Hello all. It's been quite a few years since I've posted but lurk and giggle often. Still so many wonderful senses of humour amongst the damned. I'm wondering if anyone has any idea why the new Bangkok temple is, simply put, sooooo huge? Modern temples only use a couple of instruction rooms, plus the regular areas such as offices, the font, changing rooms, reception areas, celestial room, brides and sealing rooms, but this temple looks like it is maybe 5 ~ 7 stories high. In a Buddhist nation with a minuscule LDS membership, why? Another example of a disgusting waste of money.Similarly with the Phnom Penh temple. Some of the newer ones are smaller than the larger stake houses; what's going on with these 2?

When a dog marks its territory where many dogs have already been, he goes large so as to be noticed.

I am impressed with size of the piles the church has dropped in Thailand. Thailand is full of temples, built by people who actually know how to build temples. I'm not sure Thai people would consider what the church built a temple. Especially since none of them can go inside without joining the church and getting a hall pass.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2023 10:17AM by bradley.

I served my mission in Thailand (way back in the 20th century). When I heard that a temple was announced for Bangkok, my reaction was why?!?! I assumed that it was going to be a small mctemple that wouldn’t see much use and would likely be staffed by senior missionaries.

Are there really enough Thais who have temple recommends and are eager to attend, or is this just another billboard for TSCC?

Nice to have you drop in again!

Some guesses:

They probably saw an opportunity for a more substantial land investment, which is one of their main gigs. I wonder if they also bought land near the temple to "develop."

I don't think the number of members really has much to do with their investment decisions anymore.

Maybe they are thinking the temple will draw from a much larger area. Maybe they have noticed tourism to Bangkok is increasing. Where temples are built, rich Mormons go visit.

I'm not sure. There are two meeting houses and a family history center in an adjoining annex. By square footage, the Bangkok temple is about a third of the size of the Washington, D.C. temple. It could be that the church simply wants a very visible symbol in Thailand's main city. They could also be looking to attract church tourists.

The bride's room is tiny. I see that the Celestial room is continuing the trend towards furniture that is not white. It looks rather plain and unattractive to me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2023 11:21AM by summer.

A hidden textile mill to make church garments, complete with I am a child god workers with tiny hands to work the giant machines.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/2023 11:23AM by messygoop.

Better than another “profession” that some children are forced into in Thailand.

Now they can combine sex tourism with temple visits. Win Win !

Maybe they plan to organize it like the Manhattan temple, with a ward or wards using the upper floors of the building as a meetinghouse.

I imagine land in Bangkok is hideously expensive, so it may well be cheaper to build up rather than scatter individual ward houses around the city.

Other than that, I can’t see any reason for all the upper floors, except to impress the locals.

Maybe they'll put a 15 foot tall statue of Joseph Smith inside, similar to the one they built in India.

I've always believed that the grandiosity was a soft recruitment tool. People who aren't aware of what it is, or the only thing they know about mormons is the book of mormon (literal or musical) and missionaries. Not knowing what goes on there, and what it takes to be "worthy" enough to enter, I'm sure there's a little piece of many people who want to know what goes on in there, want to enter a grand and unusual (empty and spacious) building. They'll look it up, they'll do some research and possibly get reeled in. They're basically expensive billboards in tourist destinations.