October 8, 2026

The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand. Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun

the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.

The Philosophy of the Museum is to blend Hindu, Buddist, Taoist and Chinese artistic motifs to reflect a universal philosophy of life, human origins and morality, rather than belonging to a single religion. There are Seven Truths that the Museum represents -

(1) Who we are? Where are we from? (2) How do we survive? (3) The end of Life (4) Samples of Civilization (5) What is the purpose of Life? (6) Society is a two sided coin and (7) The beginning of Society.

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It so hard to capture the beauty and grandeur of this place. Inside lighting levels pour in at the windows, but all the wood details raising up into the rafters appear. I thought a quick video would help.

I'm including these two images from their website too - so you can see what a pretty sight the Museum is, perched on the edge of the coastline.

PATTAYA , THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 7, 2026
We just had 5 days in the Port of Laem Chabang , Thailand. When we were here in mid-July, we spent that time exploring Bangkok, which is about a 2 hour drive NW of Port. This time we went to explore Pattaya which is south of Port on coast just about 45 minutes drive. Our fellow shipmate, party planner Eddie put together a fun Friday night touring the Pattaya walking street drag shows. He even recommended a hotel he had stayed at before that was right in the same area and a great location for the beach, bars and restaurants. All we had to do was book a room, show up & have fun!

2nd YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF SAILING THE WORLD

By Pat Patrick • October 1, 2026
WOW!! I can't believe it has been two years of sailing around the World already for me and my fellow shipmates on the Villa Vie Odyssey! We left Belfast, Ireland back on September 30, 2024 and it has been such a great adventure to date! We have been to 201 different ports, some more than once, during those two years, with much more to come!

APOPO, SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA

By Pat Patrick • September 29, 2026
Before coming to Cambodia , I sadly have to admit I was unaware of the landmine problems they face. On our first night in Siem Reap, where we hiked up the hill to try and see the sunset views, there was a small band of men playing instruments and our tuk tuk driver explained to me they were victims of landmine explosions who had lost limbs or their sight and were trying to make money via donations to support their families.