Sahatsadecha The Colorful Demon Guardian

Situated inside the walls of the Grand Palace in Bangkok is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is in fact a royal chapel and not a temple as there's no living quarters for the monks. The chapel is home to some of the most intricate and beautiful Thai architecture. Every way you look it's immediately clear just how much painstaking effort must have been taking to decorate, well, everything. Lots of sparkles and bold Buddhist colors.

Upon landing in Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok), you might notice some giant demon like guardians. It's sort of a hint of what's to come inside Thailand itself for as you go to different temples, you might also see similar guardians. I'm not so well versed in Buddhism to understand or recognize the differences, but they are beautiful and imposing figures.

Sahatsadecha is the guardian pictured here. A generally benevolent Yaksha, or nature-spirit that acts as a caretaker. In Thailand, Yakshas are commonly guardians of gates in Buddhist temples throughout the country since at least the 14th century.

A demon stands guard outside a gate in Wat Phra Kaew, known as Temple of the Emerald Buddha in English.