Poo Jom Gom Hermitage

Poo Jom Gom is a forest hermitage in Khong Chiam district of Ubon Ratchathani province, on the Laos border at the eastern end of the province. Ajahn Pasanno, then abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, founded it in 1990. It sits at the edge of Pha Taem National Park, on rocky ground above the Mekong with mushroom-shaped rock pillars and overhangs that form caves. The name is usually translated as “teeny weeny hill”.

Ajahn Ñāṇiko, who was asked to look after it, wrote in 2012 that it was founded as a place where Wat Nanachat monks could seek solitude, have few duties and deepen their practice. It is a branch of Wat Nanachat, and senior monks from that community have looked after it, usually for one to three years each. Before its first rains retreat the monks built a grass-roofed sala and a few grass-roofed huts, and renovated a cave they call the Tea Cave.

The account describes monks only. Wat Pah Nanachat’s Thai-language page lists Samnak Song Phu Jom Kom, in Khong Chiam district, as one of its two branch monasteries, but neither source says whether lay guests can stay. Treat it as a monastic retreat rather than a place you can book. If you are a layperson interested in the style of training behind it, Wat Pah Nanachat publishes how to ask to stay.