A shocking incident in Thailand left temple workers stunned when a woman who was believed to be dead was found alive inside her coffin just moments before cremation.
The incident took place at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi province, on the outskirts of Bangkok. The temple shared a video on its Facebook page showing the woman lying inside a white coffin placed in the back of a pickup truck. In the video, she can be seen slightly moving her arms and head.
According to Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, the woman’s 65-year-old brother had driven her from Phitsanulok province to Bangkok to have her cremated.
While speaking with the family, temple staff suddenly heard a faint knocking sound coming from inside the coffin.
“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” Pairat said. “I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”
The brother explained that his sister had been bedridden for about two years and that her condition had worsened. Two days earlier, she became unresponsive and appeared to stop breathing, leading him to believe she had died.
He placed her in the coffin and made the 500-kilometer (300-mile) trip to a Bangkok hospital, as she had previously expressed a wish to donate her organs.
However, the hospital refused to accept her without an official death certificate. After that, the brother approached the temple because it offers free cremation services, but the temple also refused to proceed without the required documentation.
While Pairat was in the middle of explaining the process of obtaining a death certificate, they heard the knocking from the coffin.
Temple staff immediately assessed the woman’s condition and arranged for her to be transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. The temple’s abbot said the temple would cover her medical expenses.
The incident left many people deeply shaken and highlighted the dangers of declaring death without proper medical confirmation.
