Thai woman found alive in her coffin before her cremation at a temple

Staff at a Buddhist temple in Thailand had a big shock on Sunday when a woman brought in for cremation started moving in her coffin.

Her brother said she had been bedridden for about two years but when she appeared to stop breathing last week, he assumed she was dead.

So he transported her nearly 500 kilometres across the country to a hospital in Bangkok to which she’d previously expressed a wish to donate her organs.

When the hospital refused the brother’s offer as he did not have an official death certificate, he went to the Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple on the outskirts of the city which offers free cremations.

It was as the manager was explaining to him how to get the necessary documentation that they heard the faint noise and asked for the casket to be opened.

Once it was established that she was alive, the 65-year-old woman was taken to hospital where she was diagnosed with critically low blood sugar, which likely lead to her weakened condition.

The abbot said the temple would cover her medical expenses.