Suan Mokkh International Dharma Hermitage

The International Dharma Hermitage at Suan Mokkh is where most travelers who do a ten-day silent retreat in Thailand do it. Founded by the reformist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, the hermitage sits in forest near Chaiya on the mainland of Surat Thani province, about 90 minutes north of the Samui ferry piers at Donsak, and it runs one course a month: retreats start on the 1st and end on the 11th, and the only way in is to register in person on the last day of the previous month, between 7 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. There is no advance booking, no shorter version and no joining late, and the course fills in high season, so people arrive early on registration day.

The practice is anapanasati, mindfulness of breathing, taught the way Buddhadasa taught it, in a schedule that begins with a 4 am bell and ends with lights out at 9:30 pm. Ten days pass in silence: no talking, reading, writing or music, phones and laptops handed in at registration, two vegetarian meals a day plus a hot drink in the evening, a daily chore that is as likely to be a toilet as a garden, and a private room with a concrete or wooden bed, a straw mat and a wooden pillow that everyone writes about afterwards. Clothing covers shoulders and knees. Retreatants are asked for a contribution of around ฿2,000 for the ten days, which covers everything, and a small shop sells toiletries.