” were punished with the removal of eyes,
while a man who had undermined Buddhism was having his head
savagely beaten off with a metal bar.
Some of these punishments were conducted singularly, while

others were meted out on larger groups of sinners. One particularly
gruesome scene featured a corrupt man and a rice thief (with the
heads of a pig and a bird, respectively) being hacked apart with
axes; an undutiful ascetic (toad) was having his intestines torn out
by a bird, whilst a bull-headed drug dealer had his throat crudely
slashed.
A human-headed sinner was being sawn in half beside them,

another had a throwing star embedded in his forehead. It was
interesting to note one other figure, which bore a strong
resemblance to a ‘Blemmye’; a mythical tribe of cannibals
reportedly discovered in Africa, headless and with a face growing
from their torso. The Blemmyes were described as early as the 1st
century AD (“It is said that the Blemmyes have no heads, and that their mouth and eyes are put in their chests.” – Pliny th
Elder, c75 AD), and have appeared in notable works of fiction throughout the middle ages and since (for example, “And of th
Cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders.” – William
Shakespeare, 1603).
Beside this group an inscription read: “Ones who violate the second of the Five Precepts “Stealing, Cheating or destroying th
others’ Properties” receive the results of the bad action as shown in this picture.”
Another scene depicted a woman who had killed her husband (a good father), having a spear thrust through her heart. A
woman who had committed the sin of abortion was being slowly crushed in a vice, by two of the hell guards. A nearby rapis
had been chained to a post and was having a trident shoved at his genitals.
I made my way towards the back of the garden, through the throng of twisting figures. All along I kept spotting faces out of th
corner of my eye; many of these cement and plaster figures were surprisingly life-like, and I would often look up to find the
eyes meeting mine directly. It was an unnerving sensation.
Other articles I had read about the Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden have reported its popularity amongst Thai families an
domestic tourists; the park was abandoned on my visit however, as the rain continued to fall and thunder rumbled ominousl
over the horizon. Once or twice I saw the giant ghosts l
up by bolts of bright lightning. The electricity seemed t
give life – just for a brief moment – to their hungry
withered faces.
At the other end of the garden I met the alcoholics.
These men were still clinging to their bottles, as the he

wardens poured boiling oil down their throats.
THE PATH OF PRAYER

The Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden is not intended merely to frighten, but rather to instruct. In addition to the vicious punishmen
it details, there are also illustrations of the reward for good karma.
In the furthest corner of the garden, some figures were grouped about a tree. A nearby donation box read: “Ones who giv
alms and Yellow robs to the Buddhist Monks and build the Buddha’s immages will be born in the religious period of the nex
Bodhisattaya (Sri – Araya mettaraya). In his religion, there will have been a Kalapapluek Tree growing in the future worl
yielding which contain every thing one may wish for.”
In fact, having now walked the length of the torture fields it was a relief to find such a positive message waiting at the end
Nearby, in the shade of another tree perched an image of the Buddha.
He smiled down benignly, at the sinners who raised their hands in desperate prayer before him.
I returned towards the entrance, taking an open path that ran parallel to the hell garden. The statues here were not as violen
but rather showed scenes of appeasement. I did note however, that the macabre streak remained… as I contemplated a ma
peacefully feeding his own entrails to birds.
Thai Buddhism is fascinating, in that it embraces so many differen

ideas. Their extended cosmology incorporates an underworl
structured much like that of Christianity in the Middle Ages, whil
themes from Vedic Hinduism have been absorbed into the religio
through Cambodia to the north; Hindu gods such as Vishnu an
Ganesha are commonly adopted here as personal and househol
deities.
Further illustrating the point, near the exit I came upon a series o
twelve figures which corresponded with the signs of the Chines
zodiac. Collection boxes urged for a donation to the visitor
protective spirit, and so I located mine. The storm was still blowing
and it was just beginning to get dark. Soon I would need to ventur
out of the relative shelter of the Hell Garden, and try to find a wa
back to Bangkok. I was going to need all the protection I could ge
The sign read: “Who was born in the year of the pig has a
influence on the twelfth, sixth month and year of the small snake
He must drive away the evil spirit by donating one Baht per age.”
I fed a handful of Baht into the slot, and gave a little bow to th
female spirit who rode before me upon a giant pig. I wasn’t sure
that was the correct procedure, but it seemed to please a passin
monk. I looked up to see him smiling kindly at me, as he arrange
potted plants around a nearby Hindu shrine.
I left the Hell Garden behind me, and headed back out towards the main road. It was early evening, and the dark cloud
made it appear darker still. I hadn’t seen a taxi all day, and I was already formulating a back-up plan; perhaps the monk
would take pity on me, and let me sleep on the temple floor.
As I walked the long road between Wang Saen Suk and the village of Bang Saen, I was joined by a pair of stray dogs wh
trotted beside me, one on either side. After around 10 minutes I reached the main road, and tentatively waved at the firs
passing vehicle.
To my surprise, the van pulled over. I tried to mime a bus, alternately asking for “Bangkok,” and the capital’s Thai name
“Krung Thep.” The driver was amused, but he seemed to understand what I needed. He drove me straight to the nearest bu
station, and five minutes later I was sitting on a coach headed back to the capital; pondering on the nature of karma.
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Probably not the place to go after Pattaya… Well…
Brian Stump 2:43 am | April 23, 2019

Reply
It actually only 25 min from the pattaya its in Chonburi after all
Samuel 7:16 am | July 23, 2019

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2/15/2020 Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden: A Glimpse of the Buddhist Underworld - The Bohemian Blog

Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden: A Glimpse of th

WANG SAEN SUK HELL GARDEN

The village of Saen Suk is located close to Chon Buri – around

“This Bang Saen!” he suddenly declared, then, pointing off to the

To make things a little more interesting, the weather was fast

“Go home!” a mechanic laughed at me, when I stoppe

I was almost beyond hope when a nearby man suddenl

“I take you to Hell for 20 Baht,” he said.

NARAKA & THE HUNGRY

In Buddhism, Hell is known as ‘Naraka’. It’s not eternal

The demon closest to me had the head of a savage pig,

“Ones who make a corruption are punished in the hell,

I walked through the dancing rows, reading the

There are many ghosts described in Thai folklore; often inhabitin

The concept of preta is common to Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu and Jai

THE BOWELS OF BUDDHIST HELL

This formulaic system of torture shares much in commo

While Abrahamic religions focus on the Te

Beside this diorama, a donation box explained:

Other punishments included a woman being penetrated with a

Some of these punishments were conducted singularly, while

A human-headed sinner was being sawn in half beside them,

At the other end of the garden I met the alcoholics.

These men were still clinging to their bottles, as the he

THE PATH OF PRAYER

Thai Buddhism is fascinating, in that it embraces so many differen

The Exclusion Zone.

Probably not the place to go after Pattaya… Well…

Brian Stump 2:43 am | April 23, 2019

Samuel 7:16 am | July 23, 2019

MORE DARK TOURISM

CANADA DARK TOURISM ARCHITECTURE COLD WAR CHERNOBYL DARK TOURISM

ARCHITECTURE SPOMENIK DARK TOURISM SUPERNATURAL ARCHITECTURE DARK TOURISM

New Posts by Email Subscribe

Ottoman Party Prison Psychogeography Religion Romania Rooftops Russia

Spomenik Supernatural Thailand Trains Transnistria Travel Turkey UK Ukraine

Underground Urban Exploration USSR Yugoslavia

© Darmon Richter, 2011-2020, All rights Reserved. Developed by Daniel Georgiev

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