There was another mass monkathon in Bangkok on Saturday, once again organized by the distinctly dodgy Wat Phra Dhammakaya, a Bangkok temple known for its aggressive fundraising. The mantra seems to be, ‘give us your money and your good deed will be rewarded with personal riches in the future’. It’s a technique you’d expect from rabid TV evangelists in the USA and it is disturbing to see that it has become part of Buddhism too.

In the last few years Dhammakaya has managed to attain almost cult status but despite its high profile well attended events it is actually frowned upon by many Thai Buddhists. As Frank Zappa once said, ‘The only difference between a cult and a religion is the amount of real estate they own”.

But I won’t get into a rant about religion here, tempting though it is. This is a photo-blog after all and my reason for getting up at 4.30 a.m. was to try and capture some striking images.

This time the event was held at the crossroads of Asoke and Sukhumvit roads in downtown Bangkok.