THAILAND: A cemetery in Thailand holds a ceremony to exhume and cremate bodies and then spread the ashes out to sea to make room for more unclaimed dead bodies

Record ID: 572973

  • Title: THAILAND: A cemetery in Thailand holds a ceremony to exhume and cremate bodies and then spread the ashes out to sea to make room for more unclaimed dead bodies
  • Date: 18th March 2012
  • Summary: WORSHIPPERS DIGGING UP CORPSES SHOVEL PICK HACKING INTO CEMENT CORPSE BEING CARRIED OUT WORSHIPPERS WATCHING CORPSE BEING LIFTED OUT CORPSE UNWRAPPED AND BONES BEING HANDLED SKULL AND BODY PARTICIPANT CLEANING THE SKULL AND PULLING OUT THE HAIR AND BRAIN (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) CHAIRMAN OF THE SWANG PRATEEP TAMASATAN BUDDHIST SOCIETY CHATCHAI KUMJONKITKARN SAYING: "They believe that these unclaimed, dead bodies will not be able to move on and have another good life if they don't have a proper funeral and cremation." PARTICIPANTS CARRYING CORPSE DIGGER UNWRAPPING BODY UNWRAPPING OF BODY VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS CLEANING THE BONES PARTICIPANT CLEANING TEETH WITH A TOOTHBRUSH PARTICIPANTS WATCHING BONES BEING HANDLED GENTLY 20 VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS WORKING ON BODIES (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) PARTICIPANT KANCHANA SAKHONLURKAMONGKHON SAYING: "These bones are one and the same as our own bodies, isn't that right? It's not scary, I don't think it's scary. It's not scary." PILE OF BONES PARTICIPANTS CLEANING BONES BONES BEING TAKEN OUT (SOUNDBITE) (Thai) PARTICIPANT SERMCHAI LERTCHAROENCHOKE SAYING: "When I first came, I was a scared, but now that I'm here and we're doing this work, the fear just dissipates because this requires a heart of steel in order to do it." INCENSE BURNING PARTICIPANT PRAYING VARIOUS OF PARTICIPANTS TAKING CLEANED BODIES AWAY FOR CREMATION
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand, Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA4CNW2R0VDO074UJ8S81J54YOQ
  • Story Text: Every 10 years, hundreds gather at this cemetery in Thailand to exhume and cremate corpses.
    It's a Thai Chinese ritual that has has been going on for decades at the Mang Teung Sua Jung Cemetery in the Sriracha District of Chonburi, a province 131 kilometers (81 miles) southeast of Bangkok.
    The ashes of the unclaimed bodies are spread on the sea to make room at the burial ground for more unclaimed bodies in the coming years.
    Between 800-900 corpses were being dug up during the ceremony on March 18, the ninth such ritual to be held.
    Wearing white, a customary colour for funerals and visiting temples, the participants believe they are helping the dead who have no friends or relatives. They also believe that they are helping themselves by collecting good karma by taking part in the ritual.
    "They believe that these unclaimed, dead bodies will not be able to move on and have another good life if they don't have a proper funeral and cremation," said the Chairman of the Swang Prateep Tamasatan Buddhist Society and the organiser of the ceremony, Chatchai Kumjonkitkarn.
    The tradition originated 90 years ago after diseases like Malaria killed many of Thais of Chinese descent living in Chonburi.
    The legend is that officials began haphazardly digging up corpses so the city could build an airport and stopped only when they were haunted by ghosts. Since then, residents have felt it was necessary to leave the land untouched and to honour those who have died without loved ones.
    Many were pleased to be taking part in what some consider a gruesome task.
    "These bones are one and the same as our own bodies, isn't that right? It's not scary, I don't think it's scary. It's not scary," said 57-year old Kanchana Sakhonlurkamongkhon.
    The bodies were taken out one by one by dozens of people chanting in prayer and shouting in celebration. The bones were carefully unwrapped and cleaned with toothbrushes and other cleaning supplies.
    "When I first came, I was a scared, but now that I'm here and we're doing this work, the fear just dissipates because this requires a heart of steel in order to do it," said 48-year old Sermchai Lertcharoenchoke.
    The process of exhuming eight to nine hundred bodies will take approximately two months to complete. Cremation of the corpses is expected to take place in May.
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