Bangkok — Staff at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple on the outskirts of Bangkok were stunned when a 65-year-old woman believed dead was found alive moments before her cremation.
Temple general manager Pairat Soodthoop told the Associated Press he was “startled” by a faint knocking coming from inside the coffin during preparations for the ceremony.
He immediately ordered the coffin to be opened and discovered the woman slowly opening her eyes and tapping on the wooden interior.
“She must have been knocking for quite some time,” he said.
The woman’s brother had previously informed the temple that local officials had declared her dead.
However, the family had not presented a formal death certificate. Soodthoop was explaining the process for obtaining one when the knocking began.
Once it became clear the woman was alive, the temple’s abbot instructed staff to rush her to the hospital.
Doctors confirmed she had suffered severe hypoglycaemia a dangerous drop in blood sugar but had not experienced cardiac or respiratory arrest.
According to her brother, the woman had been bedridden for two years. On Saturday, her condition worsened and she appeared to stop breathing.
The family had traveled nearly 500km from Phitsanulok province to Bangkok for what they believed would be her cremation.
Local media have described the incident as one of the most startling near-mistakes in recent Thai temple history.
Staff expressed relief that the faint knock was heard in time, preventing a tragic error.