Breakdown of Funeral Costs in Thailand

[malagateddy]

My Wife knows to give the RTP a copy of my mugshot and explain to them that she cannit find the passport at the present time.
She will need my passport re a trusted friend " dealing with " my affairs.

 
It's perhaps not that simple. Perhaps country by country.
 
I know from a past experience that the RTP quickly pass the passport of a deceased Australian to the OZ embassy in Bkk who in turn issue an all points bulletin to many OZ govt. agencies.
 
This ensures that any pensions etc., payments are stopped quickly and in some cases (DVA) it quickly prompts the payment of a government funeral / bereavement benefit (from memory about AUD2,000-) into the account in Thailand (or wherever) of the deceased.
 
I also know that if the pension payments continue after death but later the gov't agency involved discoveres the person has deceased then the money must be paid back to the government and they will take action to get it returned. 
 
How all of that works for other countries I have no idea. 
 
 
 

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[malagateddy]

If you wish to go down my " way" re your wife/partner being all flustered .. just make sure you have coupla copies of passport mugshot and current extension where wifey can lay her hands on if TRP ask[emoji6]

My Wife knows to give the RTP a copy of my mugshot and explain to them that she cannit find the passport at the present time.
She will need my passport re a trusted friend " dealing with " my affairs.


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[BlackJack]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8

On 6/4/2018 at 5:56 PM, Sheryl said:

 

 

On 6/4/2018 at 5:56 PM, Sheryl said:

Cremation only, 10K or less in a rural village, maybe twice that in an urban area.

 

Note that before you can be cremated or buried permission must be obtained from your embassy to release the body, most Embassies will not give that until they, in turn, get the green light from next of kin (NOK). If you have a Thai spouse that is easy, but if you do not have any Thai (legal) family they are going need to track down NOK. Some embassies have systems whereby you can register your presence in Thailand and provide contact information in advance if so this is where they will look first. Many Embassies will accept someone named as Executor in your will, if you have one, in lieu of NOK.

 

It is not necessary for the NOK to come to Thailand or personally oversee the arrangements - they can delegate that task to someone (individual or company) in country if they prefer. Embassies just want to be able to show that they did their due diligence in seeing that NOK were informed of the death and that disposal of the remains accorded with their wishes. When I have been involved in this for US citizens all the NOK had to do was fill out 2 simple forms and email or fax them back to the Embassy: one asserting that they were the NOK and the other authorizating person/company X to handle all arrangements on their behalf.

 

Note also that if you have any assets back in your home country, or your survivors are eligible for any sort  of benefits after your death (pension, social security survivor benefit etc), it will usually be necessary to get  a document from your Embassy stating that you died in Thailand ;this is issued based on a Thai death certificate.

 

This company specializes in expat deaths and can handle all the paperwork as well as arrange a no-frills cremation or burial, with or without ashes provided to your family or mailed back home as preferred (they cal also do with frills funerals, if wanted):

 

https://www.amarinternational.com/

 

And I believe so can this one:

 

https://www.evercaresolution.com/resources/home.html#faq

 

the first one offers pre-paid arrangements i.e. you can select what you want and pay for it in advance. Not sure if the second does as well or not. Also not sure how costs between the two places compares.

 

The big advantage to using companies like this is that they handle the paperwork, contacts with Embassy etc, which can be hard for survivors to manage (especially if Thai or not located in Thailand) and also if you do not have family here in Thailand to handle things. For those who have Thai spouses and don't need Embassy certification of their death (i.e. no assets back home or survivor benefits in play) probably no need.

 

Re  ceremony, be aware that it has great cultural importance in Thailand both as a matter of face (if you have a Thai family they will completely lose face in the village and with their friends and family if there is no funeral) and also -- very important -- to prevent haunting by the deceased's  ghost, which in the minds of most Thais is a very real issue. Hence even when someone dies without a penny to their name, if it happens in a village or mu ban, odds are the neighbors will between them come up with the funds for a small ceremony. Not because they care about the deceased per se but because they are afraid of his/her ghost and these ceremonies are believed necessary to  send the spirit on its way. Also, these are big social events for the village and people enjoy them accordingly.

 

Your chances of avoiding a funeral ceremony if you leave behind a Thai spouse or family are therefore pretty low.

 

How much the ceremonial aspect costs is utterly variable depending on scale (and "face" may require more rather than less) but it is indeed the custom for all who attend (which is usually everybody in the village as well as all family members) to make a donation, just as they do at weddings, and this helps defray the cost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 6/4/2018 at 5:56 PM, Sheryl said:

 

 

You can add https://www.thai888.com to the list as to date they are the only company in Thailand that offers everything from the one company. There are many things people don't understand about the system of how the Will Testament or no Will (intestate) paves the way for what happens next. If someone passes away with a Will then there are directions in there for what is to happen and where everything is. If no Will then the laws of intestate come into play and who will get what by what family members or spouse are left.

So to say how much does it cost is like asking someone how long a piece of string is as no one knows. 

Many ask this question and I ask them what date/year do you think you might pop off. Then calculate sometime in the future some costs approx. But that's not accurate as in 20 years time what the cost of a bowl of noodles and the way things are going up this could be a lot.

Add to that the exchange rate ie my 87-year-old friend brought money to Thailand at 90 baht to the GBP. 

Having a prepaid? what guarantee do you have that they will be around in a few years? Remember there are no Escrow or Trust accounts here and so the choice is yours.

When calculating the costs also take into account that this as a recent account. 7* year old dies alone, police called, passport found with all info for who to contact, a call is made to the daughter NOK, English is her second language (Australian calls her), the police arrive and are viewed looking for info and cause of death, hearse called, police satisfied and leave, hearse driver paid to take body to morgue, many calls from daughter, daughter is emailed a letter of release (consular letter our design) to allow us to collect the body and start process, this is all notarised in EU, this is scanned and sent to the Embassy of the deceased, the agents name appears in this letter and a date is made for when this person can collect, no arranged date no collection, letter in hand then off to the Forensic Hospital to have the body transferred back to Pattaya, pay the hearse driver, arrange the Temple as per the families wishes, how many monks etc, don't forget they don't know Thailand and are relying on us to do everything, arrange flowers, water, setting for how many, music to be played, eulogy and how many speakers, meanwhile family is all flying in from around the World, all have questions as some have never been to Thailand, what to wear?, exchange money? where to stay? 

and this is all before the funeral. As the whole ceremony was going to be videotaped then it appeared there was not enough flowers and more were needed so as family were not to appear cheap.

So please people you can get cheap funerals but there are all these hidden costs and people working for you.

Let's say for less than 2000 USD you can get things just done - but in many countries, this would not even buy the casket!

Flowers well the last one there were 16000 baht worth of flowers and signs from family and friend abroad, paid for and now waiting for payment.

 

No one mentions later when the family goes back to their country after having signed POA Power of Attorney for us to represent them in court to get a Grant of Probate and to act as the Executor. Application to the court and money up front paid by us as we are the Executors of the Will and can get this back when we have a court order.

 

It is what it is folks and there are low costs but there are many additions to.

I hope this helps. BUT whatever you do make a Will otherwise you leave a big legal mess behind for someone else to clean up

Edited June 12, 2019 by BlackJack
spelling

[scorecard]

Another possibility is pressure somewhere within the Thai extended family for big ceremonies, over many days, with many monks, and then big multi-course Chinese style dinners at numerous tables: all for one purpose, to try to make the whole family look rich / look important. 

 

My Thai wife (doctor of medicine) has already sadly passed away and as per her specific instructions the cremation, cost of casket, very very small party etc., was kept at a very bare minimum (way less than 60,000Baht).

 

All of this has been discussed at length with my Thai adult son. He knows well to keep the costs way down when I pass on. He knows what to say to the outer family 'father already told me to keep the cost way down to preserve as much cash as possible for the education of his 3 granddaughters'. My son is quite strong when needed and I know he will not sway if there is pressure to turn it into a big event. 

 

Edited June 12, 2019 by scorecard

[Badrabbit]

Can you hand write a will(with witnesses) then send it to yourself via the post, I read this is accepted?

 

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[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, Badrabbit said:

Can you hand write a will(with witnesses) then send it to yourself via the post, I read this is accepted?

 

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What would be the point of sending it to yourself by post?

 

you can write a will and file it with your Ampur office. But unless it is really, really simple and involving no property owned etc,  getting a lawyer top do it may be advisable.

 

it is also important to separately consider assets you have in Thailand and those in your home country if any. If you have assets, bank account etc in your home country a separate will tailored to laws there is needed.

 

Choice of Executor is very important as is keeping that person fully informed of your financial details and updating them when anything changes.

[Badrabbit]

What would be the point of sending it to yourself by post?

 

you can write a will and file it with your Ampur office. But unless it is really, really simple and involving no property owned etc,  getting a lawyer top do it may be advisable.

 

it is also important to separately consider assets you have in Thailand and those in your home country if any. If you have assets, bank account etc in your home country a separate will tailored to laws there is needed.

 

Choice of Executor is very important as is keeping that person fully informed of your financial details and updating them when anything changes.

My Will is very simple, nothing in my home country and nothing other than money in bank accounts here. I'll write it myself and register it with Ampur office, thanks.

 

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[scorecard]

1 hour ago, Sheryl said:

What would be the point of sending it to yourself by post?

 

you can write a will and file it with your Ampur office. But unless it is really, really simple and involving no property owned etc,  getting a lawyer top do it may be advisable.

 

it is also important to separately consider assets you have in Thailand and those in your home country if any. If you have assets, bank account etc in your home country a separate will tailored to laws there is needed.

 

Choice of Executor is very important as is keeping that person fully informed of your financial details and updating them when anything changes.

And you need to ensure that it's legal (as dictated by the appropriate Thai laws about Will documents) as to who can be a witness, can be a beneficiary or executor or what combinations of these is legal, etc.

 

There's also the point of being very sure that your instructions cannot be interpreted / comprehended in perhaps 2 different ways, plus ensuring that what you write in one part (paragraph) of your will doesn't conflict in some way with another part of your will.

 

There is of course Thai law about this subject and that law generally indicates that however you want to be a  beneficiary and what specifically you give to them, cash, deposits, shares, property, vehicles etc., is up to you.

 

However it's worth reading the laws on this (all available in English) to be sure what you write is legal. One example I read was something like 'I leave all my vehicles to xxxxx but only if he has 2 broken legs and 2 broken arms, all at the same time and within 72 hours of the moment I die, any later and this clause is totally null and void'. All rather silly and perhaps in some countries it might be legal but in many countries the will would not be valid because it suggests violence or whatever.

 

I wouldn't be too quick to assume that staff at an amphur office actually know what is legal and what is not legal. Example, my Thai nephew got married and his Thai wife insisted they both make their wills at the same time they went to the amphur office to register their marriage.

 

But when it came to writing the wills an amphur officer lady said 'not OK, the Thai law says that the husband must leave 100,000Baht to his mother in law'.

 

This is not true at all. Will preparation was postponed, nephew got copies of the Thai laws, he and his wife read the laws and they found something like a local community lawyers society, they made an appointment and the appointed lawyer helped them to write down what they had agreed with each other. Fee 100Baht.

 

They explained what had happened previously at the amphur office, lawyer said it is a good idea get your wills registered at the amphur office and leave sealed copies at the amphur office but not the original copies of your wills.

 

They all went to the amphur office, same amphur lady said 'not legal, must leave 100,00BAht to MIL'.  Lawyer put a copy of the law on the table and said, 'show us where it says that in the law'. Amphur lady refused, she disappeared and her supervisor came a few minutes later. Supervisor read the drafts of the Wills and said, 'looks all OK, do you want to sign the documents now?' They did, all done....

 

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by scorecard

[BlackJack]

Spend 5000 baht and get a Will done the right way in Thai and English -save problems later on

Abroad Funeral Pattaya Thailand

does the legal work as well

5 star Abroad Funerals Pattaya Thailand 

 

[Stubby]

I have already made my Advanced Decision with precise instructions in case I'm in no position to represent myself. It sits on my music stand, so anyone who needs to find it won't have to search. However, the document needs to be witnessed and made legal. I've been informed that it will cost 5000 THB, even though I've created the document myself. The law office then keeps a copy of that will. I still have to find out if that fee is a one-off or whether it's re-charged if ever there's a modification to the document. Examples might be a change of address, phone numbers, or other tweaks. I'll let the forum know once I find out.

 

Stubby 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Stubby

[wreckingcountry]

25,000 to 60,000 ?? Rip off/scam prices continue all the way to death ! Lot of profit there


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[ThaiBunny]

Why the need to register with the local Amphur office. I've been the executor of two Wills in Bangkok, both prepared by Thai lawyers, no need to register with anyone else?