In a remarkable turn of events, a 65-year-old woman from Thailand, who was thought to have passed away, astonished the staff at a Bangkok temple by knocking from within her coffin just moments before her scheduled cremation.

Pairat Soodthoop, the manager responsible for general and financial affairs at Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, recounted the unexpected encounter. He was in conversation with the woman’s brother about the upcoming cremation when they heard an unexpected sound emanating from the coffin.

“I was quite taken aback,” he admitted. “I requested that they open the coffin, and to everyone’s shock, she was inside, slightly opening her eyes and tapping on the coffin’s side. It’s likely she had been doing this for a while.”

The incident, which unfolded at the Buddhist temple located in Nonthaburi province, just outside of Bangkok, was captured on video. The footage shared on Facebook reveals the woman, clad in white, inside a coffin in the back of a pickup truck, moving her arms and head, much to the amazement of those present.

Following this startling discovery, an emergency rescue team quickly transported the elderly woman, previously presumed dead, to a nearby hospital to receive proper medical attention, averting what could have been a tragic mistake.

Pairat said the woman’s brother had driven her from Phitsanulok province to be cremated.

In video posted by the temple, the woman could be seen slightly moving her arms and head from inside the coffin. (Wat Rat Prakhong Tham )

Pairat said the brother explained that his sister had been bedridden for about two years before her health declined and she appeared to stop breathing two days earlier. Believing she was dead, he placed her in a coffin and made the 300-mile trip to a Bangkok hospital, where she had wished to donate her organs.

Pairat Soodthoop said staff at the temple were shocked when they heard a faint knocking from inside the coffin. (Wat Rat Prakhong Tham )

The hospital, however, refused to accept the woman without an official death certificate, Pairat said. The brother then turned to the temple on Sunday, which offers free cremations, but was also turned away for lacking the document.

While Pairat was explaining how to obtain the certificate, they heard knocking from the coffin. Staff opened it, confirmed she was alive and sent her to a nearby hospital.

The abbot later said the temple would cover her medical expenses, according to Pairat.