WAT TAI WO

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Wat Tai Wo is located in Tai Po District. This district covers the areas of Tai Po, Tai Po Kau, Ting Kok, Plover Cove and the northern part of Sai Kung Peninsula on both shores of Tolo Channel.

A journey to Wat Tai Wo is worth as this Thai Buddhist temple is located on a hill inside the jungle.

There are a few Thai Buddhist temples in Hong Kong but the most authentic and beautiful one is located in Tai Po district. It is called Wat Mekthumvanaram or Wat Tai Wo.

Old House on the way to Wat Mekthumvanaram

To reach Wat Mekthumvanaram, visitors shall take MTR train up to Tai Wo station then go through Shek Kwu Lung village.

The journey takes around 45 minutes. It allows wandering through local villages and a small path along hills.

This small stream is really refreshing with cold water coming from the mountains.

The area is quite unknown and remote as it separated from Tai Wo by the highway going to China.

Wat Mekthumvanaram is a remote Thai forest temple located in Tai Po district close to Tai Wo MTR station.

Fly there with Google Earth

The full address is วัดเมฆธรรมวนาราม (ไทหว่อ) 51 Pun Chun Yuen Tsuen, Tai Po, N.T, Hong Kong. Tel is 2653 6758.

Wat Mekthumvanaram is also called Wat Mak Tham Vanaram depending who is doing the translation from Thai characters to Latin characters!

Wat Mekthumvanaram has received the congratulations from the Thai Royal family as it was a very difficult task to bring all materials into the jungle to the top of the hill in order to build the various structures.

Wat Mekthumvanaram is located on top of a hill inside the jungle. It is definitely worth a visit. Monks or Buddhist faithfuls offer genuine hospitality and a warm coffee to any visitors.

Wat Mekthumvanaram chapel contains a huge sitting Buddha. All visitors come to pay respect to Buddha in this chapel.

Wat Mekthumvanaram contains a common kitchen, buildings for monks, a chapel for the main Buddha statue.

Thai migrant workers in Hong Kong are a significant minority and about half of them are domestic workers.

Thai local people, mainly migrant workers and domestic helpers, organize gatherings for important Thai feasts such as New Year's Day or Songkran festival.

Migrant labour is one option amongst many for working class Thais seeking better incomes but seldom achieving upward class mobility.

Wat Mekthumvanaram includes a few Thai monks that stay there the whole year. But for specific important festivals, supplementary monks come also from Thailand.

While most of Thai migrant workers are involved in "low status" activities, Thais appear to do better than Indonesian migrant workers in terms of the wages and conditions they achieve, and report less abuse.

During official Thai festivals, the Thai King takes a prominent part through huge displayed pictures. The Thai King Rama IX is highly venerated in Thailand due to his actions towards the Thai people.

A Thai festival always include dances. As many Thai migrant workers come from Northeast of Thailand, it is not surprising to find Thai ladies dancing "Molam" dances that are typical from this region.

Except for Thai important festivals, few visitors come to Wat Mekthumvanaram. During the Sunday, common day off, there are more visitors. The apparent low religiosity is partly due to the fact that Thai temples are not easily reached by public transportation.

Thai Buddhist monks also visit Kowloon City on Sunday morning. So many Thai workers can make offering to the monks there.

In year 2001, there was an estimated 15,000 Thai people in Hong Kong, largely women. Most of them are migrant workers employed as foreign domestic helpers. Other common professions for Thai people include cleaners, waitresses, hairdressers.

Other locations where Thai people gather are Kowloon City, Wan Chai, North Point and another Thai Buddhist temple in Yuen Long.

Thai people flock to Wat Mekthumvanaram for important Thai Buddhist festivals in order to listen to the speech of the local temple abbot.

According to the Southeast Asian Research Centre, City University of Hong Kong, which has done a survey on Thai Migrant Workers in Hong Kong, Thai migrant workers dit not feel they were respected by Hong Kong people as their jobs were considered to be of low status. Thai people often see behaviour of Hong Kong people as rude in shops or public transports.

The "SONGKRAN" festival happens during the hot season in middle of April. Songkran is the ancient New Year's Day. Now the official New Year's Day happens on the 1^st January. The most popular feast is still "SONGKRAN". It is celebrated in Hong Kong by the Thai community.

As usual, Thai festivals include Buddhist sermons (พระเทศน์) and recreative parts.

Traditional Chiang Mai style dances are performed once the Buddhist sermons are over.

Traditional dances are performed by local members of the Thai community in Hong Kong.

Money is given to restore the temple buildings but also to get funds to build new buildings.

Garlands ("DOOK MALAI" - ดอกมาลัย) are also offered to Buddha statues.

Access map done by Dr Anchalee Gibbins

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