After a Death in Thailand

A working pack for whoever has to deal with a death that has already happened in Thailand.

Eighteen pages, delivered as PDF for printing and Word for typing into. Written for the person making the decisions, whether they are standing in a hospital in Phuket or on the phone from Manchester, Sydney or Denver.

What is in it

• The checklist, which runs in order: the first hour, the first day, the first week, before the body moves, and afterwards.
• The call sheet. Every published number in the order it is needed, with space for the ones only you can fill in.
• The record log. Who you spoke to, when, the reference, and what they said they would do. Five organisations will ask you the same questions and none of them keeps a record for you.
• The next of kin authorisation letter, in the wording the British government publishes, with notes for American, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and Irish nationals.
• The funeral director brief. One page to hand over, and the four things to get in writing before any work begins.
• What to ask before you agree to anything, with the reason each question matters.
• Your own government. Separate sections for British, American, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and Irish nationals. What your embassy will and will not do, home registration, passport cancellation, pensions.
• Every other nationality. The release letter mechanism as five governments describe it, what no embassy anywhere will do, the questions to put to your own, and which governments have a post outside Bangkok, north or south.
• The documents, and how many of each to obtain while you are still with the people who can produce them.
• The decision sheet. Cremation in Thailand or repatriation home, with the consequences set out and space to record who agreed to what.

What it is not

It is not legal advice and it does not apply the law to your circumstances. It does not replace a Thai lawyer, and it is not a service: nobody makes the calls for you.

The free pages at inorderthailand.com cover the same ground with every source linked. This pack is the assembly: printable, ordered, and built to be worked down and handed over.