Free Funeral Service Society


The Free Funeral Service Society, a civil society organisation based on Yangon, Myanmar, founded by Burmese film director Thukha, provides free funeral services for the poor in Yangon Region. It was founded on 1 January 2001 by film director Thukha and is headed by many prominent persons in the entertainment industry, including actor Kyaw Thu. FFSS has helped fund more than 100,000 funerals since it first started.
In 2006, FFSS opened a free health care clinic called Thukha. In 2009, its free clinic was ordered by a local court to be closed, after being forcibly relocated from Thingangyun Township to North Dagon Township in Yangon's outlying suburbs. In September 2010, FFSS opened Thukha Ahara, a low cost restaurant in Yangon's North Dagon Township. In 2011, it opened another clinic in Bago Region's Pyay Township.
It applied for government registration in 2008 but has yet to be approved, as of November 2012.
On January 8th, 2017, FFSS marked its 16th anniversary by opening a low-cost dialysis centre. Because of the cost of dialysis, FFSS will not be able to extend the services for free, but they will offer them at a much-reduced cost. "Thanks to our donors, we were able to buy new equipment and medicine for dialysis. But the course of treatment is very expensive, so we cannot offer services free of charge. A private clinic would charge K80,000, and we will offer the treatment for K25,000," said U Kyaw Thu.