A 65-year-old Thai woman who had been brought to a temple for cremation was discovered alive inside her coffin just moments before the ceremony was set to begin.
The woman, identified by Thai media as Chonthirat Sakulkoo, had reportedly stopped breathing two days earlier at her home in Phitsanulok province, where she had been bedridden for nearly two years.
Believing she had died, her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo, placed her in a coffin and drove more than 300 miles (500 km) to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a temple on the outskirts of Bangkok that provides free cremation services.
Temple manager Pairat Soodthoop said he heard a faint knocking from inside the coffin just before the scheduled cremation—which was to be live-streamed.
“I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was shocked,” he said. “She was opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side. She must have been knocking for some time.”
According to local reports, the brother had previously been informed by officials in his hometown that his sister had died. He had attempted to honor her wish to donate her organs in Bangkok but was turned away due to missing documents, prompting him to seek cremation instead.
After being found alive, Chonthirat was taken to Bang Yai Hospital, where doctors treated her for hypoglycemia before discharging her back into her brother’s care. When asked about his reaction to learning she was alive, he reportedly told local media he felt ‘indifferent’.
Temple officials said they would cover her medical expenses.
