A 65-year-old woman in Thailand left mourners and temple workers stunned after she began moving inside her coffin moments before her scheduled cremation. The bizarre event unfolded on Monday at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple located in Nonthaburi Province, near Bangkok.
According to the Associated Press, a video shared on the temple’s official Facebook page showed the woman lying in a white coffin before her arms and head began to move. Shocked temple members immediately halted the cremation ceremony.
Temple Staff Heard Knocking from Inside the Coffin
Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, confirmed that the woman had been brought in by her brother from Phitsanulok Province, about 300 miles away, to be cremated. Soodthoop said temple staff heard a faint knocking sound coming from the coffin, prompting him to have it opened.
He recalled seeing the woman move her arms and head, realizing she was still alive. The video, which quickly went viral in Thailand, captured the moment of shock and disbelief among those in the temple.
Family Believed Woman Had Died Days Earlier
Pairat explained that the woman’s brother told temple officials that she had been bedridden for two years due to declining health and had stopped breathing two days earlier. Believing she had passed away, he placed her in a coffin and began driving to Bangkok, where she had reportedly wished to donate her organs.
However, the hospital refused to accept the donation because he did not have an official death certificate. The brother then drove to the temple to arrange a free cremation, offered by Wat Rat Prakhong Tham. Before the cremation could begin, temple staff again heard the muffled knocking inside the coffin. When they opened it, they found the woman still breathing faintly.
She was immediately transported to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment, and the temple offered to cover her medical expenses.