Thai woman found alive in coffin after being brought in for cremation
A woman in Thailand who was set for cremation was found alive after temple staff noticed movements from the coffin.
According to an Associated Press report, the 65-year-old woman’s brother transported her from the province of Phitsanulok to the Wat Rat Prakhong Tham Buddhist temple in the Nonthaburi province for a cremation ritual.
Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, recalled hearing 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 told AP news.
In a livestream of the cremations, which the temple does as part of its community services as per The Independent, the woman was shown lying in a white coffin in the back of her brother’s pickup truck. The temple staff recounted that she was slightly moving her arms and head.
“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 Thai woman’s brother explained that she had been bedridden for two years, and she stopped breathing for two days.
"I've cared for my sister for three years. Officials told us she had died. All the documents had been issued, so we placed her in a coffin and brought her to the temple for cremation," he told reporters, according to the Bangkok Post.
The brother brought the woman to a hospital, as her final wish was to donate her organs. However, the hospital rejected the brother’s offer due to a missing official death certificate.
Soodthoop’s temple offers a free cremation service, which prompted the brother to visit. However, he was also refused due to the missing certificate.
Soodthoop told the AP that the temple will shoulder all the medical bills.
A doctor said that the woman showed no signs of suffering cardiac arrest or respiratory failure. However, she had severe hypoglycemia or low blood sugar.
She has received treatment and was placed under close medical supervision, as per the Bangkok Post.