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Death Trail

The meaning of death is often the question which everyone may require answers. The walking tour, Death Trail, was an activity that invited the participants to explore and understand the culture of death. The tour took place as an activity to explore religion and belief as the core of the journey through the lifestyle of ‘Samsen Community’ which is located along the Chao Phraya River as one of the oldest communities in Bangkok. The participants could observe pictures and ways of living in this historical area and narratives of overlapping religious and cultural groups, including Thai, Chinese, Christian, Khmer, Vietnamese, as well as the old fishing community along the Chao Phraya River. With the Feel Trip team and local community speakers, the participants had opportunities to explore important places such as churches, a Chinese temple, a Thai temple, and a cemetery which during the day, the meaning of death was questioned along the journey.

Illustration – map

The outer layer of the community – The first destination, Tubtim Shrine or Tui Buay Teng Niang, the Chinese water god of mainland China, was transported from the Hainan Chinese people in the past from China to be convenient for the immigrants. The shrine is located at the foot of the Sang Hi Bridge aand was originally for the local to have religious ceremonies here. The local families still came back to visit during the important date. The architecture of the shrine was divided into three layers or five layers which were based on Chinese lucky numbers. The Samsen community was originally the Samsen field. Opposing to the shrine is วัดผกา – ญวนจีน which used porcelain to create patterns of peony. Belief and cultural influences. The inner layer of the community – By walking into the communities, Saint Francis church was visited. The church was located at the original settlement of Mitakham community, in Samsen area which was in the southest of Bangkok. The community is the overlapping between three cultures of Christian, Vietnamese, and Cambodian that affects the migration of Mitkham village first. The church was located facing the river front. Another interesting church is church of conception, which compose of vietnamese, khmer, and western art. As Bangkok has been an international port, the 345th anniversary of the conception church is a testament to its ancient and international port, with a population of diverse races and religions living together in Bangkok culture. The holy friday, close to Easter in April, is a ceremony of unification of Jesus’ death on the cross. Similar to Philippines, these are 2 places left in Thailand which are in the Khmer community and the Santa Cruz Church community. Eclectic culture of Thailand.

Churches / Thai Chinese influence

From the concept of impermanence of Buddhism, วัดไทย – วิถีพุทธ และผีใน southeast asia ที่ symbolise ท้องแม่ ซึ่งประเทศไทยเรามักมีขนบธรรมเนียมที่เกี่ยวกับผี – Nithi Eawsriwong, Thai historical scholar gave an interesting opinion about Thai religion that “He has the opposite opinion of ordinary scholars. which regards Buddhism as the core of Thai religion with ghosts and brahmins It’s some kind of shell. but actually We may be able to understand Thai religion better. If we have the idea that Thai religion has animism at its core, and has Buddhism and Brahmanism as its outer shell.” ชุมชนริมน้ำ/นักประดาน้ำ – Because this community is a gathering place for divers looking for antiques. A well-known ancient occupation that has been along the Chao Phraya River for hundreds of years. “The main task ranges from searching for ancient treasures that were sunk in the past. Hired to find valuables that the villagers accidentally dropped, shipwreck salvage dive to clean the propeller. The destination depends on each person’s experience. The root is losing. Concept of death in Buddhism – This question the concept of religions and death – สุสานคริสต์ – ต้องมีการ manage เป็นflat กางเขน และกรุต ซึ่งมีราคาต่างกันตามหลักสาสนาที่ต้องรับศีลให้ครบ ตามความเชื่อของศาสนาคริสต์ที่คนตายจะกลับกลายเป็นดิน ซึ่งสันที่มีพิธีเสกสุสาน จะเหมือนพิธีเชงเม้ง ที่คนในชุมชนทุกรุ่นจะมาพบปะกัน ชุมชนในการเลือกดีไซน์และค่าใช้จ่ายหลังความตายที่ก็ยังมีราคาที่เราต้องจ่ายและ maintain. 

Cemetery / Thai temples

The life after life – Community in choosing designs and costs after death that still have a price we have to pay and maintain. Meaning of death along the trail and journey. Reflection of the jigsaw – the last piece of jigsaw? – meaning of death as a last piece of jigsaw? What is death? – Pronouncing a patient dead in a hospital seems relatively simple: palpate for lack of pulse, determine that the patient’s neurological function is absent, then disclose, out loud, his or her full name and the time of death. Except it isn’t that simple at all—in the inpatient setting. Hence, the concept of death influences the whole community and the surrounding.

Postcard