Death is a part of life and every culture has its own rituals surrounding it. Some cultures dictate a quick ceremony and funeral rites while others allow for years. In Ghana, most funeral rites follow the major faiths of the country – either Christian or Islam. In the southern part of the country, most people are buried and cremation is almost unheard of. However, some people get what are called “fantasy coffins.”
It’s been a little more than a week since King Rama IX, Bhumibol Adulyadej died. His passing is a tremendous event in Thailand, and as such the next year has been declared a year of mourning for the Land of Smiles. Many people who haven’t spent an extended amount of time in Thailand, and even some who have, don’t understand what the King meant to the Thai people or are confused about what significance he had to them. The story of the Thai monarchy is a difficult one, however, understanding that history can provide greater context for the reasoning of the masses of Thai people donning black.
In between the training that I did for the PESAO staff and the training for 200 principals on conversational English, I spent a weekend at my homestead. I found out the day that I got home that one of the yaais (grandmothers) in the village had died.
Just before I left the US, my great aunt had died and so I had recently experienced a funeral in the US and I wanted to share about the differences between the rituals around death between Thailand and the US.