On March 5, speaking with VietNamNet reporter, Mr. Le Quang Huy, Vice Chairman of Nam Dinh City People's Committee, said that he had received an explanation report from Thanh Binh An Lac Vien Joint Stock Company about people complaining about being forced to buy urns of ashes at high prices.

According to this report, the company does not prohibit people from bringing coffins from outside to contain cremated ashes.

Previously, in October 2022, Thanh Binh Cremation Station under Thanh Binh Company (formerly known as Hoang Long Funeral Service Joint Stock Company) banned people from bringing wooden coffins when coming to cremate.

From January 2023 to now, when the company reorganized its apparatus, the ban on bringing coffins was removed, and the company allowed people to bring in their own coffins.

However, Thanh Binh Company said that the ceramic and porcelain coffins brought by people are often of unknown origin; the quality is not guaranteed, and cracks and breaks occur during the delivery process, causing difficulties for staff to arrange the bones... and glue must be used to fix the cracks. The company recommends that people buy at least 1 urn at the monument to ensure the best placement of bones and safety during transportation.

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Thanh Binh An Lac Vien Joint Stock Company where the incident occurred. Photo: Bao Khanh

Regarding the additional cost of 3.5 million VND if you want to get beautiful bones, according to Thanh Binh Company, after normal cremation, all will become ashes. However, many families want to keep the bones intact for the deceased.

Cremation to preserve the bones takes twice as long and costs twice as much as regular cremation. Therefore, the company has advised people that the cost of cremation to preserve the bones is 3 million VND, in addition to the regular cremation cost. When people agree to use the cremation service to preserve the bones and have a need, the company will provide it, not force it.

However, Thanh Binh Company admitted that during the service consultation, the consultant used the phrase "beautiful bone removal" which was inappropriate and would be corrected immediately.

Thanh Binh Company also said that the lowest price for the company's urns and coffins is 2.5 million VND. The information posted on Facebook reflecting that the company's urns and coffins are priced at 10 million VND is incorrect. For high-end products, they are all 24k gold-plated and fully tested, and are custom-made according to the company's requirements for customers in need.

Thanh Binh Company confirmed in the report that there is no cremation service with a price of 8 million VND or 10 million VND. The cremation service price of 4.5 million VND has been disseminated to funeral service units and publicly posted at the crematorium, this is the basic package.

People are angry

On the morning of March 5, Mr. Duong Cong Vien (residing in Truc Ninh district, Nam Dinh province, a relative in the incident), said that the incident happened on the 3rd day of the 2nd lunar month (March 2, 2025 in the solar calendar).

"In my hometown, when there is a funeral, there are cremation services provided by the canvas team (theaters) for 4.5 million VND. However, when the family is brought up and put into the crematorium, the cemetery shows them pictures of the deceased's bones. They show them two different pictures, one of the bones is almost crushed, the other is intact, so they have to pay another 3.5 million VND, at this point the family agrees," said Mr. Vien.

However, Mr. Vien said the reason his family was upset was because of the part where they "forced" him to buy the coffin and urn: "My family agreed to buy the coffin for 10.5 million VND. But the staff here did not agree to let the family buy that coffin because it was small and recommended buying a more expensive coffin," Mr. Vien said.

According to Mr. Vien, before consulting on the "beautiful bone removal" service package, they should also advise that when using this service, you have to buy a large penis at a large price.

"My family only wanted to buy a coffin for 10.5 million VND, but the staff did not agree. At that time, my family intended to go out to buy a coffin, but they did not agree here. Seeing us being so tense, they let us meet the manager in the area selling urns. The manager explained that the family should imagine this was a house, and buy a more spacious one for the old man to live in. But my father decided to buy a coffin for 10.5 million VND, when the ashes were finished, there would still be enough for my grandmother," said Mr. Vien.