A grandmother shocked her grieving family when she came back to life just moments before her cremation.

Chonthirot, 65, was declared dead at her home in Phitsanulok, northern Thailand, in the early hours of Sunday morning, November 23.

Believing she had passed peacefully, her family placed her in a white coffin and began the four-hour 225-mile drive to a temple on the outskirts of Bangkok that provides free cremation and funeral services to the impoverished.

But the 'lifeless' grandmother was said to have woken up inside her own coffin when the pick-up truck arrived at the temple, stunning relatives when she began knocking on the wood.

Footage shows wispy Chonthirot moving around in the casket and wiping flies from her face as her family looked on in disbelief.

Chonthirot's younger brother, Mongkol, 57, said she had been bedridden for two years and was found 'dead' at 2 am local time. He added that he had even signed paperwork confirming her death, which he handed to the Buddhist monk who was due to perform the service.

Mongkol said: 'I was shocked, surprised, and happy that my sister was still alive. I nearly collapsed from surprise. It's a miracle that she woke up.'

Temple worker Thammanoon, 27, said he was about to move the wooden box into the hall for the short ceremony before the burning when he heard knocking and a faint cry for help coming from inside.

He said: 'I peeled back the cloth covering her and froze when I saw she was still moving. She was conscious, breathing weakly, and nodding her head, but she was unable to speak. I was stunned because I'd never experienced anything like this before.'

An ambulance later arrived to take Chonthirot to the Bang Yai Hospital. The Wat Rat Prakhong Tham temple said it would cover her medical expenses.

Temple abbot Phra Kitti Wachirathada said he had never witnessed such an incident in his years at the temple, adding that he was happy for the family, who had been given a second chance with Chonthirot.

In February, an 85-year-old grandmother also 'came back to life' after being dead for 40 minutes in northeast Thailand.

Pua Sriphueng was allegedly found without a pulse at her home in Buriram province. But as her family were moving her body for funeral rites, she reportedly sat up with eyes wide open.

Relatives said she later behaved childishly, demanded sweets, and has since embraced religious rituals she once avoided.