'You're dead. How can you come back?': Family stunned as cremated 'dead' son returns

Sakorn Sachiwa stunned his family by returning home - they thought he had died months earlier.

A Thai man is reclaiming his identity with the authorities after being declared dead - and having a cremation performed months ago without his knowledge.

Sakorn Sachiwa, 44, came home to the northeastern province of Sisaket on Sunday after having worked in other parts of the country for almost two years. But his shocked family members and neighbours thought he had died months ago.

In May, Sachiwa's family was told to travel to Bangkok to retrieve a body believed to be his, said Veerayuth Srisupat, a police investigator in Bangkok in charge of the case.

At first, the family was uncertain about the identity of the body because it had all its teeth intact, whereas Sachiwa's front teeth were missing, a relative told TV station, Thai PBS.

But police believed the body belonged to Sachiwa because his identity card was found with it, Veerayuth said.

Sachiwa's reappearance means the case will have to be reopened to determine the real identity of the body already cremated, the policeman added.

That person died from a blood infection.

Sachiwa, who went to a local administration office to reclaim his identity, said he lost his identity card some time ago and had not been in contact with his family since he left home.

"I was so confused. My mother said, 'You're dead. How can you come back?' I lost all my energy at that point," Sachiwa told Thai PBS.

According to reports family asked village elders to confirm if it was in fact Sachiwa.

The process to reinstate Sachiwa's identity is expected to take a few weeks, said Pornchai Wongngam, district chief in Sisaket.