First visit to the Ban Ho mosque in Chiangmai (June 11, 2018)

The Ban Ho mosque sits in between Thae Phae gate of the old city to the east, and banks of the Ping River to the west. The term "Ho" supposedly was a Thai word that people used to refer to Chinese Muslims who had migrated from Yunnan to northern Thailand via Burma. At present, the term is used more generally to refer to Chinese populations who had migrated from Yunnan to northern Thailand by land. 

Entry to "Ban Ho" Mosque (王和清真寺, مسجد هداية الاسلام بان هو) 

Presumably, according to researchers who have spent a lot of time on the topic, the mosque is located close to the Ping River due to the importance of commerce to the initial Chinese Muslim setters. Most of them had been caravan merchants from Yunnan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Prior to formation of Ban Ho ("a Village of Ho") in the district that used to be called Wiang Ping, the Ho community had lived at the northern side of Chang Puak Gate. They gradually moved to present site, as it offered a more convenient location for river trade through the Ping River, and potentially for trade in Lamphun area south of Chiangmai. The number of settlers around the mosque and Chiangmai at large increased significantly in the 1950s, with the exile of civilian refugees and ex-KMT military personnel from mainland China, mostly from Yunnan. 

Location of the Ban Ho Mosque. 
Excerpt from Seiji Imanaga, The Research of the Chinese Muslim Society in Northern Thailand (1990), p.11. 

One of the most significant builders of the Ban Ho community was the trader and philanthropist Zheng Chonglin/ Cheng Chung-lin (郑崇林), who had come from Da Yingcun (大营村) village of Yuxi Prefecture (玉溪)in Yunnan Province. He built a branch office for his business in Wiang Ping, and in 1907, utilized his own housing as both a communal gathering site and an office. In 1916, he built the mosque in front of his house. While acting as the leader of the community, he also seems to have developed ties with the local governmental authorities. He is said to have helped building the railroad between Bangkok and Chiangmai, and contributed 100 rai (1,600 square meters * 100) of land for the construction of Chiangmai airport. For these reasons, he was conferred the title "Khun" by the King. (Seiji Imanaga, The Research of the Chinese Muslim Society in Northern Thailand, Hiroshima University in Association with Keisui-Sha, 1990, p. i-2). 

Interestingly, Zheng Chonglin passed away in Mecca during his pilgrimage in 1964. Some interviews with his descendants are documented in Seiji Imanaga's research cited above. At present, I was told by an elderly person yesterday, all of his family members have passed away, and his house located directly opposite to the mosque has also been sold.

I visited the mosque for the first time on Monday afternoon around 1 pm, as call to afternoon prayers spread to streets around the mosque. Rain clouds covered the sky. The one alleyway right in front of the mosque is filled with small restaurants, shops and a bookstore that also sells ladies' scarves and dresses. Most of the books in the store were written in Thai language, with a small section filled with English language books. 

We are near the end of Ramadan, with the 'Eid celebrations only three days away. People were busy preparing for food; the office was often empty and locked up; office staff seemed to be coming and going. 

This I realized is the office where the Chairman of the Islamic Committee of Chiangmai stays. The sign, which I can't read, seemed to be saying that the office is open between 9 am and 3 pm.

Some parts of the mosque building's walls display engravings (fairly recent) that list the names of people who made donations in 1970 to build "San Di" school, the purpose of which was to teach Thai and Arabic languages. The collector of donations was "Na Zhen Quan." Sixteen friends of the initiators contributed funds; the price of the land was 690,000 baht. The engraving seems to be saying that the list of donors and the amount of donations were recorded in a piece of paper, and the left-over funds were used for second expansion of the school. The property, the statement declares, is public rather than private, and needs to be used for communal purposes under the management of elected Board of Trustees. Details of deficits and gains need to be made clear, as well as school curriculum that is in accordance with the donors' intentions. The engraving, put up through the funds of Na Zhenquan himself, was written in 2002.  

Besides the engraving is the list of people who donated funds in 1995 for building of pavilion by the cemetery south of the mosque, which I later came to visit. 

Also displayed on the wall is an etching that lists the names of the "Yunnan pilgrimage delegation" who passed through Chiangmai, dated May 13, 1993.

Next to these walls that hang engravings is a make-shift cafeteria area, most likely in preparation for evening iftar later.

After a brief self-tour of the mosque, I had a chance to meet with the Chairman who returned to the office, and to accompany him to a funeral ceremony in a cemetery south of the mosque, which was about a five minute drive. Below is the pavilion, it seems, that had been built through donations in 1995. Next to it is the site of the cemetery.

The cemetery, also about a hundred years old, is to be expanded and reorganized this year, said a middle-aged person passing by. His father is buried on this side, his mother on the other, and his younger sister on another. So he walks by them from time to time. So did I.