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Thai Temple Halts Cremation After Woman Found Alive in Coffin

A paperwork requirement derailed organ donation and cremation plans, leading staff to open the casket when they heard faint knocks.

Overview

  • The 65-year-old from Phitsanulok had been bedridden for about two years, and her brother believed she had stopped breathing roughly two days earlier.
  • He transported her about 500 kilometers (300 miles) to a Bangkok hospital to fulfill her wish to donate organs, but the hospital refused without an official death certificate.
  • Wat Rat Prakhong Tham in Nonthaburi also would not proceed without the document, and staff heard tapping from the coffin while explaining how to obtain it.
  • Temple video shows the woman moving her arms and head before personnel arranged her transfer to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
  • The abbot said the temple will pay her medical bills, and reporting has cited similar mistaken-death cases abroad that highlight risks when deaths aren’t medically certified.