# Paging Siam Sam! Recycled Bottles Build Thai Buddhist Temple! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876 "2008-10-28T00:55:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/1 "2008-10-28T00:55:53Z")
[Geeze, dude, this is pretty cool, why didn’t you tell us about it?](http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/mind_bottle_soul_11548.asp) > [@](#): > > The saying goes “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” but there’s no corollary for those who live in glass temples. Then again the monks at Thailand’s Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple should be able to throw stones; they’ve earned their fair share of good karma by recycling over 1.5 million glass bottles, incorporating them into the premises as walls, railings, columns, and they’ve even used the bottle caps to make mosaics. Judging by the photos, it would appear that from a distance, it resembles an ordinary Buddhist temple, but when you get up close, you can see the “bricks” are really glass bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/2 "2008-10-28T05:20:08Z")
I haven’t seen it, but I wonder if the name is right, Wat Phra Kaew is the famous Emerald Buddha temple in Bangkok, and a chedi is the spire like structure you can find in Buddhist temples and locations. So I don’t know what to make of Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/3 "2008-10-29T05:00:22Z")
Alas! I’ve been lying down on the job. ☹ But I agree the name should be spelled Phra Maha Chedi Kaew if anything (“wat” just means “temple”). But I must admit this is a new one on me. I’ve not seen this before. A Google search turns up [this mention](http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-10/21/content_7126272.htm) in _China Daily_. It’s in Sisaket province, which borders Cambodia and is rather out in the sticks. _Phra_ loosely means “holy” and is a prefix for anything considered holy, _maha_ means “great” as in “big and bad ass” and _kaew_ means “glass.” Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok is called the Temple of the Emerald Buddha but it actually translates loosely to “Glass Temple,” because the colored tiles sparkle like glass. Thanks for cluing me in. Just goes to show there’s always something new to see in Thailand. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/4 "2008-10-29T05:27:50Z")
This is REALLY pretty cool! Color me impressed 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/5 "2008-10-30T03:00:03Z")
More photos and info [here](http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/temple-built-from-beer-bottles.php). Actually, it could be “Pa” instead of “Phra”; that would indicate a forest monastery. I would need to see the Thai letters. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/6 "2009-02-21T00:52:13Z")
There’s a new story on this place [here](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1148758/Pictured-The-Buddhist-temple-built-using-1-5million-recycled-beer-bottles.html). I especially like the bottle-cap mosaic. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paging-siam-sam-recycled-bottles-build-thai-buddhist-temple/469876/7 "2009-02-21T11:59:56Z")
Thhats really cool. I’ve always liked houses and buildings built of odd materials. I don’t know that I could live in one, but I like to look at them. This has to be one of the coolest ones I’ve seen.