Funeral/Cremation costs in Isaan.

[Jumbo1968]

My mother in law sadly passed away with cancer, the funeral hasn’t been mentioned, I am currently in the U.K. what is the cost for a funeral/cremation. Whilst I might be being cynical I am the only farang associated with the family, some of them early on regarded me as a ‘cash cow’ but I soon put that right. I don’t mind sharing the cost but like a rough idea how much the cost will be.

[CharlieH]

Moving to Isaan forum for local input.

 

 

You need to check if money was being paid to local Wat as is often the case in small villages, That covers the funeral etc.

 

Inmy experience if paying, 30k usually covers just about everything depending on how far you go obviously.

[MichaelHunt]

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Inmy experience if paying, 30k usually covers just about everything depending on how far you go obviously.

I just paid 40,000 baht to have my own mother cremated in the U.S. It seems like it should be a lot cheaper here.

[EVENKEEL]

2 minutes ago, MichaelHunt said:

I just paid 40,000 baht to have my own mother cremated in the U.S. It seems like it should be a lot cheaper here.

Here it's not just the cremation. Food and drink for everyone for days can add up.

[MichaelHunt]

Just now, EVENKEEL said:

Here it's not just the cremation. Food and drink for everyone for days can add up.

I see. Ha. Well, that wasn't included in my mother's cremation.

[Bobtheblob]

Ya depends if the family wants to "show off" invite the whole village for 3 or 4 days and provide food and drink 2 or 3 times a day can run over 100k easily.

[hakancnx]

I just organized a cremation for a passed away farrang friend here in Chiang Mai. 

 

We did the minimum possible thing; coffin, pick up body at hospital, cremation and 4 monks at the crematory.  B 15.000. 

[JustinCredible]

30,000 is the norm in our village.  However, MOST of the village pay into a "Funeral Insurance  Plan".  That incurs a cost of 20 Baht every time someone in the scheme dies.  That pays out 30,000 to cover the costs.

Of course, the food and drinks for 1 to 5 days are not included in that.

[Thailand]

11 minutes ago, hakancnx said:

I just organized a cremation for a passed away farrang friend here in Chiang Mai. 

 

We did the minimum possible thing; coffin, pick up body at hospital, cremation and 4 monks at the crematory.  B 15.000. 

Where was that?

Hai Ya seems to be inexpensive and does the job.

[Asquith Production]

MIL Issan funeral earlier this year was 200000..This was for the whole event

[KhunBENQ]

As others wrote: total cost depends much on the status of the family and the deceased.

How many guests invited? Cheap food and drinks or better quality?

Cremation without party is a complete disgrace (for homeless, criminals).

Spanning over three day event in certain stages is usual.

 

50k for a start but 200k is still not excessive.

And yes, part of the cost will be covered by some community "insurance".

There is a minimum amount per household (100?) but again depending on the status of the donors it will be 500 and more.

So make sure you are not just presented with total cost but doing the summation.

In a way you are just a big donor.

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, hakancnx said:

I just organized a cremation for a passed away farrang friend here in Chiang Mai. 

 

We did the minimum possible thing; coffin, pick up body at hospital, cremation and 4 monks at the crematory.  B 15.000. 

That's for the no status farang. No face to save.

[Jumbo1968]

34 minutes ago, Asquith Production said:

MIL Issan funeral earlier this year was 200000..This was for the whole event

Knock a 0 of the end I would consider contributing, I am not looking to save face just my funds, plenty of sons and daughters to help contribute.

[cme]

My wife just had a big funeral party for both of her parents who died just before Covid. It lasted for 3 days and hundreds came. She said it cost more than 600K including 120K that went to the Wat. She with her 5 brothers paid for everything, not a Satang from me. These are ordinary people teachers etc. and I gave her my views on such crazy spending but she just says it's 'the Thai way', so I say no more.

[KhunBENQ]

8 minutes ago, cme said:

She with her 5 brothers paid for everything, not a Satang from me

Forget to mention to the OP. Of course children, grand children and close relatives are the first in row to pay. 

Foreigner can donate depending.

[lopburi3]

16 minutes ago, cme said:

My wife just had a big funeral party for both of her parents who died just before Covid. It lasted for 3 days and hundreds came. She said it cost more than 600K including 120K that went to the Wat. She with her 5 brothers paid for everything, not a Satang from me. These are ordinary people teachers etc. and I gave her my views on such crazy spending but she just says it's 'the Thai way', so I say no more.

But those hundreds who came will have provided envelopes with donations (most cash in 500-1,500 baht range) so some/much (sometimes all) of the cost is offset).  In our experience a close family member will take responsibility (pay) and receive the donations.  

[Stevemercer]

For a full (5-7 day) ceremony 100,000 Baht is reasonable. This assumes an average of 50 visitors (basic food and drink) each day, 150 - 200 at the main event nd includes 30,000 for the basic costs (monks, flowers on loan, blown up photos and banners around the coffin, refrigeration, transport etc.

 

Funerals are a well organised event in even the smallest village. A decent funeral can be put together within half a day or so. 

 

The family/organiser will get maybe 50,000 - 100,000 Baht back in donations. If you want to make a meaningful contribution, 25,000 Baht would be the minimum you could get away with without the wife loosing face with her family. I am assuming she would make her own top-up contribution if necessary (e.g. if the family split for her is >25,000), even if she has to 'borrow' the money without telling you. She will recover her 'top off' from any excess in donations.

[3NUMBAS]

how many monks you plan to feed ???,they will be ravenously hungry

 

could      be lots of em to bless the house  and chase the spirits away 

[ChrisKC]

Trying to do this at a distance places you at a disadvantage as it relates to your specific situation and that of funeral arrangements 10,000 kms away.

 

From the replies so far it seems, anything between B15,000 and B600,000 is possible. As you can see, there is no set cost and so much depends on the donations others have mentioned, and the "catering" for potentially many of those invited.

 

If you were sentimentally close to your mother-in-law and she featured much in your life, then a sizeable donation as a contribution to the funeral Organisers (close family and friends for example), would seem one way of dealing with this, rather than a particular share of the costs, which to me would seem like an assumed responsibility!

 

[ThailandRyan]

21 hours ago, Bobtheblob said:

Ya depends if the family wants to "show off" invite the whole village for 3 or 4 days and provide food and drink 2 or 3 times a day can run over 100k easily.

3, 5 or 7 days with 3,5,7,or 9 monks twice a day saying prayers. My former great grand mother in-laws funeral was 7 days as she was the mother of Two retired Military Generals,  the government even sent a few military members from Bangkok along with a royal family member. Her retired military sons were given plaques signed by the King. The funeral cost was close to 600k Thb, but as funerals go money was donated and the book which is kept for each family denoted as such.  That book is generally kept at the Wat or kept by the Phu Yai, who also happened to be my now ex-FIL. Total out of pocket was 200k. Luckily the military fund payed what was needed as well.  7 days was much to long, I was tired after 3 days, not much sleep.

[The Fugitive]

2 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

MIL Issan funeral earlier this year was 200000..This was for the whole event

Brother-in-law's total in June was 150,000. Mother-in-law's in September was 200,000.

[Jumbo1968]

1 hour ago, KhunBENQ said:

Forget to mention to the OP. Of course children, grand children and close relatives are the first in row to pay. 

Foreigner can donate depending.

I know for a fact her family will put pressure on her to get me to pay/contribute, I keep my distance from the family as in the early years they tried to treat me like a walking ATM.

[sateuk]

100,000 baht should cover everything, with the village insurance 30k envelopes 50k should be about 20k out of your pocket or families to cover the rest

[HighPriority]

My FIL passed away in mid 2019 I wasn’t able to attend but my wife said it cost 200k.

3-4 days of party and of course the disco refrigerator.

Small village outside of Phon Phisai.

[AhFarangJa]

Firstly, my condolences on your loss, both to you and your Family.

My MIL passed away from cancer 4 years ago. It all depends in the end how big the Funeral is.

My Wife organised 4 days of prayers with the body interned in the freezer at the house. I believe there were eight Monks a day. A large party afterward which went on for 24 hours. Total cost 200,000 Baht. However, everybody donates what they can as a sign of respect. I have no information regarding insurance in the village. At the end of the day it is all about Face here.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

If you can afford it, then I would donate about 30k.

For 30k they can have a funeral and the usual "funeral party". Not the biggest party ever but good enough for "normal people".

 

If the family thinks they need a bigger party, then they can obviously add more of their own cash for that.

I.e. 30 people donating each 1000B would double the above amount. Then the question will be: how much do they want to spend themselves to honor the deceased?

[hotchilli]

On 11/17/2022 at 7:23 PM, Jumbo1968 said:

My mother in law sadly passed away with cancer, the funeral hasn’t been mentioned, I am currently in the U.K. what is the cost for a funeral/cremation. Whilst I might be being cynical I am the only farang associated with the family, some of them early on regarded me as a ‘cash cow’ but I soon put that right. I don’t mind sharing the cost but like a rough idea how much the cost will be.

Condolences for the loss..

Don't ask the "total cost of the funeral"... 

send a donation of 15,000 baht and a condolence card.

Other relatives and invitees can cover the rest.

[fulhamster]

On 11/17/2022 at 7:46 PM, Bobtheblob said:

Ya depends if the family wants to "show off" invite the whole village for 3 or 4 days and provide food and drink 2 or 3 times a day can run over 100k easily.

That's exactly what happened for my wife's father recently.

3 days of visits by the monks, continual food and drink.

 

All done very respectfully

 

[puchooay]

Quite simple.

 

Ask your wife how much she thinks you should contribute. If she says the same amount as her siblings, that's fine. If she says "you are Farang, you must pay more", you married the wrong woman.????????????

[The Fugitive]

3 hours ago, puchooay said:

Quite simple.

 

Ask your wife how much she thinks you should contribute. If she says the same amount as her siblings, that's fine. If she says "you are Farang, you must pay more", you married the wrong woman.????????????

My wife says "you are Farang, you must pay ALL".