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The David Beckham Temple

30 May

About four years ago the BBC had a story about an image of David Beckham that could be found at a Thai temple in Bangkok. I had forgotten all about it until I spotted one of the names of the BRT stations which rang a bell with me. As I was exploring the BRT bus route today I thought I would check it out.

It is now very convenient to go to this temple as it is right next to BRT Wat Pariwat. You walk down a lane until you reach the main buildings. I asked a nun if this was the right temple for David Beckham but she had never heard of him. Obviously she doesn’t watch English football. But, she took me to a monk who does!

The monk confirmed to me that Wat Pariwat was indeed the famous David Beckham temple. However, he said in the last few years hardly anyone has come to see the image of the footballer. The building with the blue roof is normally locked but he asked someone to go and open it for me.

This is the main Buddha shrine inside the chapel. It is easier to find it open on “wan phra” days which are the Buddhist holy days which coincide with the phases of the moon. If you find it locked then they don’t mind opening it for you.

To the right of the Buddha image in the far corner you will find that one of the images decorating the base to be very familiar. It is indeed the famous English footballer David Beckham! Watch my video clip to help you find the exact location.

It is also worth visiting around the back of the temple alongside the Chao Phraya river. I was told that this is a popular location in the evenings where people come to eat and also feed the fish. The people there were really kind to me and gave me a free iced fruit drink! Click here for location on a map.

- Posted from my iPhone

 
3 Comments

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  1. Mike

    31/05/2010 at 10:38 pm

    Richard, I found a “Beckham” on a wall mural at the temple near the shrine of Phanthai Norasing(Samut Sakhon). The artist had included several footballers in a scene and put the names on the backs of the players shirts.

     

  2. Richard Barrow

    01/06/2010 at 9:59 am

    Thanks, that is interesting to know. I will look out for it the next time I am there.

     

  3. Yan

    02/06/2010 at 10:04 am

    :) That’s very interesting, thanks for sharing. Wonder what David Beckham thinks about his image being up there? Do you think the Beckham image serves as a publicity gimmick for the temple or is there any other reason?
    :) Personally I like to feed fish in Thailand (cos we can’t really do it in my hometown), so it’s worth going there for 3 reasons – feed catfish, see Beckham and pay respect to the Triple Jewels :)