Yin and Yang in the Wrong Country: Visiting Thailand’s White Temple and Black House

Ryan Farley | December 18, 2015

Get to da’ Mural!

SPOILER ALERT: some people told me you shouldn’t explain what’s on the temple walls, out of some respect for the art and its message. Feel free to stop reading here if you feel some allegiance to that concept, but personally, I see no reason for it at all.

Nestled amid the serene white of this half of the yin/yang is the black spot that is the temple’s wall mural. The wall is intricately painted with heroes and villains from the western world, both fictional and historical. We see Predator standing mere inches from George Bush amid a cavalcade of cartoonish violence. Neo from the Matrix flies toward Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator, ready to pummel peace and nirvana into his metal frame.

David Yttervik Seetiangtham

By calling it the black dot of the yin and yang, I don’t mean to suggest that the mural is offensive or negative. However, it is inarguably a jarring departure from the more traditional tranquility of the white that surrounds it.

Shocked out of my quiet trance by this confusing message, I left without ceremony or hesitation for my next tourist destination.

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