Century of Faith: Bangkok's New Tai Hong Kong White Jade Shrine Opens to Public

Shrine Opens on Charoen Rat Road

The Tai Hong Kong White Jade Shrine opened to the public on 25 May 2026 at Charoen Rat Road in Bangkok’s Sathon district. The Por Teck Tung Foundation manages the site, which sits on a 4-rai plot next to the foundation’s 80th Birthday Commemorative Garden and offers more than 11,000 square metres of usable space that includes an underground car park, multipurpose hall, and garden.

King and Queen Grant the Name

His Majesty the King, accompanied by Her Majesty the Queen, presided over the opening ceremony on 20 May 2026 and granted the building its name. The shrine was built to mark His Majesty the King’s 72nd birthday, linking the new structure directly to the Thai monarchy and the long-standing relationship between the palace and Thai-Chinese charitable organisations.

Foundation Traces to 1899

The Por Teck Tung Foundation began in 1899 when 710 Chinese residents in Bangkok pooled funds to create a public cemetery open to people of every class, ethnicity, and religion. Today the foundation continues this tradition of care, now adding a permanent shrine that reinforces its role in serving Bangkok communities across generations.

White Jade Figures Stand Tall

At the centre of the shrine stands a 5.10-metre-tall white jade statue of Luang Pu Tai Hong weighing 51.50 tonnes. Flanking him are two additional white jade statues—one of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha and one of Guanyin—each 3.365 metres tall and weighing 16.50 tonnes. All three figures were carved from three pieces of white jade and honour the monk’s Song Dynasty legacy of collecting the dead for burial, treating the sick, and feeding the poor.

Teochew Design Meets Thai Soil

Thai architects from Kasem Design and Construction worked with the Tianyi Ancient Architecture Design Office in China to create a southern Chinese Teochew-style building. Red-painted granite columns carved with dragons, ceramic roof tiles with traditional cut-porcelain patterns, 35 carved white jade wall panels, and eleven granite relief carvings that recount Luang Pu Tai Hong’s life story now stand in Sathon.

Daily Welcome for Reflection

The shrine is open daily from 07:00 to 18:00. Incense, ceremonial paper, and sacred amulets are provided free of charge. For Thai readers this new landmark strengthens cultural harmony between Thai and Chinese communities, offers a public space rooted in Buddhist compassion, and reminds us that charity begun in 1899 continues to shape Bangkok life today. Construction began with a foundation-laying ceremony on 14 June 2021 presided over by Privy Council President Gen. Surayud Chulanont.