Buddhist rites were held on Monday for the dead Bruda whale that was found washed up in a mangrove forest in Samut Prakan's Bang Poo area on Sunday.
Members of the Upper Gulf of Thailand Conservation Group and local residents hauled the carcass from the mangrove to an area two kilometres away, where four monks from Wat Tamru performed funeral rites.
Later in the day, the carcass was autopsied to find the cause of death, before its skeletal remains were sent to the National Science Museum in Pathum Thani's Klong Luang district, where it will be put on display.
Veterinarian Sunantinee Poonsawat said the whale was female, about 11 metres long and weighed about 10 tonnes. No injuries were found on the exterior of the body, though the second right rib was broken. A bruise was also found near the chin, while the heart and lungs had rotted away, she said.
Chalathip Chanchompoo, director of a marine and coastal resources research centre for the eastern coast, said the whale's DNA will be checked to see if it matches that of the 50 or so whales that inhabit the Gulf of Thailand.