Advertisement
Thailand
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Thai woman ‘wakes up’ in coffin before cremation at Bangkok temple: ‘everyone was startled’

Woman wakes in coffin before cremation; organ donation attempt by her brother halted by missing death certificate

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
1
An emergency rescue team transport an elderly woman to a local hospital after she was found alive, having been declared deceased prior to her scheduled cremation on Sunday. Photo: Wat Rat Prakhong Tham/AP
Associated Press

A woman in Thailand shocked temple staff when she started moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation.

Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, posted 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 temple staff bewildered.

Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, said on Monday that the 65-year-old woman’s brother drove her from the province of Phitsanulok to be cremated.

Advertisement

He 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.”

01:24

Thai woman ‘wakes up’ in coffin before cremation at Bangkok temple

Thai woman ‘wakes up’ in coffin before cremation at Bangkok temple

According to Pairat, the brother said his sister had been bedridden for about two years, when her health deteriorated and she became unresponsive, appearing to stop breathing two days ago.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x