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65-Year-Old Thai Woman Found Alive in Coffin After Brother Took Her for Cremation

A 65-year-old bedridden woman in Thailand was found alive inside a coffin after her brother, believing she had died, took her to a temple for cremation. Temple staff heard knocking from the coffin while the man was driving from Phitsanulok to Nonthaburi and opened it to find her moving. The brother had previously attempted to donate her organs but was turned away for lack of a death certificate. The woman was taken to a hospital and the temple agreed to cover her medical expenses.

07:05 AM, 11/25/2025Society
65-Year-Old Thai Woman Found Alive in Coffin After Brother Took Her for Cremation

A 65-year-old woman in Thailand was discovered alive inside a coffin after her brother, believing she had died, brought her to a temple for cremation on Sunday, Nov. 23. Temple staff heard knocking coming from the closed coffin and opened it to find the woman awake and moving.

According to Pairat Soodthoop, the temple's general and financial affairs manager, the brother had driven from Phitsanulok province toward Wat Rat Prakhong Tham in Nonthaburi province when the sound alerted those nearby. Video posted by the temple shows the woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pickup truck, stirring and moving her limbs as onlookers respond in shock.

Pairat quoted the brother as saying his sister had been bedridden for about two years and had apparently stopped breathing two days earlier. Believing she had died, he placed her in the coffin and first drove roughly 300 miles to a Bangkok hospital. There he attempted to donate her organs, but hospital staff declined because no official death certificate had been issued.

After being turned away by the hospital, the brother brought his sister to the temple, which offers free cremation services. Temple staff were preparing to help when persistent knocking from inside the coffin prompted them to open it; they found the woman alive and immediately arranged medical care.

The woman was transported to a nearby hospital for evaluation and treatment. Pairat said the temple's abbot has agreed to cover her medical expenses. Local authorities and medical staff will determine how she was mistakenly declared dead and whether additional checks or procedures will be recommended to prevent similar incidents.

Context: The case highlights the importance of formal medical confirmation and documentation before declaring a person deceased or beginning procedures such as organ donation or cremation. Hospitals and temples typically require an official death certificate to proceed with those processes.

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