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Regulations for Body Donation

Body Donation to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital For educational purposes, medical procedure training, research, and medical treatment.

To ensure that the process of body donation for education, research, and medical treatment is conducted smoothly and in accordance with the donor’s intent, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital has established the following regulations:
  • Individuals wishing to donate their body must be of legal age (20 years or older). If under 20, written consent from a guardian, along with a copy of the house registration, is required.
  • Upon the donor’s death, the legal heirs have the right to object to the donation without legal penalty. The hospital will make no further claims on the body.
  • If the legal heirs agree to donate the body after the donor’s death, they should contact the hospital for body collection at the Death Collection Center at 083-8299917, available 24 hours.
  • The hospital can only collect the body if a death certificate issued by the district office where the death occurred, or a death confirmation issued by a hospital doctor or investigating police officer, is provided. (Relatives should submit the death certificate as soon as it is available or fax it to 02-2527028 ext. 1 or 2).
  • The hospital will collect bodies within Bangkok and surrounding areas, including Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Samut Sakhon, and Nakhon Pathom (some districts within 80 km).
  • For donors in other provinces, the hospital requests that the relatives store the body in a cooling box or place at least two ice packs on the abdomen, covered with a blanket, before delivering the body to the Department of Anatomy. If the body is unsuitable for study, the hospital will ask the family to retrieve it for traditional funeral rites.
  • Once the hospital has received the donor’s body, the family cannot reclaim it for ceremonial purposes, as this may compromise the body’s condition for educational use.
  • The heirs should provide contact information to the body collection staff so the hospital can notify the family after the medical students, doctors, and researchers have completed their study of the body. If the contact details change, the new address should be promptly provided to the Department of Anatomy.
  • The hospital guarantees confidentiality and respectful treatment of the donor’s body in accordance with cultural traditions.
  • Once the legal heirs agree to donate the body, it becomes the property of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital by law.
  • The Department of Anatomy will use the body for the following purposes:
    1. Medical student and resident education.
    2. Medical procedure training.
    3. Medical research.
    4. Education for other health science students.
    5. Tissue preservation for medical treatment.
  • Bodies donated for education, medical procedure training, research, and treatment will be cremated with a royal cremation ceremony unless the family wishes to arrange a separate ceremony. The family must submit a written request for this upon being contacted by the Department of Anatomy.
  • The hospital cannot accept body donations in the following cases:
    1. Death occurred more than 20 hours ago unless stored in a hospital’s cold room.
    2. Major surgery resulting in the loss of vital organs (except the eyes).
    3. Death caused by cancer spreading to the head and brain, chest, abdomen, immune deficiency (AIDS), hepatitis, tuberculosis, or rabies.
    4. Death from an accident that severely damaged the body.
    5. The body is involved in a legal case requiring autopsy.
    6. The body is deformed with bent arms or legs, or has decayed with a strong odor.

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