Temples build makeshift brick pyres for cremation of Nong Bua Lamphu massacre victims

The temple, located some 3 kilometres from the scene of the bloodshed in Uthai Sawan district, will cremate 19 of the victims on Tuesday.

“We could not use normal means because there is a large number of bodies, so the idea of makeshift pyres came up. We only have one furnace at the temple,” abbot Phra Khru Adisai Kijjanuwat said. “It’s an old tradition where bodies are burned in an open-air pyre instead of a crematorium.”

The monk said 19 pyres had been built in his temple, and similar arrangements were being made at two other temples nearby. He added that five families have chosen to hold their funeral services separately.

In a gun and knife rampage on Thursday, an ex-cop killed 36 people including 22 young children. The former policeman, identified as 34-year-old Panya Kamrap, later killed himself, so a clear motive for the killings may never be determined. Investigators believe financial and marital problems as well as a history of drug use may have been factors behind the killings.

This is one of Thailand’s worst child death tolls in recent history.