BANGKOK, 6 Dec 2019:
Among the tombstones that litter Teochew cemetery, surrounded by Bangkok’s cluttered skyline, there is no better way of feeling alive than working out in the graveyard – which has become a sort of community space, despite some neighbours fearing its supposedly haunted past.
Hundreds of people flock to these hallowed grounds, located in the heart of the Thai capital, to find a haven of quiet amid the metropolis’ noisy chaos.
Any given day, children play in the park while their parents stroll along the grave-strewn promenades. Many opt to exercise their muscles at the site’s local gym or enjoy the quiet by reading a book in the central plaza.
These tranquil scenes would be quite mundane – were it not for the fact they take place among the graves of deceased Chinese residents whose souls are said to haunt the area.
Nearly 95% of Thailand’s population practices Buddhism – often syncretically combined with animist beliefs, Hindu traditions and Chinese folklore – which makes Thai spiritual culture awash with superstitions about the souls of bygone ancestors.
At the gates of Teochew cemetery, right next to the Wat Don temple, stands a sports centre where – for the modest price of 150 baht per month – users can take advantage of the installations to get fit between 4am and 8pm. Only a fence separates them from the tombs of hundreds of Chinese immigrants who died in Bangkok.
“I always come here because the air quality is good,” said Somphong, a voiceover actor who dubs animated films and has been training at Teochew since the gym was renovated in 2014. “There are only residential houses around, without any busy streets.”
The sports complex also has a basketball court, a children’s playgrounds and several clubs where pensioners and groups of friends can pass the time playing chess, practising aerobics or sipping tea.
“I only go home to sleep; I come here as soon as I wake up and leave when they close,” said Naruthen Thanawiboonphon, a retiree who belongs to one of the local associations.
Naruthen and his clique pay 2,000 baht per month to occupy a private open-air space with access to electricity and running water – where they can cook, listen to the radio and even sing at improvised karaoke parties using TV sets.
These modern-day activities would have been inconceivable just a few years ago, when the cemetery was deserted and seemingly abandoned – a look which did a lot to foster the legend of it being haunted.
The necropolis was built in 1899 as a resting place for the thousands of migrants originating in the southeastern Chinese province of Guandong, many of whose inhabitants – known as Teochew because of their dialect – fled to the Kingdom of Siam at the end of the 19th century.
Over time, the cemetery became abandoned, giving rise to rumours it was occupied by all sorts of ghosts. Many avoided it entirely, including taxi drivers, who often refused to take passengers there out of fear of bringing a spectre back with them on their next run.
But in 1996 the city’s authorities decided to renovate the cemetery and turn it into a public park and sports centre. The area’s residents believe this renovation freed the site from aggressive and malign spirits by transforming it into a space for pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment.
“Before, the living were afraid of the ghosts. Now the ghosts are afraid of the living because we are so many more,” the elderly Naruthen quipped.
The cemetery is currently administered by Thailand’s Teochew Association – tasked with preserving the immigrant community’s legacy in the country – as well as the Hainan Don family’s foundation and the Poh Teck foundation.
The supernatural aura seems to have disappeared from the cemetery, but with the constant flurry of activity on the ground, it probably isn’t that easy for the dead to rest in peace.
– EFE