[cokLoolioli]

No the monks were from Columbus & Detroit. I only named a couple things. There were about 15-18 different items that had to be placed in the casket prior to burning according to them. Each item represented something. They had to put the money in so he would be rich in his next life, gold so that he would immediately have enough to as a down payment for building materials on his 'new house'. Several pounds of rice so he wouldn't get hungry, some small threads for him to make a fishing net on his journey so that he could catch fish as soon as he arrives. Some tied string (I don't remember why), a pillow so he could go to the temple right away upon arrival. Several other things I don't remember too.

The other items and their relation were just as ummm... subjective to which monk they asked. It reminds me when my aunt's husband left her for another woman. She paid many hundreds of US dollars for a monk to 'get him to come home'. She handed him the cash, he counted it & then he lit a candle. He chanted for about 3 minutes, made some strange faces and then handed her a flower and one of the candles he had lit. Then told her 'his spirit is too strong, he will never come home', and suggested another man's name for help (the other guy was about $1200USD) and he got up and walked out the house, got in his truck and drove away.

All the while he forgot to give her the money back, she still has the candle probably because it is the most expensive candle she ever paid for. She was naive enough to pay the other guy for his services with the same result. That was in Atlanta, Georgia.

One of the Lao guys I know has a tattoo on his back, it was suggested by a monk for protection. He had paid the monks for the design and ink. Right in the center of the temple the tattoo is damaged though, on the left side too. You know what happened? The left side is from shrapnal the damage in the center is from a bullet that went into his spine. So much for the protection huh?