Lopburi is a sleepy rural town 120 km north of Bangkok. It is steeped in history with civilizations dating back at least 1,200 years. In the mid-1700s, it was briefly the capital of Siam under King Narai. These days it is best known for its legion of monkeys which have turned the town into a local tourist attraction ... and for the AIDS temple.

In 1992 a Buddhist monk, Dr Alongkot Dikkapanyo, turned a normal upcountry Buddhist temple into a small hospice to care for fully-blown AIDS patients. At that time Thailand was finally coming to terms with AIDS, after various governments had tried to cover up the problem in the interests of tourism.

That initial eight-bed hospice grew to the 400-bed complex it is today.

Thailand is a country still suffering under many misconceptions about AIDS. People fear the disease, and HIV sufferers are shunned by their family, friends and community. Three years ago, a bomb was tossed into an AIDS center in the middle of Bangkok. The incident occurred after residents tried to get the center to move because they didn't want AIDS sufferers in their area. Even the authorities didn't mind the bomb being tossed.