Another Death Question....

[jaideeguy]

Seems a lot of discussion on mortality lately....we're all getting older, but none as old as my father living with me at 89 yrs and his time is getting shorter.

We are now in the process of investigating wills in LOS, He has his US holdings in a trust and all is taken care of there. One of his wishes is that he wants a cheap, low key funeral and I will gladly honor that, altho my wife wants the typical Thai over the top version.

Wife says the normal procedure is to first notify the puyai baan, they notify the police and police take body to hospital for autopsy, then what??

Ideally, he would like to donate his body to science [CMU med school?], but they have not replied to an email i sent them.

So, how much does a cheap funeral cost?? approx??

[PeaceBlondie]

Good questions, and I do not know if the details have been discussed lately.

I will ask my boyfriend, who is a native of Chiang Mai, but I think he said he just plans to call the police first, and then there will be an autopsy. Our friend had his lover die about a year or two ago, and we may ask them, too. Not sure about the puuyai baan. When my boyfriend managed a big tourist hotel in downtown Chiang Mai, one of the farang guests died, and he called the police.

Personally, I do not want a big Thai funeral, nor a Buddhist ceremony, but I prefer a cremation. How involved can that be?

Of course, as recently discussed, the embassy/consulate should be notified.

[jaideeguy]

Well, I did manage to get an answer to one of my questions that may interest some of you....

After many tries, I finally got thru to an English speaking human at CMU med dept of anatomy and she told me that they will accept body donations of persons from age 18-80, so that rules out my father's wishes.

I would think that an 89+ yr old man's body would be of much use to science, just to see how he lived that long.

stil want to hear a quote on a cheap [no frills] Thai funeral...........

[higgy88]

I'm sure you know that only the hospital can make the determination that someone is dead, and they may or may not need an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Then the body is moved to the morgue. I was specifically told by the hospital that they cannot and would not release the body to anyone until they received official approval from the government where the deceased was a citizen that it was OK to do so. They even gave me the number to call. This only took about an hour or two, about the same amount of time it took to make the final arrangements, and they received the go ahead by fax. I can imagine it taking much longer is they cannot find the next of kin, but that would not be a problem for you since it is your dad.

Funerals can be as cheap or as expensive as you want. I don't think anyone would stop you if you made a bonfire in the backyard and told people to bring their own hotdogs and marshmellows, but then again your wife may not be too happy about that. How about have dear old dad specify exactly what he wants and write it down. I've done that with my wife. She may even do what I tell her, for once.

I was also going to add that considering his age, I don't think anyone would be much interested in dad after he passes on, but then I just read your post.

[Sheryl]

Basic cremation costs vary by wat and locality. Out where I am (relatively poor rural area) I'm told 5,000 Baht for it.

[AmeriThai]

Well, I did manage to get an answer to one of my questions that may interest some of you....

After many tries, I finally got thru to an English speaking human at CMU med dept of anatomy and she told me that they will accept body donations of persons from age 18-80, so that rules out my father's wishes.

I would think that an 89+ yr old man's body would be of much use to science, just to see how he lived that long.

stil want to hear a quote on a cheap [no frills] Thai funeral...........

I'd suggest contacting that person again and offer the suggestion that you made here, that your father's body may may be of use to science regarding longevity. They might still say no. but it can't hurt to give it another try.

[taxexile]

medical schools use cadavers for dissection , to teach medical and dental students anatomy.

the body of an aged person may not be suitable for this due to tissue changes that occur with ageing.

i saw a tv documentary here last year about med. students and the dissection of cadavers.

every morning before commencing the days dissection they would pray over the body , and again at the end of the day.

when they had finished the dissection ( the body is first treated with a preservative , as the dissection is carried out over a long period of time , many months) the body was closed up and prepared for the funeral.

at the funeral , all those med students who had been involved in the dissection of that cadaver were present and individually paid respect to and thanked the family members and paid respect to the deceased for having helped them with their studies.

i studied anatomy at uni. in the uk. and the general lack of respect shown to the cadaver was , with hindsight , callous and cold.

[kurgen]

It's not widely publicised but in Thailand when a farrang is cremated the ashes are swapped with wood ash and the originals are used to make skin whitening powder

Tis true, a bloke down the pub told me

[Scott]

If that's true, then the ashes should be worth something and you could, in fact, make money off the cremation!

[PeaceBlondie]

I discussed this with my boyfriend on the way to the party last night, but we did not discuss it at the party. He says some neighborhoods in Chiang Mai city do not have a puuyai to consult. You merely call the police, and you or they contact a local doctor. Of course, patients who die in the hospital have an attending physician who fills out the death certificate. When the cause of death is obvious, no autopsy is needed.

My nearest kinfolk live 7.5 time zones away, most of them further. I registered at my embassy, but do not remember listing a next of kin.