My Ashes in the Ping River

[MAJORUS]

You do not own the land you buy the right to inter your remains,if you need info contact their Secretary at the number I gave you.Give him an Email address and he can contact you as this forum does not allow Emails for some reason.

[BB1955]

Well CMU is getting both me and my wife ... I figure I can maybe add something to the future ....... I

[MAJORUS]

Might be a good idea if some Mod pins the attachment in the remembrance section where people can see it.MAJORUS.

[MAJORUS]

Well CMU is getting both me and my wife ... I figure I can maybe add something to the future ....... I

CANT FAULT THAT MATE I HAVE ARRANGED IT OFTEN FOR PEOPLE,THEY WILL USE WHAT THEY CAN IE CORNEAS,KIDNEYS ETC TO GIVE OTHERS SIGHT AND LIFE.AFTER APPROX 2 YEARS YOU WILL BE CREMATED AT A VERY BEAUTIFUL CEREMONY ORGANISED BY THEM WHERE ALL OF THE STUDENTS YOU HAVE TAUGHT DURING YOUR TIME THERE WILL COME AND PAY THEIR RESPECTS, GOOD ON YOU SIR,MAJORUS

[Torrens54]

Why don't you ask the local people instead of trying to get information in a farang ghetto where nobody knows their ass from their elbow?

Good point, even if it was peevishly expressed.

I did, as a matter of fact, make inquiries of Thais, but the replies were the predictable extremes of contradiction. Everything from "Hahm det kaht" to "Sa-by mahk... my mee pahn-hah".

The TVCM Forum is, as you say, a "farang ghetto" of sorts, but there are many members who have been here awhile and are quite knowledgeable.

It's often entertaining as well. That's why I posted.

Well I for one, am glad you posted it. Yes, we can rest assured that this type of topic will indeed, "bring out the best" of the Ghetto Dwellers but it also added a lighter touch to a serious question that all of us, who have made this place our home are going to want answered. (sooner or later.)

Even the full burial thing is a whole (HOLE) lot cheaper here than in Oz, where your wife would have to Mortgage the house, just to get your remains disposed of.

[Mapguy]

If one wishes to dump ashes off a bridge into the river, check the wind direction first.

[coppywriter]

My friend from the UK died five years ago and was cremated at a local temple. We received his bones wraped in a white cloth and his son was taken out on the CP river here in Bangkok to give him his final resting place.

[muchogra]

OP, I think you have already gotten your answer in the first page as regard to your wish.

As for the traditional way, let me add a few words from what I have experienced.

The going away of my inlaws were arranged by my sister-in-law, a Thai and a Buddist. The going aways for them were done in elaborate fashion which I will not mention, but only the basics here.

1. Hold a wake at the temple (number of days is flexible within reason)

2. Comes the time of cremation after the wake

3. Here, they don't incinerate but leave a few major bones.

4. The monk picks up the major bone fragments and wrap them in a white cloth and give it to the family. The remain - the ash -is for the family to put in a urn and do as they desire afterward, usually a bin on the wall inside the wat. NancyL has mentoned these.

5. The family and immediate relatives release the wrapped bone fragments into the ocean, away from the shore.

When I go, I want to be buried together with my wife, and so does she so she can continue yapping at me since we were 15. She said it's unlucky to talk about it now, wait till we are about 70. LOL

[CMHomeboy78]

I believe that there are quite a few bones left over or pieces of them. Not sure how they handle them. Might not allow them to be thrown in to the river. seems to me someone said there was a place in some of the temples to store them.

Thanks for bringing up the subject of bones.

I'm aware of the fact that some bones are still there along with the ashes at the end of a Thai cremation.

Your mention that some temples have a place to deposit the bones - what I suppose would be called an "ossuary" in English - is a helpful observation and good to know.

Separating the bones from the ashes would make things much easier for those who are carrying out your last wishes and scattering your remains in a river or elsewhere.

The subject is a bit gruesome to consider, but one that has a certain amount of symbolic importance for many people.

Edited June 12, 2014 by CMHomeboy78

[harrry]

There are plots available at the Foreign Cemetery .

The current rates are 15000 baht for a full burial plot and 7500 baht for a cremation plot(ashes).

Plots may be reserved by LONG TERM residents of Chiangmai.

Contact The Secretary 081 882 0980

His Email and name is on the notice board at the side of the caretakers house .

Sizes

I presume a 15,000 baht plot is at least as big as a coffin.

Any idea how big a plot is to accommodate a small urn, or do they allow for bones?

It's generous to let us buy land for the purpose of dying (or is it just leased)?

The foreign cemetary in Chiangmai is a rather special case. Because there was a need the British Consolate many years ago in one of its rare moments of thinking of ordinary people obtained a plot of land which they hold in trust for the purpose of enabling foreigners to be buried here. A trust does a great job of looking after it. Something all foreigners in Chiangmai should be grateful for even if we do not intend to use it ourself.

Edited June 12, 2014 by harrry

[MAJORUS]

The Cemetery founded in 1898 is looked after by a committee appointed by the British Embassy in BKK who's consul is the custodian,they publish a book De,Mortuis(Of the Dead) which can be purchased from the caretakers house and is an excellent history of Chiangmai and its former residents,the proceeds go to the upkeep of the cemetery which is funded purely by the selling of plots and voluntary contributions.

[CMHomeboy78]

The Cemetery founded in 1898 is looked after by a committee appointed by the British Embassy in BKK who's consul is the custodian,they publish a book De,Mortuis(Of the Dead) which can be purchased from the caretakers house and is an excellent history of Chiangmai and its former residents,the proceeds go to the upkeep of the cemetery which is funded purely by the selling of plots and voluntary contributions.

Of related interest is the story of Queen Victoria's statue as told by Roy Hudson in his preface to the 1980 edition of R.W. Wood's De Mortuis:

"A recent addition to the cemetery has been a monument in memory of Queen Victoria which stood for many years by the gate of the old British Consulate in Chiang Mai. The monument consists of a bronze statue of Queen Victoria on a square column and plinth. An inscribed marble plaque records that the monument was erected by 'British subjects of every race residing in Northern Siam'. The statue was cast in England and consigned by sea to Bangkok. When it became apparent that the ship would not arrive in time for the statue to be brought up [by river in those days] to Chiang Mai in time for the traditional Christmas meeting of the forest companies, a telegram was dispatched requesting that the statue be offloaded in Rangoon. From where it was sent by rail up north, and then transported by various means, including elephants and porters, through the Shan States and over rivers, hills, and the border to arrive in Chiang Mai in time for the unveiling ceremony in December 1903. After the British Consulate was closed in 1978, the statue was moved to its new location at the northern apex of the Chiang Mai Foreign Cemetery".

Long may she remain.

[northernjohn]

I believe that there are quite a few bones left over or pieces of them. Not sure how they handle them. Might not allow them to be thrown in to the river. seems to me someone said there was a place in some of the temples to store them.

Thanks for bringing up the subject of bones.

I'm aware of the fact that some bones are still there along with the ashes at the end of a Thai cremation.

Your mention that some temples have a place to deposit the bones - what I suppose would be called an "ossuary" in English - is a helpful observation and good to know.

Separating the bones from the ashes would make things much easier for those who are carrying out your last wishes and scattering your remains in a river or elsewhere.

The subject is a bit gruesome to consider, but one that has a certain amount of symbolic importance for many people.

To me it is nothing. But I know my wife will have a lot of feelings tied into the process so I just tell her to barbecue me and throw me in the river. The rest she will have some sort of a ceremony and it will mean a lot to her.

She joined some sort of women's club who support each other. They meet once a month for a meeting and lunch. They have even got uniforms. Mostly they do what Thai women are good at. Talk talk talk. She enjoys it and I haven't the heart to tell her that I am only 15 years older than her and going to outlive her.

[mccw]

In fang the villagers "bomb" it; the bones and ashes- when I ask -what do you mean? They say they make it in to mix like a firework, bang, job done. "Want to go out with a bang" springs to mind. I am not making this up.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Tokay]

There are plots available at the Foreign Cemetery .

The current rates are 15000 baht for a full burial plot and 7500 baht for a cremation plot(ashes).

Plots may be reserved by LONG TERM residents of Chiangmai.

Contact The Secretary 081 882 0980

His Email and name is on the notice board at the side of the caretakers house .

How long is long term.....Eternity?

It is until they sell the land to build a condo or row of shop houses.

[ataloss]

Been to more than a few Thai cremations. I noted that they generally use old car tyres, any available wood and sundry other flammable items. The result is that upon the embers burning out the only discernable human remains are the bones, as any human ashes are mixed with tyre ash and the like.

With that in mind, when my favorite cat died in our rental home I placed him in a metal mesh with a solid bottom, surrounding him with nothing but the best woods from our garden; and bid him farewell in a bonfire of my vanity. I was thus able to collect his ashes knowing they were his and place them in an urn where he awaits a proper internment once our new home is complete, and a suitable tree stands forth. Toro was a special feline who, apart from keeping me company beside my computer, shared all his kills with me, dragging them to the keyboard for my approval.

I can only wish someone would do the same for me. Tree cemetaries for we humans apparently are in vogue in North America now. My sister's daughter's husband's ashes I recently learned are interred in their cottage property boundary garden, along with the family pets'. It overlooks the Atlantic.

The Mae Nam Ping would be a welcomed alternative for me.

Edited June 16, 2014 by ataloss

[mamborobert]

I'm with NorthernJohn on this one.

In the end (so to speak) what I want is not so important to me...but what happens after my death will mean a lot to my wife and family. I also think that the long (3 days at the Wat the last one I went to) and shared/supportive nature of Thai funerals eases the way for loved ones.

If that involves a PPP (Post Ping Party) then so be it...but buried in the local cemetery does not seem that attractive to me.

It will be my final "up to you"......

Edited June 16, 2014 by mamborobert

[zeekgarcia]

On 6/11/2014 at 11:15 PM, MAJORUS said:

CEMETERY RULES.doc 48.5 kB · 93 downloads

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[daoyai]

old thread... but anyway, when my friend offed himself in the hills, they found his remains and stored them at the morgue and his family in the U.S. gave me consent to dispose of him, I bought a pressboard box casket, hired a truck picked up his odiferous corpse and delivered it to a "wat men" a bit north of town. Bought monk robes, flowers etc. as instructed by the head monk, 4 of them chanted a bit, rolled the box into the "oven" ... returned the next day with a couple friends and was presented with a pile of bone fragments , many identifiable.  A fellow wrapped them in white cloth and pushed on the bundle crushing and crunching the bones for a few moments and then handed over.  We carried about half kilometer to the Mae Ping and placed it in the water. .... so yea, it is done that way.  ..total cost about 6,000 baht

Edited September 21, 2019 by daoyai
add info

[MrBrad]

Assuming that I die while still in Thailand and that Chiang Mai University will take my donated body for the training of medical students, I, along with some 500 other cadavers annually, will end up in a mass cremation ceremony at Wat Lattiwan (Wat Kon Tan วัดลัฎฐิวัน วัดขอนตาล) just southwest of the Highway 1260 bridge near Mae Rim.  Each December all cadavers are cremated and the commingled ashes are dispersed into the Ping River.

[fhickson]

that water is not very clean, has trash etc.

 

there is a nice waterfall hiking distance from pai, beautiful isolated setting. takes a bit of hiking military style to reach it but could see it as a resting spot.