thai funeral in temple

[oldgent]

I have just been told how much it costs for to have a loved one to have a funeral in the temple

is 200,000 baht a realistic price or is some one telling porkies

[David48]

Does depend on how many days the Funeral will go over.

Some are 3 days ... some last up to a week.

If it's in a Village, they maybe 'local insurance scheme'

Plus, a lot of the money comes back through donations.

IMHO, OP, if you are thinking of paying for it ... don't

If you are the most respected (oldest, richest) person, sure, make a contribution.

If you are very close to the deceased, then make it a decent one, I'm thinking in the order 5 - 10K

But don't get conned into paying for the whole shooting match.

[robblok]

I agree dont pay for it all often money gets back from donations. Also if the children of the deceased work sometimes the company pays. There are also insurances and it can be paid from the inheritance that can be some land or money.

It could be they want you to pay and keep stuff like insurance and donation and inheritance.

You should give more info to see if your scammed or not.

[CharlieH]

In a word Absurd !

The majority of Thai people being rural farmers, do you really think they could get anywhere near that figure.

If it was some kind of dignitary in the City then quite possibly.

The average person, nowhere near that.

[Loaded]

Is the funeral for a dead buffalo? If yes, 200K sounds cheap.

[apetley]

A friends funeral in the village a few months ago cost about 50k bht.

Wifeys aunty died a while ago. Her funeral cost nearly 300k but she was very well known locally and the rights were held over at least a week and there were hundreds at the big temple ceremony.

In both cases donations covered alot of the expense.

[WhamBam]

Consider it is generally 3 days.

How many monks attend each day.

How many people - then how much food and drink.

Size of the temple.

Is the deceased 'resting' in the temple for the full 3 days or as many do, at home in the coffin.

Is it a basic coffin or a gilded one?

Are they using (as at the last funeral I attended) a gilded carriage to transport the deceased to the temple?

The previous funeral I attended was for a popular but relatively poor person in a village. Father or the then g/f.

Laid out at the house in a simple wooden coffin.

A few monks each day. Music, food, drink.

Several hundred people in all.

Tables, chairs, crockery, cutlery were all provided by the local temple for a small fee.

For that I gave 5,000 Baht towards immediate costs (food, drink, water).

In the latter case, the family had been making monthly payment into the local insurance fund to cover the costs of the funeral. I was not asked for any more money as the insurance covered the cost and donations were made from family and close friends.

The only ones not to donate were the usual hangers on that you get at these events.

I would say 200,000 is a hell of a lot to pay unless the person has rank of some sort.

[David48]

^^ No more likes left.

Smart post ... well worth reading again.

If you are really close to the deceased ... Bt 5 - 10,00 will more then cover it.

Don't be suckered into more.

[Tonto21]

To reply to your question OP, with a question; how much is a funeral in your native country? It will depend..... Right, how much has the insurance sprung, how rich the family is, how important the deceased was..... And so on.

The biggest expense is catering for the freeloaders, (not the majority) who turn up at the wake, most families will hold a wake for 3 or 7 days and provide food and drink 24/7.

So cost....."How long is a piece of string"

[oldgent]

great information from all yes the deceased will be in the Temple for 6 days attended by 7 monks.

one of the sons is some kind of Government offical. so i guess that is why the cost is so much.

and no i am not paying for it.

[seajae]

we just held a 7 day temple funeral for the grand mother and it was a lot less than that, the family chipped in with their time and did all the cooking etc, cremation cost was just under 4,000 baht, food was the biggest cost but with all the donations there was enough money to pay those that gave up a lot of time to do the cooking etc a few thousand baht each. It really depends on how far overboard you go with everything, have to admit that we were given boxes of fresh fish every couple of days by a friend as well.

[seajae]

an update on my last , wife told me it cost 10,000 baht a day(food, monks etc) for grand mums funeral plus 5,000 baht for the coffin and the donation to use the temple, most are whatever you can afford(nothing for poor people), she said funerals in the north are usually way over the top because everyone goes there everyday for a free feed, nothing to do with the person dying(her father is from the north) plus if they have farang husbands they want people to see how much they can spend, big face thing. Grand mums funeral cost under 100,000 baht for the 7 days all up so your figures are a bit over the top, maybe someone is quoting farang/face prices. Mind you we refused to buy alcohol for the freeloaders to get p*ssed everyday, if they wanted to drink they brought their own, we supplied non alcoholic only.

Edited November 30, 2014 by seajae

[h90]

Is the funeral for a dead buffalo? If yes, 200K sounds cheap.

But on top of it comes the fee for the vet. Best sent per Western Union.