Written by Dyamin Vanek, W&M Class of 2026
Wat Lao Dhammavanno is a Theravada Buddhist temple located in Fort Myers, Florida. Founded in 1999, the temple hosts many annual ceremonies and celebrations from Laos and Thai traditions. It is located at 9851 Veronica Blvd, North Fort Myers, Florida. (Note: the phone listed by Google Maps for Wat Lao Dhammavanno is outdated, and the listed temple website no longer exists. To contact the temple, your best chance would be the phone number +1 (239) 984-2872, although I unfortunately did not have any luck.)
History
Information about the founders of this temple is sparse. In 2004, articles of incorporation of Wat Lao Dhammavanno as a non-profit organization were filed in Florida, and the original members of the board of directors are listed as Soupan Sinboualay, Thomas Phimmasone, Tamchai Insixiengmay, Samone Sommavong, Chantha Veopaseuth, and Boun Oum Sayarat. However, no information about these people is publicly available.
During the early years of Wat Lao Dhammavanno, the temple in which rituals were held was temporary due to a lack of money. In 2012, construction began on an outdoor Buddha shrine next to a pond. Eventually, a large hall was also created for events to be held in.
Events
The various events and celebrations held throughout the year at Wat Lao Dhammavanno are the most well-documented parts about the Buddhist temple, thanks to video recordings by those who attend these events. The documented celebrations include Lao New Year, Loy Krathong Festival, and Kathina Festival.
Lao New Year
In Laos, the Lao New Year is called “Pi Mai” (ປີໃໝ່ລາວ) and occurs in April, around the start of the monsoon season. Over the course of the holiday, many rituals and ceremonies are held to welcome in the new year.
At Wat Lao Dhammavanno, the Water Festival is held to honor the Lao New Year. One of the parts of this festival is a procession around the property. The procession is led by a pickup truck decorated with flowers and cloth, along with a Buddha statue in the bed and a trailer with chairs. Before the procession begins, a few musicians stand in the truck bed with instruments, and women holding oil-paper umbrellas and dressed in traditional Lao clothing, called Sinh, sit in the chairs in the trailer. Then, the truck slowly makes its way along the dirt road that loops around the property, with people following behind. At certain points along this loop, a few people standing next to barrels filled with water splash the procession with the water. The procession is completed after three loops around the property.
After this procession, a dragon dance is performed by Chùa Tịnh Quang, a Vietnamese religious center in Fort Myers. The audience gives donations to the performers through the mouth of the dragon. Afterwards, the celebration continues with live music, dancing, and food.
Loy Krathong Festival
Loy Krathong is a Thai festival held in the month of November each year. The term “Loy Krathong” roughly translates to “to float a basket”, which is one of the main features of this festival. A krathong is traditionally made of banana tree trunk and banana leaves, and flowers, incense sticks, a candle, and occasionally other small offerings are placed inside this basket. Then, once the candle and incense are lit, the krathong is placed into water, and it floats away.
At Wat Lao Dhammavanno, this element of the tradition is maintained, as members will cast their krathongs into the small pond located on the premise. Alongside this, they participate in a Buddhist ritual where they listen to one of the monks perform a chant, and following this, the monk blesses small groups of the listeners by waving an object resembling a small handheld broom above the listeners and tying small pieces of string around their wrists. (I was unable to find the name of this ritual, but it somewhat resembles a Baci ceremony, a traditional Lao ritual that involves tying pieces of string attached to a centerpiece to participants’ wrists.) In addition, there is music and dancing during the remainder of the day.
Kathina Festival
The Kathina festival is a Buddhist tradition that helps to mark the end of the three-month rain retreat of the bhikkhus, the Buddhist monastics. The Vinaya describes the background of this event, where a group of thirty monks intended to spend the rain retreat with the Buddha but were forced to stop their travels due to the start of the monsoon season. After the season ended, the Buddha rewarded the monks with a new piece of cloth that he was given from the lay community, and he told the monks to sew a new robe and to bestow it upon one of their company. To sew the robe, the monks laid the cloth on a frame, called a Kathina.
At Wat Lao Dhammavanno, the Kathina Robe Offering Ceremony is held as part of this festival. At the start of the day, visitors can purchase various Lao and Thai food, clothing, and even woven bamboo baskets from individual vendors. Then, each person places small offerings in donation containers for the monks. For lunch, small dishes of rice, curry, and other southeast Asian foods are placed on khantoke trays, which are circular, low-legged tables made from wood or bamboo, and which are used for meals.
After lunch is eaten, there is music and dancing, followed by a small parade that loops around the premises three times. Finally, people return inside to place larger offerings for the monks called money trees. These offerings are cash donations arranged and decorated to look like small flowering plants or miniature trees, with the bank notes resembling the leaves.
Demographics
Throughout the years, there have been four to five practicing monks at Wat Lao Dhammavanno. The current number of practitioners is unknown, although in the late 2000’s, there were over 100 members. During events, there are often around 300 visitors at the temple.
The majority of the members at Wat Lao Dhammavanno are ethnically from Southeast Asia, including Laos, Thailand, and Burma. Some of these members are immigrants directly from these countries. Most members speak Thai at the temple.
Funding
Like many “immigrant Buddhist” communities, Wat Lao Dhammavanno is funded by donations from its members. This maintains the Theravada tradition of laymen and laywomen supporting the sangha, but it does come with some significant drawbacks. As mentioned earlier, Wat Lao Dhammavanno could not afford a permanent temple for many years after it was founded. Additionally, crises like the COVID-19 pandemic can sever this source of funding. As detailed in a FOX-4 news report, the temple was unable to hold its annual events due to the pandemic. The temple’s secretary stated, “That will leave us (in a) big hole. We are having hard time. Very, very difficult hard time.”
Even so, it is thanks to the donations and efforts of Wat Lao Dhammavanno’s members that the temple continues to operate and host events. In good times, these donations can even be sufficient to expand the property, such as the construction of the Buddha shrine in 2012.
Community Relations
This is another part of Wat Lao Dhammavanno with very little information available on the subject. However, there is evidence that this community does support other local organizations. For example, the nonprofit Crossroads Hope Academy made an Instagram post on September 30th, 2025, thanking Wat Lao Dhammavanno for a donation. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that Wat Lao Dhammavanno participates in community building efforts in Fort Myers. Additionally, as mentioned in the section about Lao New Year, other Asian Buddhist communities like Chùa Tịnh Quang help in the celebration of the events that Wat Lao Dhammavanno hosts.
Summary
Wat Lao Dhammavanno is a place where Theravada Buddhist traditions are honored and Lao and Thai culture is celebrated. For many of its members, it is a place where they can practice their faith and observe their holidays with family and friends. They likely understand themselves as followers of Buddha and as practitioners of Theravada Buddhism within the United States. Unfortunately, information about Wat Lao Dhammavanno is hard to come by, but it is thanks to the videos recorded by its members that we can get a glimpse at what it is like to go to this Buddhist temple.
Sources
BBC – Religions – Buddhism: Kathina. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2025, from bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/holydays/kathina.shtml
Crossroads Hope Academy on Instagram. (2025, September 30). Instagram. www.instagram.com/crossroadshopeacademy/reel/DPOp5QDlLqb/
Diaz, P. (2008, July 19). Monks take part in Buddhist ritual. News-Press.Com. www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=61,6835,0,0,1,0
Drone Innovation Shots. (2022, April 25). Lao New Year 2022—North Ft. Myers Temple “Wat Lao Dhammavanno” Celebration [Video recording]. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwGKR7y-14
Lao New Year. (n.d.). LUANG PRABANG CULTURE. Retrieved November 27, 2025, from www.luangprabangculture.com/lao-new-year.html
Loy Krathong in Thailand (ลอยกระทง). (n.d.). It’s Better in Thailand. Retrieved November 30, 2025, from itsbetterinthailand.com/festivals/loy-krathong-day/
Thai mama In Florida. (2022, October 24). งานบุญทอดกฐิน23/10/2022 ณ วัดลาว Wat Lao Dhammavanno Buddhist Templeเมือง Fort Myers ฟลอริดา อเมริกา [Video recording]. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vyITcCXGJI
Vonlaree Cheammon – Florida Realtor. (2022, November 20). Loy Krathong Festival in N-Fort Myers, FL Buddhist Temple [Video recording]. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T6uYHeQta0
Vonlaree Cheammon – Florida Realtor (Director). (2023, April 30). 2023 Thai/Lao New Year Celebration: Water Festival From N Fort Myers, FL [Video recording]. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPyOxZAvMsE
WAT LAO DHAMMAVANNO INC. (n.d.). Sunbiz.Org. Retrieved November 27, 2025, from search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResultDetail?inquirytype=OfficerRegisteredAgentName&directionType=CurrentList&searchNameOrder=INSIXIENGMAYTAMCHAI%20N040000045603&aggregateId=domnp-n04000004560-52583e1f-5436-46e0-a2b4-1774432e7dba&searchTerm=Insite%20Mediacom%202%2C%20Llc&listNameOrder=INSIXIENGMAYASHLEYN%20L230001316210
World Buddhist Directory—Presented by BuddhaNet (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2025, from www.buddhanet.info/wbd/search.php?keyword=Wat+Lao+Dhammavanno&search=Search&country_id=0&province_id=30