Stiff death fees leave elderly expats rolling in g

[..]

It's not just farangs who have problems in LoS!

 

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From the WaiWai column of the Mainichi Daily News which gets :up: from SD as quality reading material!

 

Stiff death fees leave elderly expats rolling in grave

 

By Ryann Connell

Staff Writer

 

August 22, 2004

 

Hundreds of thousands of elderly Japanese are heading for mostly warmer climes across the globe to laze away their twilight years, but few consider what's involved if they drop off while living outside their homeland, Shukan Jitsuwa (9/2) notes.

 

Dying outside of Japan means a flood of red ink for bereaved relatives and death is as hard on the wallet as it is on the heart.

 

"We have about one funeral a week," a priest from a Japanese Buddhist temple in Thailand tells Shukan Jitsuwa.

 

About 30,000 Japanese old age pensioners have deserted Japan's uncertain future in favor of life in the Land of Smiles. When their smiles are wiped permanently, those cleaning up after them are required to pick up a death certificate, which has to be filed with the government back in Japan.

 

Thailand doesn't have burials as such, but many Japanese want their remains sent back to their homeland, anyway, which requires even more paperwork. To do that, they'll need a certificate authorizing cremation, and another document guaranteeing that the ashes are actually human remains, a step taken because unscrupulous drug traffickers have used urns supposed to contain somebody's remnants to hide contraband instead.

 

Upon returning to Japan, the cremation and death certificates need to be translated into Japanese then presented first to the embassy in which the death occurred and then to the local government offices.

 

If all the paperwork is not enough to want to drive one to seek immortality, the cost may help.

 

"Human remains are categorized differently from normal cargo, so the cost of transporting them can run as high as 1 million yen," a source from a company that arranges for permanent overseas moves for Japanese tells Shukan Jitsuwa. "This cost is another huge blow to a family already hit hard by grief."

 

Australia, another popular destination for Japan's silver set, can be just as pricey, with costs for dealing with a dead body fairly hefty. Cremations cost about 75,000 yen, and another 50,000 yen if the ashes are buried. A grave plot catering to two will set back the buyer an average of about 400,000 yen. Buying a grave, though, is another bureaucratic quagmire.

 

There are also suspicions that Aussies charge "Japanese prices," a premium surcharge inspired by the belief that setting sons from the Land of the Rising Sun are suckers for a bad deal, especially when it comes to going down under forever.

 

Considering Thailand, Australia and other havens for Nipponese wrinklies such as Spain and the Philippines make a hefty bank balance part of the requirements for issuing long-term visas, these "Japanese prices" have apparently become pretty much standard wherever large groups of elderly Japanese retire. Sudden deaths can create some problems apart from the obvious ones like dying.

 

"Probably the biggest reason these countries issue long-term visas for retirees is that they want rich foreigners to come into their country and spend up big to boost the local economy," a researcher on pensioner emigrants tells Shukan Jitsuwa. "Nobody from these countries ever says it, but what they really want is that the Japanese go back to Japan as soon as their money has run out."

 

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Cheers.

SD

[Khun_Kong]

"Stiff death fees"

 

"...death is as hard on the wallet as it is on the heart. "

 

"...setting sons from the Land of the Rising Sun are suckers for a bad deal, especially when it comes to going down under forever."

 

"...havens for Nipponese wrinklies..."

 

"Sudden deaths can create some problems apart from the obvious ones like dying. "

 

 

 

Nice laugh, SD. This journalist should co-author with Boonlua Chatree, of the Pattaya Mail

 

From this week's Pattaya Mail:

 

Baht bus drivers fined for erratic parking outside police station

 

Police didn?t need to travel far to apprehend the culprits

 

Boonlua Chatree

 

On duty Pattaya police received a call from a motorist at around 1 a.m. on August 14 complaining about the line of songtaews (baht bus taxis) blocking half the road from Soi 7 down to the police station. The taxis were waiting for prospective customers and creating huge traffic snarls.

 

Pol. Lt. Col. Sumet Harnwisai, the on-duty criminal investigation inspector, showed tremendous civic responsibility and actually got up from his desk and walked to the front of the station to find that the complaint was valid.

 

Drivers of buses 237, 629, 507, 108 and 526, in all five drivers, were hauled into the station. Their licenses were confiscated and each driver was fined 200 baht for double parking and creating unnecessary traffic problems. The five men were released with a warning to smarten up.

 

A witness noted that songtaew drivers are notorious for their bad road manners and cause numerous traffic snarls throughout the city by stopping to pick up passengers without warning, as opposed to doing so designated stopping points. (Of course, it might help if they actually had designated stopping points.) He went on to say that other motorists despise this behavior and to date relevant officials have taken no firm action to curb this slack attitude. Hopefully this could be the beginning.

[..]

Thanks KK. The kicker on the WaiWai column is that the stories are all true, gleaned from the weeks papers from all over Japan. I have to wonder if the Japanese versions are that funny originally or it is just the liberties taken during translteration?

 

Cheers,

SD

[New Petchburi Pete]

Interesting piece.

Do you have any info regarding Americans who might pass away while in LOS ? Is it possible/acceptable to file paperwork with the U.S. Embassy to 'authorize' cremation and disbursement of ashes in LOS in order to avoid the high cost of returning remains to the U.S. ?

Thanks if you have any insight on this.

[..]

Now Pete, don't start thinking like that! But if you insist, try here.

 

Cheers,

SD

[Lusty]

I've discussed this issue with the Village Idiot.If something unfortunate should happen to him,I'm to smuggle his ashes out of Los in an empty Sang Som bottle .