Thai Woman Found Alive in Coffin Before Cremation

A 65-year-old woman in Thailand was discovered alive inside her coffin moments before her cremation was set to begin at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok, stunning temple staff and her family.

The incident unfolded on Sunday at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham in Nonthaburi province. Chonthirat Sakulkoo, who had been bedridden for nearly two years due to declining health, was found unresponsive at her home in Phitsanulok province the previous Saturday. Her relatives, including her brother Mongkol Sakulkoo, believed she had stopped breathing and pronounced her dead based on local assessments. Village officials provided standard documentation for a coffin donation, a common practice for families in need, but this fell short of an official death certificate required under Thai law for formal procedures.

Honoring his sister's wish to donate her organs, Mongkol drove the roughly 500-kilometer journey from Phitsanulok to Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Bangkok early Sunday morning. Hospital staff declined to accept the body without a certified death declaration and directed him to obtain an autopsy report. Police at a nearby station offered further guidance, but concerned about...