Neramit Srimuang is an undertaker, but he's a sharp-dressed undertaker - he's Sappareu hi-so. That doesn't mean he actually handles the funerals of the rich and famous, but at Wat Buakwan in Nonthaburi's Muang district, he's the one in the suit and tie. It's not exactly the usual get-up for his profession.

"I really wanted to make a drastic change three years ago because some of my friends were looking down on me and my job," Neramit says. "People just assume that, since I work with dead bodies, I'm a dirty person. Sometimes I'm not even invited to the mourners' meal at the temple, and the next of kin speak to me rudely or even express disgust."

The suit and tie, he believes, counter the perception of undertakers as spooky and grimy. "To me, being well dressed is a way to show respect to the funeral host as well as to the dead."

It certainly got people's attention. Neramit was the subject of a lengthy column in Plaek Bunleulok magazine, which covers all things weird, and that's where he got the nickname Sappareu hi-so.

The name caught on, to such an extent that Neramit is using it for the title of his second look thung (upcountry music) album, now in production.

Meanwhile he's just finishing an album of dharma songs, proceeds from which will go to charity. That's being formally released on March 10 at Wat Buakwan. The 12 songs - two of them written by popular composer Saowalak "Am" Leelabutr - all have lyrics about following the dharma.

"Am and I had met a few times and she's a regular donor at the temple. She voluntarily wrote me the songs," Neramit says.

The "Sappareu hi-so" album opens with a song of the same name that tells Neramit's own story, revealing a past that's very different from the present.

With a wife and two children, a large home and a car, Neramit lives a good life on his Bt20,000 monthly income. His pay isn't the result of any university degrees, but hard work. He's handled 500 cremations in the past three years and also runs a small car-accessories shop and works part-time organising Buddhist ceremonies.

Compare his comfort today with how he started out: When he was six his parents separated and both left him behind. Neramit wandered from Wat Klang Ratbumrung in Chachoengsao's Ban Pho district to other temples, scraping by on little food and no education.

"I never feel any anger toward my parents," he says. "I understand that if a couple can't stay together they have to separate.

"I just sometimes envied other kids living with their parents."

He's since been reunited with his folks.

"Now that I'm better off I never forget my parents, and stay in touch with them. I meet them once in a while."

Neramit the temple boy became a novice and, after 16 years in the temples, he finished Prathom 6. By then he'd learned everything there is to learn about a temple.

He became an undertaker's assistant and helped at other Buddhist rites and then in 1995, in a bid for a better standard of living, he went into show business.

He won a supporting role in the film "Phan Mahba", starring Ampol Lamphun, and was a stuntman in Arisaman Pongruengrong's "Jai For" music video.

"But that career didn't last long. It was kind of come and go."

In 1997 Neramit, once again jobless, went back to the temple. At Wat Buakwan he was ordained as a monk and continued his studies under the supervision of Phrakru Sirisuta Sangkarn. Upon leaving the monkhood in 2002, Neramit took over as the temple's undertaker.

"Neramit was one of my students and now he's a temple official," says Phra Khru Sirisuta. "He has a good heart and he likes helping those less fortunate than him. I'm glad he can do this job at such a young age. Most undertakers are quite elderly."

Young he is, and a fast learner. Neramit regularly urges mourners to swap the habit of sending floral wreaths for donations to the temple as a show of condolence instead.

"A donation can be anything - chairs, tables, dishes - stuff that can be used again and again."

And without words, Neramit is showing them that they needn't look down on undertakers.

"It's a decent, honourable profession that involves a great deal of sacrifice."

Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation