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If a baby dies during birth, the attendants usually smear the corpse of the child with soot or red lime on the face or arm or the buttocks, or any part they choose. This is a marker so that when the child reenters the womb and is born again it will be recognized as the same person, for the child that is reborn will have a birthmark on its body at the place where the marker was smeared. If the child born later has a black birthmark, it means that the corpse was marked with soot; if it has a red birthmark, it means that it was marked with red lime.

The corpse of the child is then covered temporarily with a net; this is a prevention against the dead child becoming an evil spirit which will do harm to the mother. The mother is also given a magic thread which is tied around her wrist. Most people fear that after a child dies at birth that there is a danger that it might try and take the mother with it.

Then they invite a witchdoctor to come and "do up" the corpse of the child. During a ceremony, he places the corpse of the child in a large earthenware pot, makes a cabalistic design at the bottom of the pot, and then covers the mouth of the pot with a square white cloth of adequate size, tying it with a magic cord. Then he sinks the pot in water or buries it.

Source of information: "Essays on Cultural Thailand" published by the Office of the National Culture Commission: