A funeral ceremony at a Buddhist temple outside Bangkok took a dramatic turn after staff heard noises coming from inside a coffin just minutes before a woman was to be cremated, according to a report by Sky News.
The woman, 65-year-old Chonthirat Sakulkoo, had been transported to Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple after her family believed she had died two days earlier when she stopped breathing.
Her relatives travelled hundreds of miles from Phitsanulok province to the capital with her body sealed in a coffin, preparing for what they thought would be her final rites.
Moments before the cremation was set to begin, the temple’s manager, Pairat Soodthoop, said he heard an unexpected noise.
“I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,” he recounted.
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“I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some time.”
The cremation, which was scheduled to be live-streamed, was immediately halted as stunned mourners gathered around the revived woman.
According to Thairath, Thailand’s best-selling newspaper, it was her brother, Mongkol Sakulkoo, who brought her to the temple.
He told officials she had been bedridden for two years before her condition worsened and she appeared to stop breathing, a situation Mr. Soodthoop also referenced in his account.
Local authorities had reportedly informed the family that she had died, the Bangkok Post noted.
Chonthirat had expressed a wish to donate her organs to a Bangkok hospital, but her brother was turned away because he lacked the necessary documentation.
With no alternative, he took her to the temple, which provides free cremation services.
After being found alive, she was examined and taken to Bang Yai Hospital, where doctors treated her for hypoglycemia before discharging her to the care of her brother, Thairath reported.
When asked about his reaction to discovering his sister was still alive, Mongkol Sakulkoo said he was indifferent.
