18 young Nong Bua Lamphu victims dressed for dream jobs on their final journey

A royal-sponsored mass cremation was held on Tuesday morning at Wat Rat Samakee for 19 of the 36 victims of the Nong Bua Lamphu massacre. Of those cremated on Tuesday, 18 were toddlers who had been slayed in their sleep at a nursery in the Northeast province’s Na Klang district.

The 19th victim cremated at the temple was an eight-month pregnant teacher from the Tambon Uthai Sawan Administration Organisation’s nursery where the massacre took place.

Volunteers from the Song Serm Dharma Udon Thani Foundation delivered 18 costumes for the young victims, including a tiny police officer’s uniform for the foetus.

According to Thai traditional beliefs, when a woman who is late into her pregnancy dies, the foetus is removed from the womb and cremated separately. This is so the mother can rest in peace and not return as an “angry soul”.

The costumes prepared for the young victims included uniforms of doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters and even astronauts.

Some 40 volunteers from the foundation helped change the victims’ clothes before placing their bodies on the 19 makeshift pyres built on the temple grounds.

The Nangta Shop in Lampang, which was contacted by the foundation to prepare the costumes, decided to tailor them for free.

Pol Lt-Colonel Santichai Simai, who owns the shop, said he called on other tailors in Lampang to help so the uniforms could be prepared in time for the cremation. He added that the tiny police officer’s uniform for the foetus was the toughest to make.

Akkarit Muangmunkong, the foundation’s deputy chief, said when the bodies were being moved from Udon Thani after the autopsy on Monday, the parents told the foundation that they wanted their children to be dressed in uniforms of their dream professions.

He said the foundation then searched for a tailor and found that the Nangta Shop could make them. The costumes were delivered on Tuesday morning, just in time for the rites. He added that the father of the unborn child told the foundation that he wanted his baby to be dressed in a police uniform.

Foundation volunteers said dressing the toddlers for their cremation was the most emotionally harrowing experience, though they were thankful for all the help they got.

The 18 two- to five-year-olds were among the 23 toddlers killed by sacked police officer Panya Khamrab, 34, on Thursday. He murdered 36 people in a deadly rampage that began in the nursery where the youngsters were taking their midday nap.

He then killed several more people on his way home, where he slayed his wife and son before turning the gun on himself.