Woman found alive, moving in a coffin after being taken to a Buddhist temple for cremation

A woman in Thailand who was found alive in her coffin at a Buddhist temple was spared organ donation and cremation because her brother did not have a death certificate.

Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in Nonthaburi province outside Bangkok, posted a video on its Facebook page showing a woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a van. She moved her arms and head slightly.

Pairat Soodthoop, director of general and financial affairs at the temple, told The News on Monday that the 65-year-old woman’s brother brought her from Phitsanulok province to be cremated.

He said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin.

“I was a little surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin and everyone was surprised,” he said. “I saw her open her eyes a little and hit the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite a while.”

According to Pairat, the woman’s brother said she had been bedridden for about two years and had become unresponsive and appeared to have stopped breathing two days ago.

The brother put her in a coffin and traveled about 500 kilometers to a hospital in Bangkok, where the woman had previously expressed her desire to donate her organs.

Pairat said the hospital refused to accept the woman’s body because her brother did not have an official death certificate. When the brother approached the temple for cremation, he was also denied due to missing document.

The temple administrator said that while he was explaining how to obtain a death certificate, that’s when they heard the knocking. Temple staff evaluated her and sent her to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The abbot said the temple would cover his medical expenses, according to Pairat.

Similar cases of people found alive in funeral homes or morgues have been reported in the past.

In June 2024, a 74-year-old man Nebraska woman pronounced dead in a nursing home was found breathing in a funeral home two hours later.

In January 2023, a 66-year-old woman was pronounced dead at Iowa care facility after an employee said she “didn’t feel a pulse” and that the woman was not breathing. After being taken to a funeral home, the woman woke up “gasping for breath.”

That same year, a New York funeral home found a 82 year old woman alive and breathe shortly after she was pronounced dead at a nursing home.

In 2002, five officials in Shanghai, China, were punished and one doctor was punished. revoked license after video showed funeral home workers returning a body bag containing a live person to a nursing home.