Once a person passes, the body is washed and dressed in clean clothing by family members, often with a coin placed in the mouth — a remnant of the ancient belief that the dead require resources for their onward journey. The hands are arranged in a prayer position and bound with white thread, symbolising the continuity of devotion beyond death. A white cloth may be draped over the face, representing the veil between this world and the next.

The body is then placed in a coffin and brought to the temple, where it rests for a period that typically spans three, five, or seven days — auspicious odd numbers rooted in Buddhist numerology. Each evening during this period, monks gather at the temple to chant the suad mon, sacred Pali recitations that guide the spirit, generate merit for the deceased, and comfort those who mourn. Family and friends gather nightly, sharing food, stories, and prayers — transforming grief into collective remembrance.

The morning after cremation, family members return to the temple for the kep kraduuk — the gathering of the bones. Using chopsticks or their bare hands, they carefully collect the remaining bone fragments from the ashes, beginning from the feet and working upward toward the skull, mirroring the natural orientation of the body. This specific order is followed so that the spirit is reassembled correctly, preventing confusion in the afterlife.

The collected remains are placed in an urn and may be enshrined at a temple, kept in the family home on an ancestral altar, or — in a practice growing in popularity — scattered at sea or in a sacred river. Some families divide the ashes, keeping a portion close while dispersing the rest at a place of meaning to the deceased. In all cases, the spirit is believed to remain connected to the living through these physical remains, and regular merit-making ceremonies at the anniversary of the death maintain that bond across the years.