Thai teenager stages fake funeral allegedly to extort money from mourners
An 18 year old Thai boy in the Isaan province of Udon Thani held a fake funeral for his mother, allegedly to obtain money from a group of friends and teachers. His grandmother defended him, claiming they were merely performing a ritual to ward off an evil spirit.
The fake funeral came to light after the community leader, Sisawat Phodhiwat, received a phone call from a teacher regarding the death of her student’s mother, who was said to have lived in the area. Sisawat was surprised, as he was not informed of any such death, as would typically be expected.
According to the teacher, the teenage student, later identified as Ice, told her that his mother had died in Bangkok and that her body had been transferred back to Udon Thani for the funeral. The teacher and classmates attended the ceremony and gave Ice some money to support and comfort him.
Ice shared pictures of the funeral on his social media account, stating in the caption that the ceremony was held modestly following his mother’s wishes. She wanted him to save money for university rather than spend it on her funeral.
On Saturday, March 22, Sisawat visited Ice’s home, where he found Ice and his grandparents dressed in black, sitting in front of a coffin.
When questioned about his mother’s death, Ice denied it and claimed he had held the funeral as part of a study on Isaan traditional ceremonies.
The teenager further alleged that a teacher instructed him to organise a traditional funeral as a homework assignment.
Sisawat contacted the school to verify this claim but discovered that no such lesson or homework had been assigned to any students. Sisawat then opened the coffin and found a banana trunk inside, so he ordered Ice to stop what he was doing.
Ice set fire to the coffin the following day, Sunday. However, he continued with his deception, posting a picture of the burning coffin on social media along with a farewell message to his mother.
He emphasised in the caption that the money received from the funeral would go towards his university education.
This raised concerns among locals, who suspected Ice had faked his mother’s death and funeral to gain financial support, whether for his studies or other reasons.
To avoid further questioning from residents and teachers, Ice entered monkhood at a temple far from the community.
Ice’s 74 year old grandmother, Dueandee, defended him and took responsibility for the incident.
She explained to residents and community leaders that a fortune teller had advised her to perform a ritual to bring good luck to her daughter.
Dueandee stated that the fake funeral had been held to ward off an evil spirit from Ice’s mother’s life. She admitted fault for failing to inform the community leader and neighbours about the ritual.
Ice, who is now a novice, reiterated in an interview with Channel 7 that the true story was exactly as his grandmother had described.
He claimed he had informed his friends and teachers that it was a fake funeral, but had spoken too softly for them to hear.
Ice’s friends, however, insisted that he had never mentioned the funeral being fake. Despite their disappointment, they, along with the teachers, chose to forgive him.
It remains unclear how much money Ice managed to collect from the funeral or whether he intends to return it to those who gave it.
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