A Moment Spent Reflecting on the Finality of Death in Bangkok’s Protestant Cemetery
Cemeteries are normally down at the bottom of a tourist’s to do list when sight-seeing in a new city. Just kidding. They're never on a tourist’s list.
After several years of seeing mentions of a Protestant Cemetery in Bangkok I finally made time to visit this historical gem for myself.
This prime slither of real estate facing the bustling Chao Phraya River was reserved on the 29th of July 1853 by Rama IV King Mongkut to accommodate the burial needs of the growing Protestant community.
The cemetery eternally houses hundreds of expatriates, including one individual who’s life’s work profoundly contributed to societal change and forever impacted Thai culture. See Daniel Beach Bradley below.
Walking sporadically in between rows of graves I was hit with a reassuring sense of what death truly encompasses. Death is the unknown void we all must comprehend during the course of our lives, but how we as fragile and emotional beings handle its crushing sadness is very empowering.
A cemetery is the showing of a brave face against a fearless foe we’ll all one day be forced to reckon with. Death. But don’t worry.
It’s all going to be OK.
The Protestant Cemetery is located in Bangkok’s Yannawa District and is most conveniently accessed by Taxi from the Saphan Taksin BTS.
Below are mentions of a few influential people who are interred at Bangkok’s Protestant Cemetery. First up is a recollection of the late Albert Lyman as told by his son Davis Lyman.
In life yearn to touch all bases.
“My family contributed to the development of the law in this country, and did a lot of charity work and so on. My father founded the American Association of Thailand (now the American Chamber of Commerce) and was a founder and chairman of the Bangkok Stock Exchange (now the Stock Exchange of Thailand).
“My mother played a major role in the creation of the Foundation for Crippled Children and she was involved in other projects like Cheshire Homes which provides support for the disabled”
David Lyman
Please see this article about Albert Lyman’s life and legacy as told by his son David Lyman. Great read.
At the far end of the cemetery sits a run down chapel which I’m sure is only ever used when a burial ceremony takes place. From the state of the inside upon my visit it had been a while since a grieving family had taken refuge there.
The existing chapel was erected in 1957 which replaced the original structure built in 1894.
Henry Alabaster
Henry Alabaster’s monument in the Bangkok Protestant cemetery is fittingly bold, towering above the hundreds of tombstones below.
Alabaster’s monument was erected for his service to King Chulalongkorn (RAMA V) and his unflinching commitment and service to the Court of Siam where he served for decades until his death at 48 in 1884.
The following was taken from the epitaph of Dr. Daniel Beach Bradley.
July 18, 1804 to June 23, 1873.
Dr. Daniel Beach Bradley was credited with contributed significantly to Thai society through his role as a Protestant Missionary to Siam, his use of western medical practices and his introduction o the printing processes. He was born on July 18th 1804 in Marcellus, New York, USA. After obtaining a degree in Medicine and Surgery from New York College of Physicians he was accepted as a missionary physician by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to serve in Asia.
On July 2, 1834 Dr. Bradley along with his wife Emilie Royce departed from Boston Port for their mission to Siam. They reached singapore on January 12, 1835 where they were delayed by monsoon storms. In Singapore he purchased a printing press for use by the mission. They finally arrived in Bangkok on July 18, 1835.
He united his mission work with the introduction of modern medical practices into Siamese society. His greatest medical achievements were the development of a safe smallpox inoculation and the introduction of modern medical practices to Siam, including the first surgery in 1836.
Dr. Bradley aslo introduced publishing, bookbinding and lithograghy into Siam for the first time. He was requested by the Royal Thai government to print “The Opium Edict’ in 1839, followed by the publishing of the first pamphlets on midwifery in 1842. He founded the first newspaper called the “Bangkok Reader” in 1844.
After 1857 the American Missionary Association terminated its connection with the mission in Bangkok and offered their printing plant to Dr. Bradley. He then became an independent missionary, supporting himself by his printing business. In 1862 he made the first copyright transaction in Siam to purchase the account, in verse, of a Journey to England and an audience with Queen Victoria written by a Thai diplomat named Morm Rachothai. Dr. Bradley published the first dictionary “Akaraphitansrub” in 1873.
Dr. Bradley and his first wife Emilie had five children. After the death of Emilie in 1845 he married Sarah Blackly in 1848 and they had 5 more children. His youngest daughter inherited his last house located behind Wichai Prasitthi Fort. Dr. Bradley died of typhoid in Thailand on June 23rd, 1873 at the age of 69.
