Thailands funeral,cremation and culture

104 pictures below

This page was initially created to honor my late mother-in-law "MIR" who passed away June 8 2017 at the age of 88 years.

She has given birth to eight children, of whom three died as small, and the oldest was 12 years old when their father died, so she stood alone with five children in a small hut.
She provide them with what she could do during the day and during the evening to wander with it, the 10 km to the market in the main town Nan, slept and woke up and sold what she had and went home again.
First for about 12 years ago, she tried to get outside this area, sleeping in a hotel room and run in elevator etc.

The second reason is to tell people from other countries
 how Thailand is outside the well-known tourist spots.

I'm Danish, and has lived in Cha-Am and Nan in nearly 15 years with my Thai wife "Lamai" and has long wanted to tell the world a little bit about the difference between Thailand and the Western world.

What I write about this funeral and Thais are what I personally feel, perceive and see.
This funeral comes, therefore, as an obvious topic to tell a little about the Thais.

She died on 8 June at as written at 22.15 in the hospital in Nan.
"Just short of a public thai hospital, there has to be family and/or friends with the patient 24 hours a day to help with hygiene and otherwise take care of the patient, the doctors and nurses taking care of the medical. On the other hand, all Thais can come at a public hospital for 30 Baht and get as far as they are healthy."

She was brought home 2 hours after in a coffin and placed in her living room. At night the 10 family and friend slept in the same room, so that she should not be alone, and at least 10 person have to do it afterward. Already at that time there were several people from the village have come to show their participation.
At 7 the next morning swarmed it with people from the village who came to help with the preparations for the funeral, which usually comes 3-7 days after. Here, it was Monday, 4 days after.
They began to put the tents up, come with tables and chairs, large pots for cooking the next 4 days for a total of 2-300 persons is probably.

The kindness and helpfulness here experience is something quite unbelievable, especially it has to be experienced and can`t retell main enough. Likewise, their respect for the elderly is very great.
Later in the they begin to build a small hut, which will be quite livable, with TV, fridge and water and what is hospitalized or hear with the kitchen stuff as well as some of the deceased's personal things.

The purpose of this cottage is that her spirit "ghost" as the thai says, to move into here and after the funeral be moved along with the cabin, in this case for a child child's rubber plantation. So is the ghost away from the main house. There are a lot of superstitions, customs and religion mixed together in their manners.

While this has passed away is other, now there are probably about 100 people started shopping and cooking, for the next 4 days, which will be filled up from early morning to late evening.
All enjoy and have the enjoyable. I perceive it as they are to a party and interrupt the trivial everyday life. Thaierne use every opportunity to make a party.
In the evening, and every evening there will be four monks from the temple and hold a small ceremony and get some gifts and money back.
Others make beautiful lists of all the participating with name from which village they come.

I wonder about all the money that will be spent on this occasion, for an absolute not prosperous family around 150,000.-Baht. It must, however, be calculated that all the participating puts an envelope with money in a designated container.
From the other hand, I know that some may borrow against their House, or else in order to be able to hold a funeral.

The evening before the funeral comes a higher monk and talked in about one hour, and eight more monks arrive, like more prominent people find themselves.
The number of participants reaches this evening between 2-300.

On the cremation day, the monks come and convey that the coffin is brought out of the house to an adapted carriage, which in this case, as something extra, had been adorned with an incredibly beautiful top donated by a friend (monk) of the family. Then it will be taken to the place of cremation where many people have arrived.
Thereafter, several different Buddhist rituals take place and the actual burning begins. Flowers and the beautiful carriage are burned seperately.
Next day, the family collects the urn with the ashes and brings it to the temple and takes 4 monks back to the deceased's house to bless it for the future.
For the next 100 days the urn is now in the temple, then the actual funeral is made.

Jørgen Fallentin Holm

104 Pictures