Upon the death of a UK citizen in Thailand

[lungbing]

I sent a query about this via the consular section and received a .pdf from the point of view of somebody in the UK having a relative die in Thailand.  That's not what I was asking about.

 

I have been married 20 years to a Thai woman and live here, by the grace of immigration.  I fully intend to die here, but not quite yet.  When I do die does my widow email the consular section, write to them, phone them?  What will they ask of her? Can she have me cremated here without their permission or does she need permission?  She speaks English  but perhaps not the extent of the detail needed.  Will the consular section have Thai speakers (or better still Isaan speakers!).  i have made a will, she is the sole beneficiary.

 

From a consular /Embassy point of view what happens next?

 

[British Consular Team]

Quote

I sent a query about this via the consular section and received a .pdf from the point of view of somebody in the UK having a relative die in Thailand.  That's not what I was asking about.

 

I have been married 20 years to a Thai woman and live here, by the grace of immigration.  I fully intend to die here, but not quite yet.  When I do die does my widow email the consular section, write to them, phone them?  What will they ask of her? Can she have me cremated here without their permission or does she need permission?  She speaks English  but perhaps not the extent of the detail needed.  Will the consular section have Thai speakers (or better still Isaan speakers!).  i have made a will, she is the sole beneficiary.

 

From a consular /Embassy point of view what happens next?

Hello Lungbing,

We have published Information relating to death in Thailand on GOV.UK with a flowchart on how to report death to local authorities and when to notify the Embassy on page 15. And yes, we do have Thai speakers in Consular team to give advice in Thai. If there is an emergency, we can be contacted at 02 305 8333. Hope this information is helpful.

[Sheryl]

Is there a way that a UK citizen living in Thailand can file the details of their next of kin with the Embassy in advance (while still living) so that it is on file?

[Pedrogaz]

She just phones them.....the service is very, very good. If her English is iffy get her to ask an English speaking friend to do it. I just did it for a mate of mine. The consul agent will tell you what documents you need to mail (or scan and email) to them.

My experience of dealing with them was very positive (apart from my mate dying of course).

[rascalman]

It was my understanding that your embassy will be automatically notified.

 

[Moonlover]

16 hours ago, rascalman said:

It was my understanding that your embassy will be automatically notified.

 

If you take the trouble to read the FCOs information guide you will note that is indeed the case.

[brianthainess]

20 hours ago, rascalman said:

It was my understanding that your embassy will be automatically notified.

 

Yes I believe it is a police authority who will do that, if you are married to a Thai then they are your next of kin and can have your body released for cremation, and going by what happened to a friend of mine his lady of seven years, could not get his body released and had to wait for next of kin to come from the UK, before a cremation could take place.

[blackcab]

Posts have been removed.

[essox essox]

On 9/14/2020 at 6:02 PM, rascalman said:

It was my understanding that your embassy will be automatically notified.

 

it is notified......

[lungbing]

First a thank you to the Consular Team for pointing us to the  document in their reply to my original post, it's well worth reading.

 

Two points arise.  1st, a minor one.  Please standardise the spelling of Sathorn, or Sathon as in Tower, Road and district of Bangkok.

 

Secondly the document makes a point about there sometimes being doubt about the identity of the next of kin.  Would it be possible for me  to declare that I consider my wife of 20 years to be my next of kin.  I have a son in the UK but I want my wife to decide the fate of my body.

 

Thanks again for your help.

[British Consular Team]

On 9/23/2020 at 7:28 PM, lungbing said:

First a thank you to the Consular Team for pointing us to the  document in their reply to my original post, it's well worth reading.

 

Two points arise.  1st, a minor one.  Please standardise the spelling of Sathorn, or Sathon as in Tower, Road and district of Bangkok.

 

Secondly the document makes a point about there sometimes being doubt about the identity of the next of kin.  Would it be possible for me  to declare that I consider my wife of 20 years to be my next of kin.  I have a son in the UK but I want my wife to decide the fate of my body.

 

Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for raising the point about Sathorn. There seem to be various spellings but you are right that we need to standardise ours, so we'll check that. On next of kin, this is a question we've seen before. Unfortunately there are sometimes disputes about who next of kin is after someone dies and there is little we can do to help resolve them. The best way to ensure your wishes are met are to make sure you have an up to date will that clearly identifies who you want to be treated as your next of kin. If the back page of your passport has the right emergency contact details that can be really helpful too and means we can contact the right people quickly if needed.