"The True Thai Ritual"

The True Ritual that Inspired the Film

Writer/Director Ekachai Uekrongtham was inspired to make The Coffin after hearing about a mass funeral for the living where thousands of people turned up at a North Eastern temple in Thailand to lie in coffins and went through the ritual.

Referred to in Thailand as "Non Loeng Sadorcro" which literally means Lie in Coffin, Rid of Bad Luck, this controversial ritual has been around for decades but in the last few years, it has become increasingly popular.

The ritual involves participants lying in coffins while a group of monks perform death rites on them as if the participants are already dead. This is then followed by a chant of new life.

Many participants had said they felt as if they were reborn after the ritual - with all their bad karma buried behind them. Some reported that they felt the ritual helped fool the spirits that they're already dead so they could start their new lives afresh like newborns. There are also others who claimed they've met spirits of their dead loved ones while lying in the coffins.
However, this "death rite for the living' is not without its detractor. Some brand it as an occult practice while many feel it's a bad omen to lie in coffins when they're still alive. Some went as far as saying that this ritual is nothing but a case of commercialism entering the sacred religious domain.

The criticisms, however, have not stopped more and more Thai people to voluntarily go through this "death ritual for the living'.
In Thailand, one may request for the ritual to be performed on him or her at a number of Buddhist temples across the country. Some temples publicize and conduct 'Non Loeng Sadorcro' regularly. Several others also organize 'mass funerals for the living' on a periodical basis.

Usually, no fee is charged but participants normally make donations towards the temples in return for having the ritual performed on them.

How did this ritual come about? It's speculated that the ritual in its current form is an evolved version of what stared out as a simple act of donating coffins to the poor and those who died without relatives.