Preparing My Demise

[poanoi]

What do i have to do if my last wish is to be burned and buried in Thailand

instead of my home country ?

[theblether]

Ehm.....I think you mean " Preparing For Your Demise ", those extra little words make a hell of a difference to the intent of the statement

First and foremost you will need to ensure that your wishes are known and unarguable, so you will need to make a Will stating which method, and where you want your remains to be disposed of. Therefore if you have a family in the West you will need to ensure that they know exactly what you intend.

As for the practicalities, others will be along in a moment to tell you how to go about it, just as long as you confirm that we are helping you prepare for your demise, and not assisting you on your way. Deal?

[moe666]

I guess tell those people at home what you want and tell who ever you are close to in Thailand what you want. I told my daughter, hey if anything happens to me in Thailand leave me there and I will tell my friends there to barbque me there. She said no problem dad we where just wondering about that. But sure there maybe some hoops someone in authority may want to happen, has usual

[moe666]

Ehm.....I think you mean " Preparing For Your Demise ", those extra little words make a hell of a difference to the intent of the statement

First and foremost you will need to ensure that your wishes are known and unarguable, so you will need to make a Will stating which method, and where you want your remains to be disposed of. Therefore if you have a family in the West you will need to ensure that they know exactly what you intend.

As for the practicalities, others will be along in a moment to tell you how to go about it, just as long as you confirm that we are helping you prepare for your demise, and not assisting you on your way. Deal?

heheh maybe we could help him out as well

[poanoi]

Well, i have no contact with any family, only a single school mate there

[Sheryl]

When a foreigner dies, their Embassy has to be notified and the body will be released only when the Embassy authorizes it.

The Embassy in turn will notify the"Next of Kin" and disposition of the body will be per their instructions..and they will be required to pay all associated costs up front. . Next of Kin is defined as spouse or else closest blood relative. So unless you make specific arrangements to the contrary they are going to track down whomever that may be, and will pester that person to step up and deal with things (which includes paying for it all).

Most Embassies will accept an unrelated person in place of next of Kin if the deceased was not currently married and the person has some legal authorization, for example is named by you as Executor of your will, or holds a Power of Attorney executed by you.

So you need to identify someone you want to act for you who is willing to assume that responsibility and prepare a will to that effect. This person will incur costs in dealing with your demise, more than you might expect, so make sure that you provide accordingly. In addition to making them heir to at least part of whatever assets you will have on death you should make sure they know the details of your bank accounts etc. Providing them with your ATM password or password for online banking is a big help in enabling them to access the funds needed to deal with your cremation or burial quickly. (Technically speaking, they are supposed to not do that but rather go through a lot of legal rigamorole, but practically speaking it is a common manuever and especially if you are not leaving much money behind, may make more sense than having them have to get a court order ior go through probate in Thailand).

Most Embassies have some sort of registration system whereby expats living in Thailand can register their whereabouts and also provide name and contact details for an emergency contact/next of kin. Find out iof yours does and make use of it. If the person you list is not next of kin, write this down e.g. "no next of kin, so-and-so has power of attorney/is Executor of my estate". This will ensure that the right person gets notified. They will then have to provide the Embassy with some sort of proof of their right to act (often as little as a notarized statement to that effect, but if it is a non-relation they may be asked to provide a copy of a will or power of attorney) and then the Embassy will provide them with the death certificate and authorize release of the body to them or to someone they designate.

There are, by the way, some companies that specialize in handling deaths of foreigners in Thailand. John Allisonmonkhouse is very good and used to arranging things long distance through emails etc so if the person who will handle things for you is not based in Thailand and would prefer not to have to travel here, that is a good option. I helped arrange this recently and complete cost for a cremation inclusive of dealing with the Embassy, police, hospitals etc and obtaining the Thai and Embassy death certficates, came to 25,000 baht, for death in BKK. Would have been an extra 6,000 baht had there been a need for them to arrange to ship the ashes back to home country.

Note that for any financial dealings in your home country that may be needed, your Executor will need not only a Thai Death certificate but a report iof death abroad issued by your Embassy which in turn serves as a legal death certificate in your home country.