Very special and one of a kind place for soft retreat and meditation lowers. Great and very gentle option for those who would like to take a break, start practicing meditation and to get familiar with Buddhist religion, culture and art, collected with good taste in different corners of Asia. The owner of the place is European architect who built it as a family house with the attention and love to each detail. He organizes the retreat program based on individual preferences of the guests, including sessions with Buddhist monks, visits to temples and monasteries. The location is wonderful and peaceful itself in very quite local area, close to the sea. In one month after the visit I keep only warm memories about these days and feel reenergized and grateful. I definitely recommend it as a safe and unique retreat place, especially for the westerners!

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.

We saw the sign that said museum by chance. What we found insude was a beautiful sanctury,museum and home desgned by the welcoming and very knowlegeable owner Jo. Jo showed us round the gorgeous abode and gardens, full of perfectly placed beautiful ornate and functional objects. We returned to experience a sound bath ikebame and had a delicious healthy lunch prepared by his wife. The place has beautiful bedrooms decorated like the rest of the place witb works of art from middle to far east. These can be booked for a retreat and sometimes has parties of monks with their guests from Chiang Mai retreat there. Jo is a lovely intwresting person. The place is well worth a short or long visit. We are returning for more.

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!

A wonderful place! I found Palm Garden Retreat by chance, looking for a reflective and grounding few days at the end of an extended trip around Vietnam and Thailand. It turned out to be far more than that. The retreat setting is a beautifully designed network of interconnected buildings that also houses an extraordinary collection of Buddhist art. The whole place feels welcoming, intriguing, and quietly profound. A place you leave feeling rejuvenated. My room was beautifully furnished and extremely comfortable. Joachim, both architect and retreat leader, offered me generous insight and guidance without ever being prescriptive. It was a privilege to be invited to join evening meditation sessions with a visiting monk. I left yesterday and have found it unexpectedly difficult to write this review, because part of me is not ready for the experience to end yet! It’s a place and an experience that will stay with me. Thank you, Joachim, for the early morning meditations, the conversations, and the simple daily practices I am taking home with me. I look forward to our continued friendship and hope to visit again.