Wat Pha (Jungle Temples).

It is July 14th as I write this and I visited these two temples this past week or so, the first temple left a slightly odd taste in my mouth regarding a person I met on the way there. I will allow them their privacy but the overall bitterness of that encounter still lingers, one cannot escape Western self-idealism. In 2026 so far thirteen shrines in Japan have been lost to fire. I wrote an entire separate article on it, and decided not to publish. It was an adequately scathing indictment of the industries blindness to this plight, but not helpful. It is difficult for me to reconcile the importance of my self-assigned task with what the industry rewards. It is increasingly frustrating to show a side of this country that many would rather remain out of sight and out of mind, and increasingly important to do so because of just that. So the work goes on, and the Field Reports continue.

Wat Pha are — as you guessed —temples situated in heavily forested areas of Thailand. These areas vary by climate, so the translation from pha to jungle is a slight misnomer. I think that outback or bush would be a better one for Isaan, though as you head south and off the Korat plateau rainforest (or more traditional jungle) is certainly abundant. Either way, the term is a colloquialism and will be used in lieu of a better one. These two temples we will be looking at today, or compounds may be a better description, are still on the same ring road as the Ring Road Temples articles, and situated within relative proximity. The ring road leads to Nong Bua Lamphu and loops directly back onto itself, imagining as you cut south you divide the plateau between Loei etc., on the West, and what I constitute as “proper” Isaan on the East. Not a subjective view of Isaan, but one held by the populace.

Unlike your general temple, Wat Pha tend to have a deeper connection to the religion, prioritising a blend of rural mysticism/prayer/meditation over communal responsibilities. Wat Pha Ban Tat for instance does not allow entry to the cloister, with visitors permitted only to what they self-describe as the museum. Gaining permission to photograph the “museum” was difficult enough (despite phone imagery being abundant and unchecked) when Dao and I covered the site. Many of the larger Wat Pha will be situated on mythical sites of importance, such as Wat Pa Kam Chanot, that despite having covered several times for editorial and individual clients, I have yet to archive within its own article here on DRobertsPhoto. The site shown above, and first of the two covered is Wat Bun Ya Nu Sorn, and is what I would fully describe as a Wat Pha despite not having Pha in its name. These articles are meant to be Field Reports and not site reports, I stand by that. But, sometimes distinctions need to be made and I think with everything so far, a little illumination on the subject and nomenclature prior to the monograph-proper will not do any harm.

It has been difficult lately, and articulating these difficulties is increasingly futile. No one goes into McDonald’s expecting Wagyu beef, but I didn’t walk into McDonalds did I? The fault isn’t mine to expect more from those who build a reputation from championing culture and art. The truth is they champion nothing. That they would rather mourn the death of a man in public, when his agency is no more. But who am I now appealing to? What does Discover now stand for? I live in the ring, but it is hard to cross those ropes when I know the other fighter is wearing weighted gloves. That’s the arts, culture, and entertainment industry. I find mere participation in it offensive, but somehow I can’t stop myself from coming to these temples. I can’t keep the camera in the dry cabinet, or my opinions to myself.

One may think that there is an element of entitlement in these reports, or in my career trajectory, but you would be wrong. It is not entitlement for my own work that I seek, but respect for what I am documenting, and acknowledgement of the sheer gap between what I am doing and what others claim. I think it would be quite easy to misjudge my motives, as it is not a career that I am chasing but in dismantling the absurdity of the industry, and the lacklustre efforts of its participants. I may sound like I have a bunch of rocks in my skull saying this, but now I am beginning to realise an independent voice needs to be independent. I cannot work with those of whom I lack respect for, and certainly cannot work for them.

They say perfection is the enemy of progress, and it is a sentiment I disagree with more than I tend to agree. But in Thailand you have to embrace it, the climate is harsh, and buildings aren’t plumb-straight. There are ways I can get around this usually, different focal lengths, different angles. Rarely I try and shoot head-on. So why on Earth then am I showing you these dead-on not quite straight images? Because these places aren’t postcard perfect. They aren’t always multi-million baht monoliths, but none of them are loved or cared for any less. I think it would be offensive to call this chedi equal to the one being build in Pha Dang, but does it mean that it does not deserve page space? Do you want to see what I see, or what you want to see? Because those are different things entirely and that is the creative scab that I am currently picking at. And likely one I would never have reopened if I didn’t take up the One Year, One Lens challenge in response to the ZEISS fiasco. This isn’t Discover Temples of Thailand, this is the making of it. Not in retrospect, not how I would like it to be seen, but warts-and-all. As I promised.