Thai royal cremation ceremony

The cremation proper is preceded by a procession of the Buddha statues and icons and services before the relic urns of past monarchs and deceased members of the Royal Family.

The services are presided over by HM the King alongside members of the Royal Family, and Buddhist monks are present, performing the offerings of cloth on behalf of the dead, known as sadappakon, and reciting prayers and chants in Pali (and in recent state cremations, Teochew Chinese, due to the attendance of Thai Chinese Buddhist monks from the local community temples).

After the morning service and breakfast served for the monks, a squad from 1st Infantry Regiment King's Own Bodyguard's 1st Battalion escort the urn out of the hall and into the gold Triple-Poled Royal Funeral Palanquin Carriage (Phra Yannamat Sam Lam Khan) outside the throne hall while honors are paid by the 3rd Btn, 1st Infantry Regiment (King's Own Bodyguard).

After one more salute is rendered to the urn, the palanquin and the 60 Royal Thai Army personnel handling it move out of the Deva Phirom gate of the Palace from the west wall into Maharaj Road.

These are accompanied by the men and monks escorting them by Sanam Chai Street, nearby Wat Pho Temple, Saranrom Park and the Territorial Defense Command Building of the RTAF, at the eastern end of the Palace complex.

Two additional attendants say prayers at the south and north of the urn, while the Supreme Patriarch (or in his absence his representative) mounts the Ratcharot Noi carrying Buddhist scriptures to read while 74 military handlers pull the ropes.

This is followed by the transfer of the sacred urn to the Chakri Maha Prasat Throne Hall where it will be enthroned, ending the cremation services.

In recent years, the final procession to the interment temple is a motorized one, with a ceremonial mounted troop from the 29th Cavalry Squadron, King's Guard escorting the vehicle where the royal ashes are carried, which before departure had been loaded from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha where these had been temporarily placed on the day following the royal cremation.

As a reminder of this, the Sanam Luang crematorium will be later dismantled and the decorations and awards of the deceased removed from the Dusit Maha Prasat Throne Hall, together with the wreaths that had been placed on the funeral pedestal before.