Truly a hidden gem. I came for the Buddhist retreat and found a lot more than I expected. Just the museum collection alone is priceless, let alone the other activities I enjoyed in my short stay. The room I stayed in was beautiful and the amazing host treated me with great hospitality. We even had a Japanese tea ceremony which resulted in interesting conversations.

I just spent 3 peaceful days here at Palm Garden. I feel that I need to clarify what it is/what to expect as it may not be clear. I came here looking for a place to meditate and relax, ideally in a temple setting, even better with local Thai people and not a commercial group of 20 Dutch people (sorry :)). There are a couple of options in Bangkok but not so many are flexible and I didn't want a busy place in the city.  Palm Garden is pretty much the only place within a short distance of Bangkok I found for meditation, as I had limited time in Thailand and didn't want to fly to Samui or Chiang Mai. So: Palm Garden is not a temple. It is an wonderful estate built by Joachim, a German/Swiss man who retired from business and moved to Thailand 14 years ago to start a new life, new family, and look for deeper meaning of life. Over the years he built a resort with clean and spacious guest rooms, museum full of artifacts, small swimming pool, spacious grounds, meditation rooms, etc. He also lives here with his large Thai family (responsible for the wonderful food served here).  Recently they decided to open up their doors to guests and visitors. You can book a retreat here run by the PaPae group of monks, at a fixed schedule - but this retreat is not run by Joachim. Joachim himself is an artistic visionary who has deep connection with the spiritual side, but, as a true curious German mind :), keeps digging deeper and deeper for understanding.  Coherence between one self and the overall environment, being in synch, is an overlapping theme of his studies and teachings. You can either just stay here on a silent retreat, enjoying walks on the beach or meditating at the grounds... or you can join any of Joachim's workshops, from caligraphy, the wonderful gong sound bath (a must do!), or dive deep in Joachim's patented AI model for computerized psychology. At the end, it was a different experience than what I was looking for but surely just as rewarding and eye-opening as any other stay with monks at a temple. Enjoy!

Spent an amazing 3 days at the retreat. The place is like cut from a fairytale. Great energy and an insightful journey.

Beautiful and peaceful place! Had a tour a with sound bath, really relaxing and wonderful experience overall. Must visit!!

Amazing place with various beautiful decorations, had a great time. The atmosphere was really calm and peaceful.