In Thailand, the remains of over 30,000 poor people who have died and not been identified over the past ten years were gathered together in Bangkok on Sunday (16 November) for a religious ceremony and mass cremation.
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GV People enter Temple Don in Bangkok, thailand, lined with letters of comfort to the dead.
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SV Statue of "Supreme being" PULL BACK TO Wide SHOT.
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SVs People making offerings in front of statue. (2 shots)
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GV ZOOM IN TO SV Pyramid of human skulls in temple, piles of skulls in basket PAN TO skeletons propped up in baskets. (3 SHOTS)
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GV Women in white robes praying for dead souls.
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SV Skeletons propped in boxes PULL OUT GV mourners looking on.
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GV PAN ACROSS Rows of skulls in front of temple
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SV Tracking shots woman spraying skulls.
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GV People praying outside temple.
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SV Skulls PAN DOWN TO Skeleton of child in box.
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GV PAN ACROSS Skulls and temple. (2 SHOTS)
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Background: In Thailand, the remains of over 30,000 poor people who have died and not been identified over the past ten years were gathered together in Bangkok on Sunday (16 November) for a religious ceremony and mass cremation. The remains also included many whose relatives are unable to be found.
SYNOPSIS: Lining the entrance to the Temple Don in Thailand's capital were letters sent to comfort the souls who have died. On the day of the religious ceremony, people made offerings in front of the statue of the Supreme Being. The Poh Teck Tung Foundation, a local Chinese philanthropic group, organised the ceremony and the mass cremation next day.
The remains were dug from city cemeteries and cleansed by volunteers, mostly chinese. It's the eighth time since 1936 that the Poh Teck Tung Foundation has organised a mass cremation for the unidentified poor. The remains of 30,574 people were cremated the next day. The last mass cremation took place in 1971 and involved the remains of over 29,000 people.
The Temple Don was open to all who wished to pray for the souls of the dead. The remains are of those who died without the benefit of religious rites. For years they've remained unclaimed in morgues and temporary graves.
The Poh Teck Tung Foundation has been helped by 30 other organisations to provide a religious ceremony and cremation for thousands of unknown people.
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