Thailand's people believe in ghosts, spirits.

Posts: 110 · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 110

I wrote the following about the Thai peoples' belief in ghosts last summer when I was visiting my father and his second wife in Thailand.
http://www.dearghostlady.com/2006/05/belief_in_ghosts_strong_in_tha.html

Quote:

Belief in ghosts strong in Thailand

I am currently visiting Thailand, staying with my father, and his second wife, An, a Thai national.
An's mother, who was 82 years old and still going strong until the last couple years of her life when she became frail and bedridden, was diagnosed with lung cancer soon after I arrived. Because she had been smoking 2 packs a day for about 60 years and only quit 5 years ago, it was too little, too late for her, and when they found the lung cancer, it was too far advanced for them to do much of anything except tell An that her mother was probably in her last days and she should make her as comfortable as possible and inform all her other reletives. An's mother took a turn for the worse a couple of days ago, and An rushed her to the hospital, where she (from what I can discern from An's broken English) was put on a ventilator (which she fought) and had her lungs suctioned (while also kicking and screaming) and after that, fell unconscious. The doctor then told An that her mother would most likely die by Monday, and An believed that when the doctor said that, it meant that she would die exactly then, so she re-arranged our planned trip to Pattaya accordingly. Dad and I tried to tell An that when doctors said things like that, it was an educated guess: people die when they are ready to, with things like this, "it happens when it happens". Anyway, An's mother chose to die ahead of schedule, in the wee hours of the morning. From the Thai point of view, it was probably a good thing that her mother ended up technically dying in the hospital, because An was afraid she would die in the condo unit where she was staying, her ghost would haunt the place, and nobody would want to rent the room! Dad and I tried to explain that while we did believe in ghosts, we didn't believe they could hurt anybody, and also, that if An's mother ended up as a ghost, she probably wouldn't want to hang around here, but would most likely want to fly into Bangkok for some excitement! I think this is probably a reasonable sequence of events to assume, because while she was alive, An's mother was addicted to gambling. During the period of time that An was working in Japan, she sent her mother $350 dollars a month (a decent amount of support by Thailand's standards). Her mother would lose the money gambling, and have to ask her other reletives for food. An tells me that the last time she checked her mother into the hospital, she tried to get a card game started with the other patients in the ICU! So it is not a big stretch of the imagination to picture her ghost wafting accross the canal to Bangkok, headed for the nearest Mah Jong parlor! (Of course, the problem with being incorporeal would be that if she loses, how would the winner collect, and if she wins, what would she do with the money?)
The trip to Pattaya we had planned is cancelled: not because of this sad event, but because it is currently Spring Plowing Festival, the Thai equivalent of Labor Day: no last minute resort reservations are available! Because the next two days are Buddhist holidays at which only joyful things should take place, the funeral will have to wait for a while, till the 13th or after. I have volunteered to draw a picture of An's mother, whose name was Wattuni Na Songkla, for the Buddhist memorial service.
Laura

Posted by The Ghostlady on May 11, 2006 12:18 AM |

Posts: 110 · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 110

http://www.thaiskale.com/journal/the-rapist-magician-of-thailand-villagers-scared-to-wits/

Quote:

The Rapist-Magician of Thailand: Villagers Scared to Wits

Over the last month, villagers in Kanchanaburi province of Western Thailand, particularly those with women and young girls in their family have been freaking out about rumors going around regarding a pervert, apparently skilled in black magic and the art of mysteriously disapearing after committing naughty deeds on women and young girls in the middle of the night.

While rapist and perverts are real and plentiful in Thailand as elsewhere in the world, black magic and spells–at least that which we are familiar with from the mass media–are a question of belief and folklore. Anyone who has ever been acquainted with Thai people, particularly in the countryside, can certainly attest to the level of superstition that is instilled into the youngest, oldest and everyone in between. It’s quite rare to find a Thai who will admit that he/she doesn’t believe in ghosts.

In this particular case, villagers have been convinced that magical spells were in the arsenal of the perpetrator, who might I mention was unsuccessful in every reported attempt thanks to fighting spirit of his female victims. In any case, he had escaped each time, unaprehended by villagers or police.

By the time the rumor bubble of a wizard rapist had hit its climax circulating in local papers and radio news, to the point where villagers were tying up phone lines to report their slightest suspicions, it was time for the the police to finally clear the reality of such rumors.

There was a pervert breaking into houses at the middle of the night, attempting to rape women and young girls. And he never was successful according to the reports. He was prepared for his escapes, though it wasn’t magic. The pervert had simply rubbed his naked body with oil, as to be able to slip away with ease in the case he was apprehended.

Thus he has earned the nickname in Thai ‘I-leun-I-Lai’ ไือ้ลื่นไอ้ไหล litterly meaning the ’slippery and dripping one’. Now whether or not the oil was for his escape, or was just part of his demented fantasy–or perhaps both, the important thing is that there isn’t a proven rapist or murderer who can disappear without a trace, so everyone in the village can finally sleep at ease with a lighter under their pillow!

For those who can read Thai, here is the full story at Thai Rath newspaper