RC

Understand that but if ur living in Thailand does thai law allow this.

in a recent matter I have been involved with in regards tourist deaths in Thailand, some problems have now occurred with an insurance company not willing to pay out, as they did not consider the death of the victim invovled was an accident. The insurance policy only covered accidents..This has put an extra burden on the family...I would suggest that you check the fine print of any such documents you may hold in your favour.

Further complications can arise in that two different forms of procedure happen in Thailand upon a death...if you die in a Thai hospital, the hospital is in charge of the body, and paperwork, and they may undertake an autopsy, or may not.

However, if you die outside of hospital, then the police are in charge of the body, and the body is sent to one of thier preferred hospitals for an autopsy, if death is not obvious. In the case above, some of the victims bodies were sent to a teritary institution, to a Dept of Medicine at a local University for autopsies,.the University has a good name, and had worked on body indentifcation after the 2009 tsumani. Whether some of the current autopsies were carried out by medical students as part of thier doctorateship, is unclear, However, upon investigation it was discovered that that same University had also lost some 120 victim files over the last couple of years, making it impossible for parties to ascertain the cause of death, moreso now when said victims were cremated or buried after the autopsies.

in the case of those who died in hospital, some never had an autopsy, one body was released to the family almost immediately, death cetificate issued, and sent back to their homeland and buried..cause of death is still not known, but a death cert had been issued in the first instance. This was written in thailand as is the normal practise, and a further one was translated into English for overseas authorities..One note from the relevant Embassy was that they could not quarantee due to the language barrier in regards fancy medical terms, that the English Death Certificate aligned with the Thai version..

Thailand is not like alot of other countries like my own , where every death is invesitgated, and every one has an autopsy, so that legal matters can be squared away..It is now hoped that a better system will be put in place to investigate and provide better qaulity medical records for future westerner deaths in Thailand..

if members have concerns about what will happen upon thier death, the procedure involved, matters in regards death certificates, matters about wills, or even contact names for the wife to call, and further information, I would suggest a word to your relevant embassy now, so you have all the information available...generally things go smoothly, but not always, so abit of homework now may save family memebers at a later date.

Hi all! I am new to Udon Thani and this forum. I hope to have a quiet stay here with my Thai, lady for a long period of time after spending 5 years in Jomtien/Pattaya. I read all the posts made in this topic and it contains very good information. The one unanswered question for me is; if I die outside a hospital and the police want to have an autopsy performed, will they send my remains to Bangkok as they do if I were in Jomtien/Pattaya.

I recently filed a last will and testament and want to be cremated in a Buddhist Temple here in Udon as per my instructions in the will. My lady's concern is that if they send me to Bangkok, she may never get the body back, ( i know ha ha ha) or, she will have to pay for it to be transported back to Udon Thani because of a friend's experience. I want to go to the Udon Police Station to ask but I am not sure I want to rely on the accuracy of their response and my lady thinks this will only open suspicious thoughts about her ( i know, i know TIT )

Any help with this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Take care everyone

Generally speaking ur Embassy would also be involved in these situations, So have ur GF / partner etc have a signed copy of the will with her, when she meets them, showing ur wishes etc....

Sending the body to BKK for an autopsy might still be required depending on the possible cause of death, if its suspicious, then international medica concerns can put the pressure on the locals and they will happily pass the buck to K Porntip and her team at Chulla.

If you died from natural causes, then the local authorities might go with a death cert from Udon Hospital, Embassy still involved and your wishes granted locally and within a reasonable time.

Bottom line is , to have your will , written in Thai and English and available ASAP at your time of death.

I've known 17 expats from Udon die over the years.....most of older age, but a few not. To the best of my knowledge, none had an autopsy performed. All were either cremated (most) or buried in Udon/surrounding areas. As far as the American Embassy goes, someone from the Udon area (an Embassy Warden) usually calls the embassy when someone dies, but that's about the extent of any interaction with the embassy (at the time of death). Perhaps if the death were suspicious (and the embassy knew that it was suspicious), then they might do something else.....but, in 17 deaths, I'm not aware of them doing anything other than receiving a phone call notifying them of a death.
To receive a certificate of death from the embassy, the spouse has to obtain the death certificate from the hospital and take it to the American Embassy where they will issue a death certificate (that can be used in the event of a claim with an insurance company in the US...or for settling an estate in the US, bank accounts etc).
There might be something I'm missing in the process, but that's been my experience over the years.

The only thing you are missing is the next of kin bit . If you are legally married with a Thai wife there should be no problem, she, as next of kin can arrange every thing .However if you have only gone through the village Buddha ceremony with her, she has no legal connection to you.The embassy will want instructions in writing from a genuine kin relation. This can be to permit the Thai" wife" to arrange everything on their behalf. Believe me from experience, I know the British Embassy will not give you a release letter for the body until this is obtained, sometimes a week later, as it must be in writing.They will not even respect a clause in the deceased's will appointing the "wife".

Without going into much detail, a foreigner died of a heart attack. Some friends of his wanted an autoposy, the wife didn't it wasn't done. Not sure exactly how things work but that is what happened.

As to preparing information that is the prudent thing to do. Those of us in the VFW have been provided with a sort of check list to be given to the VFW service Officer.

I have envelope sit aside an have for years marked Service Officer. To include the e-mail addresses of friends and family with my password. Simple e-mail to all and it's done.

I have everything in my wife's name so no problems with that. But, on the other hand she earned it living with me.

Some guys have dies with service connected disabilities, this makes a huge difference in what the spouse will receive from the V.A. Problem the death certificate came out heart stopped. I good experienced VFW service officer will catch that in a second and get a proper cause of death listed.

I don't believe thinking about this in the future is not one bit morbid. Every living human being will deal with more then time one more then likely. When you think of loved ones and friends.

Pulling the plug that is one I had not thought about.

To find out all you need to know about a Thai Living Will pertaining to "pulling the plug", see the following website for a template of the form as well as an English translation of the Thai regulations for living wills. Hope this helps!

http://www.thailawonline.com/en/family/ ... n-thailand

Lonetraveler's question about sending the body to Bangkok:
I'll go out on a limb here: If you're a famous singer/actor/HI-SO somebody who dies suspiciously, then I suppose there'd be a chance of the powers in Bangkok wanting to get in on the act and do an autopsy on your body, with all the cameras rolling, of course. I'll guess you don't fit that mold.
In all likelihood, you'll die in Udon, no one in Bangkok will care, and your body will be ashes before anyone notices there's arsenic in your blood. In the event of a suspicious death, I suppose IF (big IF) the embassy were contacted immediately upon death that your death were suspicious, they might be able to stop the hospital from preparing your body for the typical wake-in-the-living room.
If you followed the story of numerous suspicious falang deaths in the Chiangmai hotel last year, you'll see that Thais don't have the same investigative procedures as most developed countries. Several deaths were attributed to old-age and bad market food......when in the end, it was probably over exposure to insecticide that was used in the rooms. t.i.t. baby, it's what makes living in Thailand so exciting!

Thank you all for the quick response to my question. I was under the impression that all deaths of foreigners outside a hospital required an autopsy which is only performed at a police designated hospital in Bangkok. From the response here I guess that is not true and hopefully because I am old (mid 60's) hopefully many years from now when I drop dead, they can assume it is from natural causes.

I will take the advice given here and have my lady (last will in hand) contact the Embassy. My Will is in both Thai and English witnessed by 2 Thai people and filed with the Amphur Office here in Undon, hopefully that will allow her to have me Cremated in a timely fashion without too much hassle. My only next-of-kin are siblings and I have no assets in my home country.

Pulling the plug just hit me the longer I'm kept alive the longer the money keeps coming in. So I going to scratch that one off my list

I am assuming the OP is an American citizen, so you may want to have a look at the following US Embassy BKK website if you haven't already:

http://bangkok.usembassy.gov/service/de ... tizen.html

If you die in a hospital, a call will be made by the hospital staff to the US Embassy of your behalf and a Thai death certificate will be prepared locally. The wife/next-of-kin can also follow up with the US Embassy to make sure that a Consular Report of Death of an American Citizen Abroad is prepared to be used back in the States, together with the Thai Death Certificate (and translated original), to settle a US Estate. Communication between the US Embassy and the responsible party can be affected by fax and/or email. No autopsy is needed unless the death is suspicious. I would certainly get a verbal/written release from the US Embassy before the body goes for cremation to make sure there are no hitches with getting that very important Report of Death from our embassy.

If death occurs outside the hospital, in the home for example, have the body transported by ambulance to the hospital for a doctor's official confirmation of the death and subsequent preparation of the Thai Death Certificate.

Thai Last Will and Testaments for the Kingdom are not probated unless they are contested. I took mine to my bank and showed it to the Manager. He said when I kick the bucket my wife can walk in with the Last Will and claim everything she has coming to her with no complications.

bumper wrote:Pulling the plug just hit me the longer I'm kept alive the longer the money keeps coming in. So I going to scratch that one off my list

Sounds good in theory bumper, but whose paying to keep the "plug" in?

The person who gets the monthly money.

Your theory on the banks sounds good. But, thus far I have not seen a widow who didn't have a problem with that.

My wife has been told to get the ATM card and empty that puppy.

Users results can vary this Thailand what they say and what they do can often be two different things.

bumper wrote:The person who gets the monthly money.

Your theory on the banks sounds good. But, thus far I have not seen a widow who didn't have a problem with that.

My wife has been told to get the ATM card and empty that puppy.

Users results can vary this Thailand what they say and what they do can often be two different things.

I understand...that's why I have plan A, B and C just in case. In Thailand I live by Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, then it will! Unloading the account with the ATM card is actually plan A with the Will to be used as a last resort in all cases where assets are to be claimed.

Keep Murphy in the hip pocket and things seem to work out

Thank you all for some sound advice based upon some of your personal experiences, it has eliminated the stress my lady had concerning an autopsy in Bangkok (unless of course something appears to be a foul in the minds of the police).

Anyone have experience with an ambulance service in terms of cost. If I am to be transported to a hospital for an illness or upon death will they ask for payment prior to transport or bill my Thai Partner later. I want to make sure I have cash on hand for this service if payment is required up front. Or, will they not release the body until payment is made? Also, what is the procedure for the return of the remains when all the paper work is complete? Will my lady be responsible to claim me and transport me to the local Buddha Wat for cremation in the back of a pick-up?

I am trying (perhaps too much) to make my death in terms of paper work and dealing with the Officials involved, as stress free as possible for her so that she can get on with the cremation and therefore, her life. She has been and continues to be a good partner in my life so I feel it is well worth the effort.

It is a relief to have a forum such as this one because trying to obtain accurate information about most things in Thailand has been my most frustrating venture since living here.

One other item that I would consider would be to prepare a Living Will

You've just got to believe this. :-" A husband of a friend recently died in the hospital in Khon Kaen .A hospital mini bus wanted 10k to transport his body back to Udon, however a kind nurse suggested that an ambulance bus, the same one? :-" would only cost 4k. So the body accompanied by the nurse was wheeled out complete with an oxygen respirator mask, placed in the bus and taken as a live patient . The nurse refused the proffered 1k tip .TIT

One other thing I would consider with a legal document to be acted upon in Thailand is to use the Thai language. I ave no idea what other agency required. But, as recently four years ago the Thai Court here in Udon would not recognize a contract written in English.