So we’ve been to a few hell temples in our time in Thailand. They’re a fun, if somewhat gruesome, look at what awaits in the Buddhist afterlife if your sins demand.
Wat Kai, however, gets a special nudge towards being one of the best we’ve seen. 
Originally constructed during the Ayutthaya period (1351–1767), the temple was abandoned after the fall of the Ayutthaya kingdom and the capital’s move to Bangkok. Re-established as a residence for monks around 1992, the temple’s name ‘Wat Kai’ (Chicken Temple) comes from an epidemic that killed a large number of chickens here.
What a way to start a Buddhist temple. It kind of looks like the she-demon seen at Puek Tian Beach, but that’s a tenuous connection at best. It’s quite entertaining to watch the monkeys climb, around, over, and on top of the topless statue.
Across the street (and also on the temple grounds) are hundreds of wild macaques — while not particularly aggressive (the ones in Lopburi still claim that title), do watch your Coke or water bottles. We managed to arrive at feeding time — a dozen or so folks filed in behind us with more than enough bananas for the crowd. No one seems to know when the monkeys moved into the area, though they look like they’ve been quite at home for awhile:
Between bananas and corn, these guys seem to eat pretty well.
This older-looking monkey seemed the more reflective sort — it’s always nice to get closer to your subjects…
Combine the ‘see / speak / hear no evil’ trio with one giant chicken. Oh, and the monkey that looks straight out of ‘Planet of the Apes’…
Like most hell temples, the idea behind them is to highlight the gruesome ways one is tortured in the afterlife for your sins. While there’s still very little to be found in English, there are at least a few sentences around on the various signs.
Unless you know a legitimate reason one would smoke from a bong, this guy warns against “intoxicants causing heedlessness”. There’s more to this story, I’m sure… Look for the larger-than-life axe and the warning against taking life.
Go ahead, take a guess — in case the picture isn’t clear enough, all the punishments have to do with the tongue… Whether it’s a green snake pulling it out or being hung by your tongue (ouch!), they’re all punishments for false speech.
To be clear, you’re not coming here for the religious experience. Some temples are great for that, but this is not one of them. You’re coming here to gawk at statues and take pictures of monkeys — and there’s no one around to tell you otherwise. This being fairly weird and off-the-beaten-path, you won’t come across too many other people.
Name: Wat Kai / Wat Gai (วัดไก่)
Address: Tambon Sang Han, Chang Wat Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, 13220 (GPS: 14.507358,100.519406)
Directions: Start from the Ayutthaya train station. The road in the front of the station is route 3053 — take it out of town a few kilometers to the T, then turn left onto route 32. From there, it’s about 18 kilometers down the highway — look for the large monkey on the right., visible along the highway. There’s a little dirt road to follow — look for the temple on your right.
Hours: not mentioned on site, but presumably opened during normal daytime hours.
Admission: free
Phone: none
Website: none
