There’s nothing subtle about the Wang Saen Suk Monastery garden, 90 minutes drive south of Bangkok, apart from its location, hidden down a quiet lane not far from the coastal resort of Bang Saen. At the entrance, a brightly coloured sign proclaims “Welcome To Hell”, while beyond lies a garish, in-your-face morality tale of sawn torsos, boiling vats and devilish figures tormenting worldly sinners.

The Wat (temple) Wang Saen Suk Hell Garden is a sort of unsavoury Buddhist theme park with a message. Judgement is black and white; punishments are swift, painful and gory.

I wondered how I would be judged as I tossed 20 Thai baht (30p) into the cavernous belly of a fat Buddha – a collecting box – and followed a Thai family with two young boys aged six or seven into the Devil’s lair.