Final farewell

They had sudden, violent deaths, often in road accidents. Nobody came to claim their bodies. Sometimes their identity was never established. But now the earthly remains of these unfortunate souls are to receive a proper send-off

MARK BEALES

On the table are silver daggers, ornamental knives and cleavers. A man dressed all in white stands next to the table and explains their purpose. "These are for stripping flesh from the bones of the corpses," he says casually, and demonstrates by slowly drawing a thumbnail down his arm.

We're at the home of the Sawang Boriboon Foundation. Based in Naklua, near Pattaya, it's largely comprised of ethnic-Chinese residents who do charitable work, help the local community, and occasionally dig up the dead.

The group holds a rather macabre Buddhist ceremony every decade or so to exhume the remains of hundreds of people with no surviving relatives. The purpose is to lay the souls to rest, allow volunteers to make merit and also make room for more bodies. But rather than being a solemn affair, the participants chant and clap as they get into the spirit of the ritual.

The day starts at 7am with a vegetarian breakfast. The volunteers, dressed all in white, each wearing a piece of orange cloth for protection against ghosts, then head to Wat Pong, a temple with a cemetery to the rear.

A shrine is erected, decked out in garlands and sacred symbols, and two of the foundation's leaders kneel before it. In time-honoured tradition, two willow branches have been tied together to make a gee, a Y-shaped tool resembling a water-divining rod. The two officiants each hold one side of the gee, wait until it twitches violently and then use it to guide the volunteers to where some bodies have been interred. Also at hand is a tong huang, a bamboo stick which is held aloft in order to direct any wayward spirits towards the temple.

The gee appears to hover over a spot and the digging begins. The soil is sifted and whatever is left in the sieve is handed to dozens of waiting helpers. Bone fragments are laid out on white cloth and cleaned with toothbrushes.

The remains recovered at Wat Pong are an amorphous mass since all the bodies interred here were first cremated. A second cremation is deemed necessary since the corpses were never claimed by relatives and, in some cases, the identity of the deceased was not known.

But at our next stop things are very different.

Inside a Chinese cemetery replete with enormous, glittering tombs is a small, modest, corner for those who died with no family. Jaw bones, thigh bones and teeth are laid out on cloth and teams of volunteers try and piece the human jigsaws together.

I walk over to one section and am told to sit on a small stool. Surgical gloves are placed on my hands and I'm given a knife. A body part - it could be from a child's pelvis, I'm not sure - is handed to me and my task becomes apparent: I have to remove the flesh from the bone.

I do my best but it's a tough job, made more difficult by the smell and the flies. The women around me seem completely unperturbed, though, and just get on with the job.

Nearby a small crowd has gathered. Everyone is looking at a man who is crouching down, holding the corpses of two babies in his arms. Still-born twins, only recently buried, they are laid out on a small wooden board, next to two knives. A woman chants a prayer and calmly goes to work.

The spectators watch the dissection quietly and respectfully. This ceremony is, after all, about ensuring that the dead are given a proper burial. It's about them, not us.

Despite the profusion of bodies and bones the feeling is, paradoxically, one of happiness, and what to a Western mind may seem horrific is here seen as a benevolent act.

Those doing the digging and cleaning are volunteers and the feeling of unity is palpable. People come in their hundreds to help, knowing that they are doing what they can to assist those who died alone.

Once a team has reassembled a skeleton a cheer goes up, and the bones are taken away by helpers, singing and chanting the while. Twenty-baht notes are placed in the oral cavity, talcum powder is sprinkled over the bones, and a lit cigarette wedged between the teeth.

The foundation began operations more than 60 years ago, following the lead of a similar organisation established in the Chon Buri district of Si Racha. At first it was a small-scale affair, involving just a handful of people of Chinese origin who wanted to contribute in some way to the welfare of their community. But as the number of Chinese immigrants grew, so, too, did the group. If a deceased person had no relatives in the area, the Sawang Boriboon Foundation would handle the funeral arrangements.

"Many years ago there was a factory around here which made matches," recalls Prasit Thongtipcharoen, the foundation's coordinator. "The workers had to go out into the forest to collect wood. Many of them fell ill from a disease they'd caught in the forest and died.

"The factory didn't know what to do with the bodies since these people had no family here, so they contacted the foundation for help in conducting funerals."

Since then the foundation has gradually expanded its role as a charity undertaker. Today it dispatches volunteers to the sites of fatal road accidents and often looks after funeral arrangements for victims. Mass exhumations are rare, though; this is the first the foundation has undertaken in 13 years.

The dig goes on for three weeks and at the end of each day the cleaned bones are placed in baskets and taken to the temple. Male and female remains must be separated, and to do this two special sticks are used. They are thrown into the air and the way they fall determines whether the bones are those of a man or a woman.

The remains - those of around 800 people in this case - are later put on display in a special room at the foundation's headquarters for a few days preceding a mass cremation ceremony. An auspicious day for this has been chosen in advance by the foundation's spiritual leader. Monks pray and chant over the remains every night in the lead up to the cremation.

The event begins with the issuing of an invitation to the spirits to attend the ceremony. Of particular importance is a spirit called Saeng Seuh and its eight accompanying angels.

On the day of the cremation the bones will be placed inside two three-metre-tall furnaces, each cylindrical and decorated with ornate Chinese murals. The skulls will be arranged on top in a pyramid formation.

While undoubtedly fascinating, the whole process may, to Western minds anyway, seem gruesome and extreme, but it is carried out entirely for altruistic reasons, to ensure that these unfortunate people receive a proper send-off from this life.

The exhumations in Naklua are scheduled to wind up today and the cremation service will take place on April 29. Visitors should dress all in white.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Saturday April 21, 2007