A 65-year-old Thai woman, believed to be a terrified temple worker in Bangkok, when they heard a faint knocking from her coffin after her brother brought her in for cremation.
Pairat Soodthoop, general and financial affairs manager at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple, told the Associated Press on Monday that he was discussing the cremation with the woman’s brother when they heard the sound coming from the coffin.
“I was a little surprised, so I asked them to open the casket, and everyone was shocked,” he said. “I saw her open her eyes a little and tap the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for a long time.”
The Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi province, outside Bangkok, posted a Facebook video showing a woman in a white coffin in the back of a pickup truck moving her arms and head, leaving staff stunned.
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An emergency response team transports an elderly woman found alive after being presumed deceased to a local hospital before she was cremated at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham Temple, Nonthaburi Province, Thailand on November 23, 2025. (Wat Rat Prakhong Tham)
Pairat said the woman’s brother had driven her out of Phitsanulok province to be cremated.
A video posted by the temple showed the woman moving her arms and head slightly from inside the coffin. (Wat Rat Prakhong Tham)
Pairat said the brother explained that his sister had been bedridden for about two years before her health deteriorated and that she seemed to stop breathing two days earlier. Believing her dead, he placed her in a coffin and made the 300-mile (480-kilometer) journey to a hospital in Bangkok, where she had planned to donate her organs.
Pairat Soodthoop said the temple staff were shocked when they heard a faint knocking from the coffin. (Wat Rat Prakhong Tham)
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However, the hospital refused to admit the woman without an official death certificate, Pairat said. The brother then turned Sunday to the temple, which offers free cremations, but was also turned away because he did not have the document.
While Pairat was explaining how to obtain the certificate, they heard a knock on the coffin. The staff opened it, confirmed she was alive and sent her to a nearby hospital.
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According to Pairat, the abbot later said the temple would cover her medical expenses.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
