In 1940, 7 Roman Catholic Thais were murdered by police in Songkhon, Mukdahan. You can read their story here and Wikipedia has a brief article. On our way back from Kaeng Ka Bao (แก่งกะเบา) we took the river road which passes through Songkhon. Being that it was Easter sunday afternoon we assumed the church would be crowded with people but we were the only people visiting.
Don't see this everyday in Isan.
The village is still Roman Catholic and it just feels so strange to visit a village like this in the middle of nowhere in Isan. The church grounds are very beautiful so if you’re in the area it’s worth a visit. All of the history on site is written in Thai so if you want to read the story, check out the link above before you go.
Sunset at the church.
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- Don’t see this everyday in Isan.
Songkhon is not in the middle of no where. It is on the banks of the Mekong river. I remember going there in 1976 and having lunch with a French priest who was then the parish priest of Songkhon. There are dozens of villages throughout Sakhon Nakhon, Nakhon Panom and Mukdahan which are entirely Catholic. The Vietnamese Catholics starting arriving almost 200 hundred years ago. Sometimes it was Vietnamese Catholics fleeing from Buddhist Vietnamese or the other way round. In Ubon, there is a very strong Catholic community, with two High Schools and four primary schools. Most practicing Catholics are Thai Vietnamese. At Sunday Mass there are usually 600-700 people.