Funeral procedures in Thailand?

[BKK Blues Brother]

Can someone tell me what happens with the funeral and death of a local.

I'm asking as the FIL is gravely ill and i would like to help the wife with the arrangements and officialdom in the coming day's as everyone is expecting the worse.

Thank you.

[MJCM]

No answers sorry, but sorry to hear this and I wish you the best and lots of strength during this difficult period

Edited April 11, 2014 by MJCM

[Thongkorn]

You will have to go see the Local monks, they will arrange for her cremation. assuming they are Buddhists. Hope you will not need them, it will cost you a few 1000 baht.

Then after the Monks will come and bless the house, or place the person past away, You will have to feed the Monks and people who come, best wishes

Edited April 11, 2014 by Thongkorn

[NancyL]

Funerals can be an expensive proposition here with the family being pressured into spending much on flowers, and gifts to have many days of chanting monks and follow-up ceremonies. The mourning can go on for 100 days. On the other end of the spectrum, they can be quite inexpensive. It's not the actual casket, cremation and urn for the ashes that's expensive. It's all the pomp, ceremony and food that surrounds the event.

If it's known that a foreigner is willing to pay the bill, the scope of the event can escalate drastically. I've been involved in a number of funerals, with costs ranging anywhere from a 20,000 baht for nice, dignified ceremony for about 20 guests to over 200,000 baht for something way over the top.

[FredLee]

I suspect it varies according to locale. Here is the general way it happens in my area. Family and neighbors start to arrive once they get word of the death. They soon divide themselves into different subgroups for lack of a better word. One group will start to plan a menu, others will get volunteers to cook and clean, others to arrange for the monks, and yet others to arrange for flowers, pictures, and so forth.

The ceremony usually lasts for three and sometimes four days, with the cremation on the final day. Most that I have attended have between 100 to 150 guests each day, with the final day usually having 200 to 300 hundred.

The families of all the ones I have attended so far have the local insurance. That is where they pay in 30 or 40 baht every month for each death of a member in the program that month. For example, if the cost is 30 baht, and 4 people die this month, I would have to pay 120 baht. Dependent upon how many members there are in the program, and how many "policies" you buy, the normal payout in this area is between 55,000 to 80,000 baht. They use this money to defray the costs of the ceremony.

The people that run the insurance scheme also provide the chairs, tables, cutlery, cookware and dishware. They take a before and after inventory, any you have to pay for any missing items.

The costs are usually covered by the insurance. Some of the costs are donations made to the monks, offerings purchased for the monks, flowers, food and donations to local security, with food being the largest cost. Alcohol is banned at funeral ceremonies in this area, so that saves a lot of money. It is customary here though that alcohol is served after the cremation to the volunteers that help to clean up and return all the borrowed items, with the after party continuing well into the evening.

Hope this info is helpful.

[Bluetongue]

I agree with Fred, also you can have it at home or at the temple. If the home can support the activity most people do that. All the volunteers come from the community. If your wife wants to give him big homage then it might go 7 days. My only other advice would be to resist buying lots of alcohol as it, in my opinion. encourages lots of extra loafers, scroungers and gamblers which is not really what it's about. The last one I went to was 7 days and they spent over 5 figures just on water

[chrisinth]

I've just gone through this with a friend that passed away. In this case, the person was pronounced dead, death certificate issued. The body was moved to the temple where it stayed for three days and cremated on the fourth.

The family normally stay for most of the duration and the monks look after the body. There was a ceremony every evening conducted by the monks lasting about an hour (these times do vary and get drawn out on occasion). The family provide food for the monks and guests, or sponsors from the mourners can also cover a days proceedings (as was the case here).

It will be the family that covers the cost of the cremation process as well as the stay in the wat. As has been said earlier, the costs can vary dependent on the pomp and ceremony shown. I think in the case above it was probably in the region of about 20,000 baht. You will normally find that everyone attending the cremation service will make a donation.

It does change in different areas, but I hope this helps a bit.

[David48]

Agreeing with Fred, BT and Chris.

Firstly, don't get overly involved ... 'tis a Thai thing, so step back and assist where required.

you can.

The Monks, Temple everything can last some period ... but, from my experience (we don't have much money) 4 days to a week is standard.

Offer to pay a little and my suggested contribution would be of the order of Bt 1,000 - 3,000 ... any more requested is taking the piss.

If he lived in a Village, as Fred pointed out ... check their insurance scheme.

Dress code is Black and White, combinations there of ... unless he lived to be over 100 ... then as colorful as.

sorry mate, can't write more ... baby crying ... hope others can help.

[T_Dog]

FredLee did a great summary in his post. One thing to be prepared for is professional gamblers showing up and staying most of the night and a few other odd activities. One of the best insights into local Thai culture is to attend all 3-5 days of a funeral, day and night. The neighbors are incredibly gracious and helpful, but there things that happen that just defy description. You can really see how the local wat and Tessabahn or Arbortor rally to help. Quite amazing.

[David48]

Actually OP ... where is the FiL?

Isaan is different to say Bangkok.

[Nautilus05]

My only advice is, when they start cremating the body, don't hang around to watch. There's a decent chance they will just use charcoal, so it can stink something awful.

[BKK Blues Brother]

Actually OP ... where is the FiL?

Isaan is different to say Bangkok.

The FIL is in the central region near Phetchabun.

Many thanks for all the replies and pm's

[Bluetongue]

Up there, everyone attending will make a donation from 20 up to 1000, Probably about 1-200 would be standard. At the seven day funeral for my neighbours father (fortunately 600 metres away as they had loud music) they collected 70k, our village insurance scheme is only 30k. But the total cost was just shy of 200k although nobody knows precisely. In Christh's post he said he thought a three day funeral at the temple would cost about 20k, that would be the case if someone purchased supplies very judiciously and nothing extravagant. The robes given to the monks as part of the ceremony, envelopes for each monk, the casket, the flowers, the hire of the freezer for the body, food, ice, drinks, maybe fireworks, a band or music, the list goes on and the sky is the limit. David48 suggested a donation of 1 to 3k, which is fine but if you or your wife are asked to fund the event, and you agree but want to recoup as much as you can, make sure the family understands as without a definite understanding they may squabble over the insurance and the donations, I have seen this without a farang involvement. They assume that the poo yai of the family is just paying for everything. The same sort of thing happens at weddings and young men entering monkhood parties too.

[marko kok prong]

I am in Petchabun province,so my expeirience has been thus,person passes and soon a marquee is set up and heaps of relatives turn up and start cooking,speakers set up,music played etc,monks come couple of times,goes on for about 4 days,and last day is cremation when they transport the coffin to the local wat,after that everyone seems to disperse,oh yes and i think it was the night before the cremation they played 'casino' i think they called it,many card games,this will be an exhausting 4 days for you but as other posters have said it is a unique glimpse into Thai culture and really shows how the family comes together during this sad time.

[David48]

Nice to see some quality posts coming your way ...

[BillyBobThai]

I live in Chiang Mai and just a month ago the wife and I both went down to Chiang Mai University Medical School and filled out all of the forms to donate our bodies for anatomy classes. We got a card with our picture on it so others will be able to do what we want. Saves a lot of money and someone gets to use me one last time.

[NancyL]

I live in Chiang Mai and just a month ago the wife and I both went down to Chiang Mai University Medical School and filled out all of the forms to donate our bodies for anatomy classes. We got a card with our picture on it so others will be able to do what we want. Saves a lot of money and someone gets to use me one last time.

Great idea. Does the University handle final disposition when the anatomy class is done? What happens to the ashes from the cremation when the class is finished?

[BillyBobThai]

They will disspose of the remains or cremate and give you the ashes.

Call this number for more info. 053-945318

Edited April 14, 2014 by BillyBobThai