- A 65-year-old woman woke up inside her coffin moments before cremation
- She had been bedridden and was believed dead for two days
- Temple staff heard knocking from the sealed coffin
- Her brother had transported her 500km for a free cremation
A quiet cremation ceremony in Thailand turned into panic after a woman believed to be dead suddenly moved inside her coffin. The 65-year-old had been bedridden for years, and relatives thought she had passed away two days earlier.
The temple manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said the team was preparing the body when a strange sound came from the coffin.
“I asked them to open it, and everyone froze. She opened her eyes slightly and kept knocking. She must have been knocking for a long time.” Pairat Soodthoop
Her brother told officials that she became unresponsive and seemed to stop breathing. Believing she had died, he drove her nearly 500 kilometres to Bangkok so her organs could be donated.
But the hospital refused to receive her because there was no death certificate. With no money for a burial, he took her to a temple offering free cremations.
Minutes later, staff heard the faint bangs that saved her life.
After discovering she was still alive, temple workers rushed her to a nearby hospital for emergency care. The temple has promised to pay all her treatment costs.
The strange incident has renewed calls for proper medical confirmation of death before any burial or cremation takes place.
