In the ancient Khmer Kingdom, a stone castle like the Angkor Wat was built to contain the remains of a royal person. The stone castle is, infact, the royal crematorium called in Thai, Phra Meru Mat. The crematorium will be dismantled after the Cremation ceremony. In the old days, the King was believed to be the reincarnation of a god whose celestial abode was on Mount Meru, the centre of the universe in the Buddhist cosmology. The crematorium, thus, represents Mount Meru.

     Apart from the royal crematorium, resembling a tiny pagoda-topped palace building, there are also several structures around it. Among them is Sala Songtham, the Royal Sermon-Attending Pavilion, where the King listens to the sermons and performs all the religious rites preceeding the cremation. Midway, on either side of the crematorium's enclosure is a gateway. Running on either side of each gate are ceremonial fences called Ratchawat, meaning royal fence.

     In former times, royal crematoriums are said to have been built on a grander scale with much pomp and circumstance. The last one, built on a full scale, was for King Mongkut or Rama IV of the Bangkok Perild. King Chulalongkorn, Rama V, and King Vajiravudh, Rama VI, left instructions for their own cremations to the effect that the royal crematoriums should be smaller in size, certain ceremonies should be scaled down and the period of the ceremonies shortened to suit the circumstances. These instructions have also been adhered to for the monarchs of subsequent reigns.

      The crematorium for the late Princess Mother was 30.50 metres high, excluding the Seven-Tiered White Umbrella of State, or the Saptapadon Sawettachat. It was 26.70 metres in width and 36.30 metres in length. The wooden structure consisted of two terraces. The lower terrace was decorated with 20 sculptures of Deva, the heavenly beings holding ceremonial fans. There were 12 stairways on four sides. Each stairway comprised nine steps. The upper terrace was decorated with 24 open umbrellas made of gold and there were 14-steps inside. The red and gold colours were mainly used to deccorate the royal crematorium in accordance with the Thai architectural form. The north and south wings were longer than the east and west wings.

     All four wings had superimposed double rooves with the initials of the late Princess Mother on the gables. In addition to the Sala Songtham, there were several pavilions for members of the Royal Family, the Privy Council, high-ranking officials and diplomatic corps.

     The royal remains of the Princess Mother were encased in a royal urn called Phra Kot-Phra Long. The royal urn consisted of a gold ornamented outer urn and an unadorned inner one. It was placed on a vehicle called Phra Yannamat Sam Lamkhan, a Golden Palanquin with Three Ploes, made of teak wood, exquisitely carved. Two shifts of pole-bearers were needed to carry the palanquin. Each shift requires 60 people. After the royal urn was transferred to the three-poled palanquin, the royal creamtion procession started to move from the Grand Palace towards the Phra Maha Phichai Ratcharot, the Great Royal Carriage of Victory, in front of Wat Phra Chetuphon, slao known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The royal urn was later drawn up to Butsabok, a roofed throne, on the Phra Maha Phichai Ratcharot, ready to be moved to the Sanam Luang ceremonial site where the royal crematorium is located.

     The Phra Maha Phichai Ratcharot is 1,530 centimetres long. It was built during the reign of King Rama I. Ratcharot Noi, the Small Royal Carriage, also took part in the royal cremation procession and was used by the Supreme Patriarch allowing him to sit for the duration of the royal cremation procession.

     The Seven-Tiered White Umbrella of State used in the cremation of the Princess Mother is made of white cloth with gold bands reserved as the regalia of a Queen or a Crown Prince.