In parts of Thailand, thanks to a confluence of modern technology and traditional beliefs, a peculiar transport service has emerged. The anthropologist Scott Stonington calls them “spirit ambulances”. Some Thai Buddhists feel morally obliged to preserve the life of an ailing mother or father by any means possible — even if there is no realistic hope of recovery, and even if it goes against the parent’s own wishes. Yet these same Buddhists believe that death should occur in the home, in the presence of family. So the dying parent is kept at the hospital until the last moment, receiving the best treatment medicine can provide, before being whisked home in a specially designed vehicle, the spirit ambulance.
Read Full Article »
