June 24, 2022
BANGKOK – As part of Chadchart’s policy to make the capital “liveable” for everyone, “Music in the Garden” will pop up randomly at 40 Bangkok parks every weekends, with free performances while following Covid precautions.
However, his invitation went viral as the Tio Chew Association of Thailand, also known as Wat Don Cemetery, is considered one of the spooky cemeteries in Thailand.
It is the largest Chinese cemetery in Bangkok, located on an 85 rai (13.6 hectares) piece of land in Soi Wat Prok 1, Chan Road, Thung Wat Don subdistrict, Sathon district. The cemetery was opened in 1899, at the end of King Rama V’s reign.
In the beginning, more than 4,267 people were buried there. Most of the buried men were engaged in hard labour during the country’s development and died due to the poor public health system.
The cemetery is well-known among lovers of spooky tales and ghosts as there was a story of people who claimed to have seen ghosts while driving past the area.
In addition, taxis always denied providing service to people who wanted to go to the cemetery as tens of thousands of bodies have been buried there, including of people who had died in accidents.
However, the scenery at the cemetery was changed when the Tio Chew Association of Thailand and Sathorn District Office decided to improve the area into a public park in 1996, as well as the increasing prosperity in the capital.
The association’s health garden, which is considered the first public park in a Chinese cemetery, opens daily from 4am to 8pm.