Private Thai funeral for man after passport error resolved

A funeral service has taken place for a man whose body had been stuck at a Thai hospital following a mix-up over passport numbers.

The family of David Donoghue, 75, said he faced being placed in a mass cremation on Wednesday over the issue.

Stepdaughter Gemma Swift said an agreement to release his body was finally reached between the British Embassy and hospital.

It meant a private funeral service and cremation was carried out instead.

Ms Swift, from Abergele, Conwy, had previously told BBC Wales of the family's despair after an administrative hitch nearly saw her stepfather's body included in the mass service, which would have left his ashes mingled with those of other people.

The mix-up happened when Mr Donoghue had been taken to hospital in Phuket, where he lived for 15 years after retiring to Thailand from his home in Bury, Greater Manchester.

He had taken a passport with him to hospital, but it was an old one which had an expired number on it.

When his family tried to get his body released to local funeral directors following his death, the paperwork needed from the British Embassy showed his current passport number, and because they did not match the hospital was unable to authorise the release.

But following appeals by his family, it was agreed his body could finally be released and a private funeral service at a Buddhist temple and cremation took place on Wednesday.

"It was a beautiful service, for a beautiful man and we are glad to have been able to have a funeral service that did his memory justice," said Ms Swift.

"It was hugely important to us that we could celebrate his life with a funeral in line with his beliefs and return his ashes to his family."

Ms Swift and her family hope to bring Mr Donoghue's ashes back to the UK, and return to Thailand when Covid travel restrictions are lifted to scatter his remains, as he wished.