Chaiya Meditation Monastery

This temple is 7 – 8 years old. It’s very nice, looks new. We went to the monthly foodfare and has the best pad thai in Las Vegas. $ 5

4 piece of BBQ stick is $ 5
Mango Sticky Rice is $ 6
Sticky Rice $ 1
Taro covered in rice with red bean wrapped with banana leave is 6 for $ 5
Well that’s what we ordered and it was delicious. Every month if we are in town, we make it a point to come out here and buy some HELLA bomb food! The ladies working the counters are so nice too. I always get mistaken for Thai. I guess Filipino and Thai folks kinda have some similarities. I know one word, swadeekrup. Think that’s how you spell it.
If you haven’t tried Thai food or love Thai food, this is a must. Plus it’s for a good cause. I think a portion goes back to the church. If you have time and it’s not too hot, walk around and check out the Thai temple. Very beautiful!

EVERYBODY’S ENLIGHTENMENT
My bookmark to this food fair is my oldest. And now I can say it was worth waiting for. A perfect early spring day to sample Thai cuisine. It’s really all about Thai street food. So wholesome and authentic and prepared by dedicated members of the Monastery.
When visiting the garden between the administration building and temple, be respectful and remove your shoes or sandals.
There is no language gap and the atmosphere is cordial and quiet. Lots of comfortable outdoor seating under the shade.
Beware that the pad thai wait list does not prevent others from jumping ahead of you. Stick around close to be there when your order is ready.
We spent less than $ 20 and left completely full. Five stars means I’ll not hesitate to drive 26 miles each way for this monthly Thai food fair.

«Do good and be good; not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind– this is the teaching of the Buddhas.» –CMM website
Chaiya Meditation Monastery hosts a monthly food fair that many attend for the inexpensive, tasty Thai food, with proceeds going towards paying the monastery’s mortgage. I’ve been to the food fair several times, but never really looked around the monastery grounds until this month. Visitors are welcome to cross the colorful bridge and explore the outdoor meditation area that is obviously well-​tended to by the monks and nuns who reside at the monastery. At the time I walked through, it was only myself and one of the monks was there, doing a little gardening. It’s not a very large area, but it does have several beautiful Buddhist statues, a pavilion, a golden tower, and sidewalks that visitors can walk along to see this intimate place of worship. According to the website, the monastery offers daily meditation classes that are open to the public, one from 9:00am-10:00am and another from 5:00 — 6:00pm. For more info, go to
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I’m definitely not an expert on Buddhism, but from what I’ve seen of the monastery, it’s obvious that the goal of providing a tranquil space for meditation and some peace for those of any religion (or no religion at all) has been met by Chaiya.

This review is only about meditation in the Temple.
While attending a conference on The Strip, i chose to attend Chaiya’s 9AM meditation. I sit for Vipassana style meditation every morning, and thought it might be nice to join others at this authentic temple.
The temple is beautiful, filled with many-​colored Buddha statues and about 50 folks on mats, mostly women and entirely Asian — I was the only white American sitting. The setting seemed conducive to a lovely meditation… except for one thing; noise.
The entire hour, women in an adjoining room were talking very loud. No one seemed to mind or find it necessary to ask them for silence during the meditation hour. Several «meditators» also continued walking through the hall, sometimes ruffling noisy plastic bags. But the clincher was that the monks thought nothing odd about having the main phone & answering machine right there in the room, bell ringing loudly while 3 calls came in, complete with the audible outgoing message and loud response from whomever was leaving incoming messages.
I know some meditation tradititions encourage meditating with eyes partially open & allowing lifes natural noises to be heard, but a ringing phone and answering machine right there in the meditation room?
Is that really a wise choice in a place where the object is to turn inward and experience a quiet mind?

Awesome! They are soooo friendly too. :))))

This review is also for the food festival that is held at the Monastery. Apparently, they have this fundraiser once a month and funds raise go towards paying the mortgage of the temple. At least that’s what one of the members told us when we visited this past Sunday. I had heard about it from a co-​worker, who kept ranting and raving about the food here.
Unfortunately, I showed up around 12:30 pm that day, which was near the end of the days events and they were wrapping things up and were already out of several items. I now know for the next event that it starts at 9am and runs until 1pm. You can bet that next month I will be there at 9am sharp, bright eyed and bushy tailed!
Despite being tardy to the party, I still snagged some great food! They were selling skewers/​satays for 1.00 a piece! I usually prefer chicken, but all they had left was pork. Thats okay! I bought 20.00 worth! They were soooooooo freaking good! Also we got some Pad Thai as well, for just 5.00 for a large heaping serving in a Styrofoam container. All of it soo, soo yummy! People were so friendly and outgoing here! I truly can’t wait to come back next month and score some more yummy Thai food!
Plus I enjoy taking in the sight of the Temple itself! I didn’t see the inside, but the outside was very impressive!
I’m sure I’ll be updating this next month, possibly to a 5 star… but I guess we’ll see.
till than, its definitely a solid 4 stars for great food, solid value, and friendly people all for a good cause.

FOOD FESTIVAL REVIEW not the temple
Great food and very friendly people, I was surprised to find out it was a block from me and never knew about it haha .
It starts early and you do not have to wait long for food and there is no problem with the parking lot either.
food is mostly made right in front of you so it is very fresh!
one demerit point from me because some people making the food also handle the money … They have gloves on but do not change them. Im ok though I didn’t die or got the runs so I will be back for more! (I just hope they get this post haha)

I was amazingly surprised to see my childhood monk’s monastery on Unilocal.
I grew up being raised Buddhist, so I went to numerous monasteries in the Las Vegas area. This is by far the best Buddhist temple in Las Vegas. The décor is beautiful inside and it is very spacious so you aren’t crammed next to each other when you meditate. Arjahn Chaiya, the lead monk is extremely helpful when you want to learn about the Buddhist religion; he does not come off strong like most religious practitioners, which is a big plus. He is very respectful of other religions and beliefs.
Although I do not practice Buddhism any more, I still come to pay my respects to Arjahn Chaiya, but I also come for the monthly food fair that is popularly reviewed on Unilocal.Some of the food is good, but not spectacular; however, the items that are there every month that are AMAZING are the Moo Yahng (Pork Skewers) and Guay Tiew Nam (Rice Noodle Soup).
All in all, its a nice, spacious, and beautiful monastery to practice Buddhism and it is a delicious cultural find!

I’ve been meaning to try their monthly fundraiser for a while, so glad I finally did. Super cheap and delish food prepared mostly to order by cute little Thai grandmas. Huge portion of mango sticky rice for $ 6 — everything else maxed out at $ 5. We tried chicken pad thai, pork and chicken satay for $ 1/​skewer, and papaya salad which my friend says was the best he’s ever had. We got a bunch of asstd snacks, mostly coconutty things for $ 1-​$ 2. They had flower like things just like Hawaii style Chinese pretzels, and steamed cakes like Filipino poto. Can’t wait to go back next month ⁵⁄₁₉! Btw cash only of course.

this is the review for the food festival not the temple itself.
Went to the monthly food festival today to try it out. driving up and see the food stands i thought to myself that it was going to be a bunch of horrible tasting food. little did i know i was completely wrong! There is no entrance fee unlike other food festivals which is awesome. You exchange money into «tokens» and use them to buy food. All the food ranges from 1 – 5 dollars with $ 5 being your bigger food items like pad thai and fish ball noodles. Things i tried were the pork skewers, pad thai, fishball noodles, pancake thing with butter and condensed milk, other pancake thing with leeks and thai ice tea.
All the food was great my favorite was the pancake thing with butter and condensed milk. i would definitely go back to get that. second favorite was the pork skewers at $ 1 each this was a steal! thai ice tea $ 2 also a steal. definitely one of my favorite out of all the food festivals

Hubby and I hit up the monthly Food Fair this morning and it was super yummy.
I will update my review after I go to meditate which is hopefully soon!
We are very excited to have this just a few blocks from our house!
We cruised the tables and asked questions about ingredients and everyone was VERY nice!
The first thing I discovered was I HAD to have a banana leaf full of banana and red bean sticky rice :) $ 1 and it was GOOD!
We set out to find our soup, the first table at the far end had a yummy looking soup but all pork (we do not eat pork). Awwww. Looked very yummy!
There were all kinds of desserts. I could have bought them all but hey it was like 10 am :) but I wish I still bought them, makes me hungry again just thinking about them :)
They were BBQ grilling yummy looking skewers, but the only option was pork.
Then we found our SOUP SOUP SOUPS :))))))) A kind lady said we have one chicken and one fish BINGO! That’s us :)
Hubby’s chicken soup had egg noodles and a yummy soup taste, it was perfect for him! She added cilantro, a little white onion, sliced hard boiled eggs (which usually we pass on, but yum!) and green onions.
My fish soup was AWESOME! White fish and actually all sorts of types of fish and long rice noodles were in my soup. She added the cilantro, white onion, green onion, lime, three types of «spicy’s» :))) two red like red pepper or chili flakes and one green (maybe jalapeño’s?) the other lady at the table yelled «NO! don’t add more» I smiled and knew that I wanted more :))) it was perfectly spiced and on this chilly morning we were very very happy and everyone was soooo nice!
Each soup (which filled us up) was $ 5 and we got one bottled water $ 1 and one very yummy Thai tea $ 2 we also donated money and grabbed a flyer for next month!
Of course we will be back every month drooling and then leave with a full tummy!!!

This is actually for the Thai street food thing that they have every month. All the food was amazing, and for the price it was well worth it.
Pad Thai — for 5 dollars you can have possibly some of the best pad thai in Vegas.
Fish Ball and Beef noodle soup — same price, 5 bucks, amazing soup.

Talk about a random find. This place is right behind Soyo and the new Windmill library. Who knew?
They hold monthly food fairs to raise moneys for their mortgage. Coz even the monks gots bills to pay. I stopped by for some Pad Thai, some sort of lychee drink, and some desserts. The food’s not mind-​blowing, but it’s a nice way to spend your Sunday morning and support our local culture. You are welcome to take off your shoes and go inside the monastery.
For their event schedule, visit
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Attended a meditation for my Anth 420 class a couple of weeks ago and Master Chaiya blessed and gave me a colorful braided bracelet for…(still a non-​practicing catholic)…Master Chaiya and Nun Mathawee were very helpful. Got lost, blamed Mr. GPS but found it and was disappointedly late.