Coffin
Thai man who was believed dead and cremated in May shocks family by walking in unannounced at his home - Representational image REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

In a bizarre incident, a family in Thailand got the shock of their lives after a man, who was declared dead months ago, came back home.

The unusual incident happened on Sunday (17 December) when Sakorn Sachiwa walked in unannounced at his home only to find that his family had "cremated" him long ago. Sakorn's stepbrother, Charoen Lekdi, said that the family went in complete shock after seeing him because they had been contacted in May by Nang Loeng police to collect his body.

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Charoen said that police had told them that Sakorn died of a digestive disease in a rented room in Phra Nakhon district on 18 May. The family was then asked to pick his body from the Faculty of Medicine Vijira Hospital of Navamindradhiraj University and a death certificate dated 21 May was also issued, the Bangkok Post reported.

Nakornchai Pimklang, a cousin of Sakorn, said that when he checked the swollen body, he noticed some dissimilarity, like the body's front teeth were different. But when he informed the authorities about it, they suggested the family to just take the body.

His family took the body home and performed religious rites for next three days before the cremation. But when Sakorn returned on Sunday, it was a moment of mixed reactions.

The Bangkok Post reported that the man's cousins kept touching him until they were sure that he was not a ghost. Village headman Veerasak Manthong was also informed about the incident, who said he would take Sakorn to the district chief, so the necessary steps could be taken.

The 29-year-old had been working on a fishing boat based in the city of Nakhon Si Thammarat since January 2016, where a Myanmar worker had stolen his identification card.

Sakorn said that he reported about the missing card and was issued a new one at Khanom district office in the southern province. However, he has left the job and now wants the official record changed as it still says he died on 18 May.

However, it was immediately clear who was cremated in his name.