Issued at 14.00 Hrs. (GMT+7) on 10 July 2018
A special ‘centre for the facilitation of religious rites’ has been established to provide support for families and relatives of the victims of the recent boat incident in Phuket.
The centre is located at Wat Kosit Wihan in Mueang district, Phuket, and is managed by the Phuket Provincial Cultural Office with cooperation from the Department of Religious Affairs, the National Office of Buddhism, Kusoldharm Phuket Foundation, Tourist Assistant Centre Phuket, and officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are on hand to provide support to families and relatives of the deceased on relevant matters including obtaining documentation, undergoing religious rites and taking the ashes home after the funeral as well as coordinating with Phuket International Airport’s passenger services centre.
The Phuket City Municipality will assign civil registration officers at Vachira Phuket Hospital and Wat Kosit Wihan to provide support on issuing a death certificate.
A total of 15 Buddhist temples in Phuket have been designated to offer the religious rites’ services for the victims, including Wat Kosit Wihan, Wat Thepwanaram, Wat Sri Sunthorn, Wat Phra Thong, Wat Mongkol Wararam, Wat Ladthiwanaram, Wat Sawang Arom, Wat Chaiyathararam (Wat Chalong), Wat Kathu, Wat Anuphatkritdaram, Wat Suwan Khirikhet, Wat Suwankiriwong (Wat Patong), Wat Kitti Sangkharam, Wat Choeng Thale, and Wat Sopon Wanaram (Wat Pa Klok). Each temple can perform the religious rites and cremation process for two bodies per day on average.
Islamic and Christian rites can also be arranged upon request from families and relatives of the deceased. The Christian rites will be arranged at a Christian cemetery. The Islamic rites will be arranged at any of Phuket’s 58 mosques.
For families and relatives who wish to take the body of the deceased home, Sky Trade Services shipping company will facilitate a one-stop service to transport the body by air, from packing the body in a coffin, and obtaining documentation in Phuket and the final destination.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will waive all fees in relation to the translation of documents and legalisation services while the Immigration Office will waive visa fees for all affected tourists.
TAT is monitoring and assessing the situation and will be providing further details as the situation develops. In the meantime, we would like to encourage travellers to obtain information from various sources to get a balanced understanding about the reality on the ground in Thailand, so that they can plan their trips accordingly.
