A 65-year-old woman in Thailand was discovered alive inside her coffin at a Buddhist temple, moments before her scheduled cremation. Staff at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham in Nonthaburi, near Bangkok, heard faint knocking and saw the woman moving her arms and head, prompting them to open the coffin.
The woman's brother had driven her 500 kilometres from Phitsanulok province, believing she had died two days earlier after her health deteriorated. He placed her in a coffin and intended to donate her organs to a Bangkok hospital, but was refused as he lacked an official death certificate.
Pairat Soodthoop, the temple's manager, said the brother then sought free cremation services at the temple on Sunday. While explaining the need for a death certificate, staff heard knocking from the coffin. 'I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time,' Pairat told the Associated Press.
The woman was assessed at the scene and sent to a nearby hospital. The temple's abbot has offered to cover her medical expenses. The brother had reported that his sister had been bedridden for two years and became unresponsive before being placed in the coffin.
