Arrange your own cremation and pay it in advance
If a foreigner dies in Thailand, the next of kin have to deal with a multitude of rules. Especially when the end comes unexpectedly, the panic is sometimes incalculable. What to arrange with hospital, police, embassy and so on? And what if the remains or the urn have to go to the Netherlands?
To bring some order to this maze of problems, the NVTHC (Dutch Association Hua Hin/Cha am) has invited a renowned company to answer the most common questions. It concerns AsiaOne, which has been providing funerals or cremations for foreigners for more than 50 years. The company once started with the transport of fallen American soldiers in the Vietnam War.
AsiaOne, based in Bangkok, offers the option of paying all or part of your funeral in advance, so that those left behind are not confronted with unexpected costs. The price depends on your wishes and budget, for example for the coffin, the cost of cremation, flowers and other options. AsiaOne also arranges all paperwork at the hospital, police and embassy for the release of the remains. Of course you can also do everything yourself, but in this way an expert partner takes over the helm from the next of kin.
The staff of AsiaOne will tell you all about it on Monday March 22 from 13.00 pm in Coral Restaurant at the entrance of the Banyan Resort. There is ample parking. Admission for members is free (incl. coffee, etc.). Non-members pay 200 baht for coffee and biscuits, but have free access after paying the membership fee of 500 baht pp for 2021.
Founder Haiko Emanuel of Be Well will also talk about the Living Will this afternoon.
You must register by Friday 19 March at the latest [email protected]
Pay for your funeral in advance and pay 200 Baht to listen to a sales pitch?
I have money in the bank and a funeral policy, the heirs can arrange the funeral for that.
That money in the bank has a bank guarantee, but money in Asiaone's wallet?
policy is good.
Money in the bank…. well, no one can touch that after the death of the account holder. Unless it is a and/or account. Then the co-account holder can get to it. The money is only distributed after the will has been pronounced, and the funeral organizer can use (part of) the money.
In addition, information about how repatriation, etc. work is not immediately a "sales pitch". (Although they will probably try to sell a contract)
Dear Ruud, the meeting is organized by the NVTHC. Members have free access and non-members are allowed to contribute to the room rental, coffee and cookies, right? It may be a sales pitch, but the association regularly receives questions about this subject.
You have money in the bank and a funeral policy. Can your wife access that money when you die and does that funeral policy also cover you if you live in Thailand? Money in the wallet at AsiaOne is also covered with a guarantee: that you too will die.
Of course my wife can access my money when I die and a bill from a temple for the cremation can also be paid afterwards. This can all be arranged well in advance.
I doubt whether you need a funeral policy in Thailand at all, it is not that expensive. Except that: create a passbook in your wife's name and deposit thb 50K to start with. Subsequently, this amount grows somewhat because in Thjailand you get a little more interest, but you can also deposit thb 5K extra every year, for example.
I think any information is welcome.
Thanks for the info Hans.
What about a funeral wish?
Is that possible on the grounds of a temple or a Chinese cemetery?
I live in Omkoi and there I arranged a cremation for a Dutchman who had died. And everything you have to arrange is not that bad. I informed the embassy and asked what should I do. They explained it and then I went to the town hall, where they made a death declaration and that was it. A coffin was purchased and he was cremated 2 days later. All in all I paid 800 euros so that's not too bad. Now this is more than 10 years ago, but it is still doable. You can make it as expensive as you want, but if you keep it simple it really doesn't cost much.
What can be arranged? My friend passed away in hospital 3 weeks ago. . Cremated the Thai way after 3 days. What do you mean paperwork, hospital police and so on. If the remains do not have to go to the Netherlands, it is really not that difficult that you have to call in some agency for this.
My wife says you can make it as expensive as you want
But if you want everything on and on through the temple count on about 150000a200000thb For 7 days
It can be cheaper nothing special cremation at the temple
About 3 days 100000a 120000 thb
And if there is also food and drink, about 10000thb
And if you are over 60 years old, the next of kin will also receive 3000 thb if you are foreign
Find the amounts terribly exaggerated, recently arranged for a friend with costs including everything! for 75.000 baht and a cremation that lacked nothing
Seems like a reasonable amount to me, Hans. But yes, if, as has happened for days on end, the entire village plus the wider area comes to eat and – especially – drink from 9 am, it can increase further.
Every article (and certainly the comments on it) is useful.
In that sense, it is also good to hear from someone from an organization that has more of an ax to grind. And that while enjoying a cup of tea or coffee.
They know the way, can take a lot of organizing and paperwork off your hands. Especially if the remains have to be taken to another country.
But these are also commercial guys. And what could be better if customers pay in advance: you can't imagine better customer loyalty. And you will only be able to let a few million years in the bank interest for free.
In addition, the expression: be careful when you put your eggs in someone else's basket.
Because strange things can happen to it. See two examples below: in this case it concerns policies.
https://www.consumentenbond.nl/nieuws/2020/consumentenbond-blij-met-uitspraak-over-versobering-yarden-polis?CID=EML_NB_NL_20200919&j=683259&sfmc_sub=47601269&l=237_HTML&u=14968003&mid=100003369&jb=542
https://nos.nl/artikel/2361065-klanten-failliet-conservatrix-verliezen-10-tot-40-procent-van-beloofde-geld.html
An alternative could be: putting things on paper and arranging them in advance with a partner or other reliable person, have a cash jar ready to pay for these kinds of things immediately.
In my opinion, an and/or bank account is blocked in NL after death until a certificate of inheritance has been issued, which can take a while. Sometimes there is something to arrange with the bank, but rather assume the worst case, that one cannot directly access the bank account of the deceased.
In other words: a chat, a note and some money in the old sock. Not so crazy yet.
I have already inquired with DELA in the Netherlands, where I am still insured and pay a normal amount per quarter.
DELA pays a standard amount after my death to my daughter because I do not want to be transported to the Netherlands, but the cremation will take place here.
No last will is needed because the relationship between my daughter and my Thai girlfriend is clear, my ashes are buried in the high family gravestone so that my girlfriend can visit me as much as she wants.
There is enough money in her account and there is also a kind of joint death policy for the entire village or for several villages, so every time someone dies they collect 100 baths. If I add all that together, we would be better off canceling this village insurance thing, but yes, Thai logic always remains as a kind of blockage. There are two of us, but we always pay for the more extended families with more deaths.
Finally I paid for a simple cremation for my brother for less than 5000 bath 3 years ago.
Advice: do obtain the ORIGINAL death certificate from the Embassy, do not obtain a copy for handling by the police and town hall. If someone dies in the hospital, the hospital must arrange the municipality statement.
Cornelis, all value for money. You can even be burned to the eternal hunting grounds for (almost) nothing, possibly with other poor people. That's not what this is about. We are talking about the passing of a Dutchman who does not want to burden the next of kin and wants a proper funeral, with some bells and whistles.
Cornelis, do you realize that your girlfriend has absolutely nothing to say about your last course? It is your daughter who has to make all kinds of decisions from the Netherlands. And outside the villages in Thailand we have no mutual insurance…
As an old Catholic, I am also 'insured' with DELA. And yes: my wife will receive an amount upon my death so that she can arrange things properly. She can scatter my ashes somewhere. It is my experience that none of the next of kin actually pays attention to a pot in a wall after a few years.
My mother lived almost next to the cemetery where my father was buried and she rarely visited.
Well what I miss is the question. Is there life after death?
If this is the case, a cremation does not seem useful to me. Of course you want to fully enjoy yourself with the same physical feeling. Just think about it!!
Yes, and what guarantees are there from the company that manages the invested money. Bank guarantee? Warranty from other insurers and so on. After death you are also no longer entitled to challenge any wrongdoing or is this regulated by law in Thailand.
Regards Anthony
dear Anthony,
Of course there is life after death. A person's spirit lives on and returns in another body, sooner or later. Therefore, some people can remember things from a past life where they were a different person, sometimes of a different gender.
There are also people who don't want to believe that everything you see moves. The smallest particles on this earth move according to quantum mechanics experts. So nothing is fixed. That just seems so.
Of course there is no life after death. The light goes out and it never comes on again.
If you are cremated, there is little life after death.
When you are buried, your coffin teems with life.
Then the worms and your parasites feast on your body.
Worms and parasites are also alive.
my idea is to put the 800.000bht for your visa in an account and that is for the family to cremate me or put me on the side of the road, whatever is left they can inherit. I thought that would be enough to cremate me or something
I have the same idea. 400.000 or 800.000, which I normally need for my visa extension, remain in the account. But I do have a question. Can my wife (after my death) easily withdraw the money from the account?
Peter and Adje. The idea is nice, but the execution is complicated. Upon death, all bank accounts are blocked and it can take months for the balance to be released. Do you want to wait that long in your coffin for the cremation?
Dear Hans. I think maybe too simple. But if I give my wife all my bank details, she can just log in and transfer the money (same day) to her own bank account.? And who will inform the bank of my death? And does he have my bank details? How? I think before the ball really gets rolling the money is already in her account. You just have to prepare well.