Woman found alive after knocking on coffin moments before cremation in Thailand

A 65-year-old Thai woman, who was believed to be dead, shocked temple staff when she started moving and knocking on her coffin after being brought in for cremation in Thailand.

Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, shared a video on its Facebook page showing a woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pickup truck, slightly moving her arms and head, leaving staff stunned.

Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, told The Associated Press on Monday that the supposedly deceased woman’s brother drove her from the province of Phitsanulok to be cremated.

Soodthoop said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin.

“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he 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.”

Soodthoop said the woman’s brother placed her in a coffin and made the 500-kilometre journey to a hospital in Bangkok, where the woman had reportedly expressed a wish to donate her organs.

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The brother said his sister had been bedridden for about two years when her health deteriorated and she became unresponsive. He also claimed his sister appeared to have stopped breathing two days earlier, according to Soodthoop.

The hospital refused to accept the woman without an official death certificate, Soodthoop said.

Soodthoop’s temple provides free cremation service, which he believes is why the man came to them on Sunday. He was refused due to the missing death certificate.

While the temple manager was explaining to the brother how to get a death certificate, they heard the knocking from inside the coffin. Staff opened the coffin and assessed the woman before sending her to a nearby hospital.

Soodthoop said the temple would cover the woman’s medical expenses. She remains alive in hospital.

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Similar instances have occurred in the past, where individuals were later found alive after being placed in a coffin or buried in the ground.

Police in northern China charged a man with attempted murder in May 2020 after he allegedly buried his mother in an abandoned grave, where she was found traumatized but alive after three days covered by loose dirt.

The man’s wife told police her husband carried his mother away in a wheelbarrow on May 2. When she failed to return three days later, police were informed. The man was placed in detention in Shaanxi province’s Jingbian county.

Rescuers said despite the woman’s ordeal, she was faintly calling for help as she was freed, according to a police statement.

— With files from The Associated Press

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