The End of a Life

"End of a Life" is taken from one of the chapters of Thailand Take Two and describes the customs and traditions of a Buddhist funeral in the northern Thai province of Chiangmai. It was the most popular chapter of that book.

In Thai social culture, death is seen as the final part of the life cycle. It is not a sad event. Everyone in the neighbourhood will attend the daily rites and the cremation. The deceased's family will provide food for all the mourners, who will respectfully take part in the monks' prayers. The funeral becomes an opportunity for a social gathering as well as paying one's respects to the deceased. Thais believe they gain merit from attending funeral rites and during part of the ceremony they transfer some of that merit to their deceased neighbour or friend.