ชมรมจักรยานเพื่อสุขภาพแห่งประเทศไทย ชมรมจักรยานเพื่อสุขภาพแห่งประเทศไทย
TWCI initiated use of bicycle as a wreath in Thai funerals
In Thailand, Buddhist families in city would normally keep body of their dead relatives for 3-7 days and host a funeral ceremony at a temple where monks would pray for them and relatives, allowing friends and colleagues could come to pay their last respect. It is also traditional that individuals and organisations with connections to the dead would send wreath with their name on to the funeral. These wreaths are typically decorated with beautiful fresh flowers and would be thrown away, discarded, after cremation. This practice is a waste of resources and unfriendly to the environment. An increasing number of people recognize this fact. Instead of flower wreath, they use new forms of wreath made from things that can be used in daily life, including towel, blanket, electric fan and even a potted plant, for example, of which the funeral host can donate to monks or others to use.
Thailand Cycling Club (TCC) / Thailand Walking and Cycling Institute (TWCI), a member of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) – the first in Asia, and a co-founder of the World Cycling Alliance (WCA), is more than pleased to adopt and adapt this new environmentally friendly practice, and as an organization that promotes cycling in daily life, has in past few years used bicycle as its wreath, the very first organization to do so as far as we know. Relatives of the dead can donate it to any individual or institution to make good use of it. We hope this practice would be imitated by others as it would be another way to promote cycling.
Gawin Chutima
Committee Member, Thailand Cycling Club
Committee Member and Treasurer, Thailand Walking and Cycling Institute
(Illustration: TCC’s bicycle wreath with WCA and TWCI logo in a funeral of one of its volunteer’s mother.)
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