The stone house in Tha Rae.
By Lode
DEC 23, 2023
A place of love, hope and faith!
The governor of Sakon Nakhon, Thao-ngonkham, was the master of ceremonies on his sister’s wedding day. She married the Vice Governor. Together they had many children, including Miss Noona and the youngest of the boys, Khien. Noona would later build the stone house in Tha Rae .
In 1884, Noona became interested in preaching to the missionaries, despite her Buddhist background. At that time, missionaries led the Catholic group in Sakon Nakhon, which consisted of slaves, abandoned persons, and Vietnamese immigrants.
The deputy governor was furious with his daughter. He told her it went against Buddhist tradition. Noona paid no attention to it, and was beaten and imprisoned by her father. After that, rioters always threatened the Catholics, and attacked them while they were reading mass. The first Catholic group in Sakon Nakhon became very anxious as a result.
The Catholics are evacuated.
In 1884, on a windy third of November, the missionaries decided to evacuate the Catholic community from Sakon Nakhon. They made a large bamboo raft and crossed Nongharn Lake to a safe area. Along the way, they were protected by Saint Michael.
The wind blew the raft to a high land. The missionaries were very pleased with this new land and allowed the people to settle there. The new land was littered with yellow stones, so they named their new village “Tharea,” which means yellow stone port.
Khien visited his sister Noona in her prison and gave her a message about the evacuation of the Catholic community. Noona asked her brother for help in her escape. She had to and would follow the Christian community. Khien sympathized with his sister, stole a key from his father and freed her.
Khien took his sister with him on a horse. They traveled around Nongharn Lake, stopping at Dornphoe. He told his sister to continue on foot to Tharea, as it was not far away. He hurried to return.
Noona went to live in the residence of Father Joseph Gomburier. The deputy governor was furious and went to Tharea with some officers to accuse Father Joseph of kidnapping. Noona told her father that she had come to Tharea of her own free will. She wanted to be a Christian. The deputy governor broke off relations with his daughter by pointing his sword to the sky.
Noona fell in love with No, a church boy. They married and started a new family named Sriworakul. They built a stone house in French and Vietnamese style, mainly with yellow stones.
Ho Chi Minh comes to Thailand.
Vietnam’s first head of state visited the stone house. Ngian Icod, or Ho Chi Minh, found refuge in Thailand. He was a Vietnamese man who became the adopted son of Noo. Ho Chi Minh was polite, industrious and active. He helped Noo build the stone house and was a good caretaker. He did many tasks such as cleaning, fetching water, milling rice and even fishing. One day a Vietnamese man named Ba was murdered in Tharea. Ho Chi Minh thought the Vietnamese government was hunting him because he called himself “Ba” when he worked in France. Ho Chi Minh said goodbye to his foster father, left Thailand, went to China and later became the first president of Vietnam.
The great love between Noo and Noona came to an end.
There was no reconciliation possible with her father. Only her mother and youngest brother sometimes came to visit her. No and Noona had died and were buried together in Tharea cemetery.
They had nine children: 1. Hian, 2. Ning, 3. Harn, 4. Nang, 5. Suphee, 6. Khamdee, 7. Rev. Stinaul, 8. Rev. Khamjuan, 9. Jummalee.
The ancient tomb, the symbol of the extraordinary love of the children.
Noona asked that she not be buried until her sons arrived. So when she died, her body was placed in a temporary grave built behind the stone house. When Venerable Srinual and Venerable Khamjuan arrived in Thailand, they came to Tharea and performed a great religious ceremony for her. She was then buried in the cemetery of Tharea.
The belief in the stone house.
The church closed its doors, and religious activities were no longer allowed. In the stone house, a priest gathered with some Catholic faithful to celebrate Mass. Mr. Phaet, Jummalee’s husband, was arrested for his secret religious ceremony, during which some church property was stolen or destroyed.
Absolute violence.
Father John Stockae came to celebrate Mass in the stone house. He was arrested by the police. A policeman grabbed his beard and dragged him out of the house. They beat him ruthlessly. Father John Stockae explained to the police that he was German, not French, and so they released him.
Mr. Phaet Khamsri, the forgotten good man.
For violating an emergency law on religious incarceration, Phaet received a punishment. There were many Catholics in the stone house, but he asked the police to arrest only him. He was placed in Sakon Nakhon Prison, then transferred to Klongphai Prison. Eventually, he was imprisoned in Bangkwang prison. He sat in the same room as Father Boonkert Kritbamung, one of the blessed martyrs of Thailand. Phaet helped Father Boonkert baptize 86 prisoners into Catholicism. He consecrated himself as a missionary. When he contracted tuberculosis, the government decided to release him. He returned to the stone house. He was seriously ill and slept in a different room than his wife. In the end, he died and rested in peace.
Khien’s passing.
Khien was accused of giving classified information to his family. He was transferred to Namphong District. There, he accepted and returned to work as a lawyer in Sakon Nakhon. Before his death, he decided to become a Catholic. He was baptized by his nephew, Venerable Srinual. He also asked for his corpse to be taken to the stone house. So his family made a two-piece raft to bring his corpse to the stone house.
The end of the stone house.
Jummalee, the youngest child of no and Noona, was given the stone house after their deaths. At some point, the stone house caught fire and was completely destroyed. Jummalee stopped using it, but other people sometimes rented it. Termites eventually brought it down completely.
It later served as a fighting farm, but was eventually abandoned completely.
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