The Protestant Cemetery

Bangkok Protestant Cemetery Chapel

The Bangkok Protestant Cemetery, located in a beautiful plot of land along the banks of the Chaophraya River in the oldest part of the city, dates back to 1853 when King Mongkut (Rama IV) issued a royal land grant to create a cemetery in order to address the needs of Siam's growing foreign population.

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Bangkok Protestant Cemetery

I was in Bangkok's old town the other day, and taking a walk along Charoenkrung Road, the first paved road in Thailand's bustling capital city, when I realized that I was close to the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery. I decided to take a detour to pay it a respectful visit.

sign at the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery

The cemetery, which currently has over 1800 graves, is the final resting place for some of Thailand's most notable figures. 

the pathway at the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery

There's something peaceful about walking through a cemetery, especially one as storied as this one, located along Thailand's "River of Kings". The plot is relatively small; headstones (only 1100 of the 1800 are still readable), mausoleums, graves, and tombs are crammed together in a small yet significant royal grant of land. 

Though some of the inhabitants may have been lost to history, they are remembered here in their own small way. It's a testament to those expats who have lived and died here in Thailand - gone, but not forgotten.

an unknown tomb, Bangkok, Thailand

Many of the graves date back to the late 19th and early 20th century, although there are still a limited number of gravesites available for purchase.

Perhaps the most prominent tomb at the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery is that of Mr. Henry Alabaster, one of the most significant foreigners in Thailand's modern history.

graves and mausoleums at the Bangkok Protestant Cemetery

Born in Hastings, England in 1836, Mr. Alabaster first came to Siam at the age of 20 in 1856 to serve as an interpreter in the British Foreign Service. As an acting consul, he worked directly with the King of Thailand, and was instrumental in designing the very first paved road in the Thai capital; the very road on which Mr. Alabaster is now interred: Charoenkrung Road.

the tomb of Mr. Henry Alabaster, Bangkok, Thailand

He returned to Thailand in 1873 after being dismissed by the Foreign Service for "his efforts at keeping Siam from becoming a British colony". He has been historically judged quite positively by Thais for quite the same reason.

Having clearly fallen in love with the country, he rose through the royal ranks to eventually serve as private secretary to King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). During his tenure, Mr. Alabaster oversaw many modernization efforts at this time including the building of roads, bridges and libraries, the founding of the national museum, post office and the royal cartography service, and sending the sons and daughters of royalty and high-ranking positions abroad for study.

Upon his unexpected death in 1884 at the age of 48, he was interred at the Protestant Cemetery with full royal honors. His tomb was constructed upon the orders of King Chulalongkorn himself.

Mr. Alabaster, one of the most influential foreigners in Siamese history

The cemetery's chapel is a small, modern Thai-style chapel located in the center of the cemetery. It seats a small number of people and is a quiet and reverent place to hold a memorial. Because of Bangkok's temperamental climate, the chapel is covered in order to protect mourners from the rain that is so common during the monsoon season.

Bangkok Protestant Cemetery Chapel

When I visited, the on-site caretakers were using the chapel to store some of their belongings, but I'm sure they would be moved in the case of a funeral or memorial service. While the chapel is covered, it is still open on one side and is not climate controlled.

There are six pews, an altar, and a podium which all stand in front of the congregation. While it is a small place, it's also a very meaningful place.

interior of the chapel - between services, it stores some of the caretakers' gear

There are also a number of Jewish graves prominently located in the older part of the cemetery. Because Bangkok has only a very small Jewish community, there was, for a long time, no other appropriate place in the city for a proper Jewish burial.

Jewish graves in Bangkok, Thailand

This changed in 1997 with the opening of the small Bangkok Jewish Cemetery on a plot of land adjacent to the Protestant Cemetery.

More beautiful cemetery chapels around the world

St. Michael Archangel Chapel and Cemetery, Macau

Shrine of the Ages - Grand Canyon Interfaith Chapel, Arizona

St. Olaf's Lutheran Kirke (The Rock Church), Cranfills Gap, Texas

Our Savior's Lutheran Church at Norse, Texas

Team Mama's Boys: A HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT!

 IN MARCH 2024...

Join Attempt Adventure Podcast host Michael Desrosiers, his younger brother Kyle, and their mother as they compete in a race across the country of Sri Lanka in a legendary auto rickshaw, or tuk-tuk! 

This adventure will raise money for two amazing charities. The first £500 (or about $600) we raise will go to Cool Earth, a wonderful organization fighting climate change. Any funds we raise in excess will go to the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, an ethical elephant rescue organization that does great work rescuing and rehabilitating elephants in the north of Thailand.

*All donations will go directly to these two amazing organizations. We will pay for our travel and administrative expenses ourselves*

You can donate and help us make a difference through our adventure here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/team-mamas-boys

The adventure will be documented in a special Season 4 of the Attempt Adventure Podcast. Follow their adventures on:

https://www.teammamasboys.com/

and listen to the podcast episodes next spring on:

https://www.attemptadventure.com/team-mamas-boys

or wherever you get your podcasts!

Vexillology: The Flag of Earth

Welcome back to another special edition of Vexillology! Today, we are going to be looking at and analyzing the various flags which have been proposed as official flags of the planet Earth. I will be presenting the flags in chronological order, starting with the very first proposal and ending with the most recent.

Let's get to it!

The Olympic Flag

The first flag we are going to be looking at today is the Olympic Flag, first proposed in 1894. The Olympic flag depicts five interlocking rings representing the five inhabited continents. These five colors also appear at least once on each internationally recognized flag of the world. Although the flag has been altered a few times (most recently in 2010), it is an easily recognizable symbol of international unity and cooperation. You will see it flying every two years during the Olympic Games. It would be a worthy flag for our planet.

1894

World Peace Flag of Earth

Next up is the World Peace Flag of Earth proposed in 1913 by James William van Kirk, a Methodist minister from Youngstown, Ohio.

This design includes the rainbow flag on the left. To the right is a globe representing the planet Earth. The globe is connected to the rainbow flag via thin white stripes going from the side of the white stripe on the globe, to the outer boundaries of the colored stripes on the rainbow flag. From 1913 until 1929, Rev. Kirk toured the world promoting his peace flag as a symbol of human unity.

1913

The Flag of the League of Nations

The League of Nations was the first worldwide intergovernmental organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was dissolved in 1946 with the institution of the United Nations.

The semi-official flag of the League of Nations was created in 1939. It features the organization's emblem on a white background with the phrase "League of Nations" written respectively in the official languages of English and French.

1920

The Brotherhood Flag

In 1938, the Minnesota-based World Peace Association unveiled a flag to represent all humanity. Called the "Brotherhood Flag", it consisted of five equal horizontal stripes of red, white, brown, yellow, and black symbolizing the diverse skin colors of the people of the world. This flag was carried at peace marches in the 1960s and may have helped inspire designer Gilbert Baker to create the Rainbow Flag celebrating LGBT+ rights in the 1970s,

1938

The Flag of the United Nations

The flag of the United Nations consists of a map of the world shown from the perspective of the South Pole on a sky-blue background. The olive branches surrounding the map are a symbol for peace.

The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: Vexillology: UN Blues

The emblem design was officially adopted on 7 December 1946, and the flag, on 20 October 1947.

In my opinion, this should be the official Flag of Earth.

1947

The John McConnell's Earth Flag

In 1969, peace activist John McConnell proposed his design titled the "Earth Flag". The current version of the flag consists of The Blue Marble, a photograph of Earth taken on 7 December 1972 by the crew of the Apollo 17 on its way to the Moon.

The design debuted at the Moon Watch event in the Central Park, in New York City, on 20 July 1969, during which, people watched and celebrated the first Moon landing by the crew of the Apollo 11. 

On 22 April 1970, McConnell organized the first Earth Day event in San Francisco, California. Since then, the flag has become widely associated with Earth Day. In 1992, Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Berezovoy carried the Earth Flag with him on his trip to space.

1969

The James W. Cadle's Flag of Earth

In 1970, James W. Cadle, a farmer from Homer, Illinois, proposed his version of the flag of Earth, that consisted of a blue circle representing the Earth, placed alongside a larger yellow circle and a smaller white circle representing the sun and moon respectively. This flag gained popularity among the SETI researchers and is flown at numerous SETI research facilities around the world. Notably, the flag flies at the Ohio State University Radio Observatory, in Delaware, Ohio. On 23 December 1996, in honor of the death of Carl Sagan, this flag was flown at half-mast.

1970

The Government of Earth Flag, Futurama

In the 1999 Futurama science fiction comedy television series, set in the 3000s, the Earth is united under a world government. Its flag contains thirteen horizontal stripes, alternating between red and white, with a blue canton in the left top corner, containing a globe, with the Americas prominently depicted in the center. This flag is based on the flag of the United States.

1999

The World Flag, 2011

In 1988, artist Paul Carroll proposed a design titled The World Flag, that combined the flags of 159 member states of the United Nations. It was created to promote the global unity and cooperation. The flag depicted each national flag placed next to one another. In the center of the flag was a map of the world. The design was updated in 1992, expanding number of flags included to the total of 230, adding all national flags used at the time, and additionally including the flag of the United Nations, and flags of the various self-governed depended territories. The flag was again updated in 2006, 2008, and 2011, to accommodate for the changes of the national flags and political events. Through the redesigns, the map in the center of the flag was also changed.

Personally, I feel as if this flag is far too busy and complex to serve as an efficient flag of the world.

2011

International Flag of Planet Earth

In 2015, designer Oskar Pernefeldt proposed a flag called the International Flag of Planet Earth. The design consists of seven rings, linked to each other. It includes one circle in the middle with six circles around it forming the shape of a flower. The shape represents the life on the planet, and the connection of everything on it to everything else. The number of circles represents the seven continents of the planet. The symbol is placed on a dark blue background, which represents water, the essential element of our planet's life.

If the United Nations Flag is not to be chosen to represent our planet, this flag gets my vote!

2015

United Earth (Star Trek)

The flag of United Earth has represented our planet for the first four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as in the far-future happenings of Star Trek: Discovery. This flag, which features a projection of the Planet Earth set against a white background, serves as the ensign of United Earth. Although I prefer the United Nations Flag and the International Flag of Planet Earth, the Flag of United Earth is a very good choice as well. Although fictional, I do quite like this flag.

2150s

Quarantine... again

Last weekend I started to feel myself coming down with something.

On Monday my wife told me to take a COVID test...

To my great dismay, a second line began to faintly show upon the test strip.

Wanting to keep the family safe, I packed up and moved into a hotel down the road for the week.

It was quite a boring week. I Sequestered myself with plenty of food, water, and vitamins, and set out to wait out the week.

By Thursday the test displayed a darker line than before. Although I had planned to come home on Friday, I decided to wait until Monday when the second line might be lighter.

It was a desperately boring few days, but finally on Sunday afternoon the test displayed a distinct negative.

On Monday I finally came home.

It's nice to be back.

Sunbird Nest

The other morning, my wife and I awoke to the sharp, sweet chirping of an Olive-backed Sunbird. These tiny birds, similar to a hummingbird but wont to perch rather than hover, are native to the Eastern Hemisphere.

We could not believe our eyes when we stepped out of the house to see a mother sunbird constructing her nest just outside our bathroom window! She's still got a way to go, but it's really cool to see. We were especially impressed with her ingenuity; she had used some discarded shreds of plastic wrapping that she had found to build the skeleton of her nest!

A few years back, a mother Oriental Magpie-robin made her nest in our mailbox. She's returned every spring since to lay two to three clutches of eggs, which we have been enjoying peeking in on to watch grow up each year.

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It's going to be a lot of fun to see these tiny sunbirds grow up as well.