From White Jade shrine to Protestant Cemetery

About this event

Hello Everyone, I come back as strong as before. We will start the 1st walk with newly opened shrine; The White Jade Tai Hong Gong Shrine The The White Jade Tai Hong Gong Shrine is a sacred sanctuary that preserves and reflects the virtues of compassion, mercy, and selfless giving through the accumulated merit and benevolent legacy of Venerable Tai Hong. Wat Chinese Junk or Wat Yannawa was built during the Ayutthaya (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayutthaya_Kingdom)period, before the founding of Bangkok. It was originally called Wat Kok Khwai because the community of Tawei people in the area bought and sold buffalo; later, it was renamed as Wat Kok Krabue. During the reigh of King Rama I, the temple gained royal status and the ordination hall was built. During the reign of King Rama III (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_III), a sermon hall was built in the shape of a Chinese junk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_(ship)). The temple was renamed as Wat Yannawa, which translates as "the boat temple". The two chedis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chedi_(temple)) on the deck represent masts and the altar at the back represents the wheelhouse. King Rama III chose the shape of a junk as a means of historical preservation; he believed the junk was becoming obsolete due to new ship types, and wanted to preserve its image for his descendants. Wat Don Graveyard or Susan Wat Don and was widely believed to be haunted. The cemetery was founded in 1899 and actually consists of adjacent cemeteries managed by three organizations, namely the Tio Chew Association of Thailand (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tio_Chew_Association_of_Thailand&action=edit&redlink=1), the Poh Teck Tung Foundation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poh_Teck_Tung_Foundation) and the Hainan Dan Family Association. In 1996, the district administration began renovating the derelict site, and part of the cemetery now also serves as a public park. The Protestant Cemetery was founded by a royal land grant given by King Mongkut (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Mongkut) on 29 July 1853, to address the need for burial space for Bangkok's growing Protestant community. As usual, kindly prepare 300 THB to join the tour. It pays for your great guide, it allows us to keep surveying and bring more tours in the future and for train and bus. As with previous tours, we kindly ask again to only RSVP Yes if you are sure you can make it. We understand that sometimes things happen on the day that can't be avoided, but this should be a very small number of cases. Please let others take your place and adjust your RSVP if you are not sure, and request a rerun of this tour. We thank you for understanding. Enjoy the walk(:-