was introduced to Thailand by European missionaries as early as the 1550s and the missions played an important role as agents for the transmission of Western ideas, such as medicine and education. Soon after, King Narai ordered the building of St Joseph’s Church in Ayutthaya for the use of missionaries and foreign religious workers and local converts, mostly Chinese. There are currently around 500,000 Christians in Thailand.
Attendees dress up to celebrate a Hindu festival in Phuket.
The White Church in Samut Songkhram.
GHOSTS IN THE VILLAGE
Tales of ghosts, spirits and un-earthly beings are not just reserved for Halloween in Thailand. It is quite common to see shrines, better known as spirit houses, erected in a prominent spot outside homes, offices, hotels and other buildings in order to provide an appealing shelter to wandering spirits. Offerings must be presented regularly at these spirit houses.
Many ghost stories have their origin in traditional Thai folklore and animism but have also become intertwined and adapted by traditional Buddhist mythology. The omnipresence and continued popularity of the Thai spirit world can also be seen in the recurring theme of both good and evil ghosts in Thai movies and Thai soap operas. In 2013, Thai ghost movie Pee Mak became the highest selling Thai movie of all time.
Villagers in the northeast and rural communities of Thailand still believe in black magic and ghosts. They will sometimes wear bracelets made by monks to protect themselves from harmful ghosts. One of the most common ghosts terrorizing rural communities is Pee Mae Mai, a lonely widow, who is believed to prey on the men of a village. If a large number of men die or disappear from a particular community, Pee Mae Mai is believed to be responsible and is thought to be lurking about. Villagers will rush to make basic puppets of men, often fashioned from sticks with coconuts on top, to hang outside, along with a sign that reads ‘No men inside’ in a bid to throw Pee Mae Mai off the scent.
Another feared ghost is a female witch called Pop, who uses black magic to destroy or haunt people, make them fall in love or get sick. By day she could be the rice seller at a popular restaurant, but at night she becomes a ghost and exists to haunt villagers. It is believed that a tell-tale sign of a Pop is somebody who eats raw, live meat or perhaps a whole chicken. Even today, it is quite popular for villagers to organize witch-hunts to seek out and kill a village Pop.
Spirit houses are highly visible outside public buildings and private residences.
A teenager reads a Thai ghost comic.
THAI FOLKLORE
The importance of myths and folklore and how they interweave and are relevant to Thai cultural thinking is not to be taken lightly. Stories of spirits and of mythical creatures are to Thailand what fairy tales and superheroes are to the West, and are similarly used as cautionary tales and to entertain successive generations.
The fact that so many Thais still carry charms, wear amulets, make merit and choose particular phone numbers is a clear indication that myths and folklore are still an influential part of everyday Thai life, if not perhaps as widespread and staunchly believed today.
Some Thais choose auspicious dates to buy cars to avoid accidents. Some don’t point at rainbows to avoid losing their finger and many don’t have their hair cut on a Wednesday to steer clear of bad luck. All have their origins in Thai mythology and folklore.
Even today, Thai TV shows featuring fortune-tellers and clairvoyants or people recounting their experiences with ghosts and spirits is a common staple. Each year there are tales of hauntings, possessions and things that go bump in the night, which are, in a cyclical manner, given credence and reaffirmation with the regular coverage. As Thai belief decrees that a premature death often results in ghosts haunting the area in which someone died until they are given an official and religious send-off, news of ghostly sightings following the 2004 Thai tsunami became commonplace in newspapers and on TV shows, with one story in particular quickly cementing its placement as a modern Thai myth.
A ‘lucky’ 20 baht fish.
STORIES BECOME MYTHS
Apparently, a few weeks after the tsunami, a Phuket taxi driver was flagged down by four tourists who asked to be taken to the airport.
On the journey there, they all chatted freely until they arrived at their destination. Upon turning around to inform his passengers that they had arrived, the driver found that his cab was empty. As a result of such tales, and in order to encourage ghost-fearing visitors back to the island post-tsunami, hundreds of monks took to the beaches to perform cleansing ceremonies and allow the restless spirits to be able to depart this world.
In 2013, upon apparently seeing the ghost of an old lady in the sleepy beach-side town of Khao Lak, near Phuket, 21 schoolgirls and one schoolboy were taken to hospital, checked and treated for fear of mass possession.
A Thai cultural theme show, like Siam Niramit, is a great place to go for a crash course in Thai myths.
In the past, but to a lesser extent today, mor duu (fortune-tellers) occupied the same cultural space that psychiatrists, careers advisers and doctors do in the West. Some Thais also go to mor phi (witch doctors) for help with invisible spirits, to avoid difficulties, to remove bad luck or even to place a curse on an enemy.
CAN I HAVE YOUR NUMBER?
Many Thais believe the number nine is an incredibly auspicious and lucky number and go to great lengths to get number plates and phone numbers bearing as many nines as possible. King Bhumibol is also Rama IX in the Chakri dynasty, which earns him an extra special place in people’s hearts.
At the other end of the scale is the number 25, or, more specifically being 25. Thais consider this a particularly precarious stage of life, where one is more likely to get involved in accidents or be a victim of misfortune. In order to counter bad karma, many 25 year olds make merit and visit temples in the hope of banishing bad luck.
Considering Thais’ preoccupation with the meaning behind numbers, it is not surprising that the only legal form of gambling in Thailand is the lottery. Interestingly, the ‘underground lottery’ (based on the last two or three digits of the government lottery) is much more popular. Except for a few government sanctioned arenas, gambling at every other event is illegal.
THE SPIRIT OF BUDDHISM
Before the introduction of Buddhism, Thais believed in animism, along with other forms of what is commonly referred to as folk religions. They worshipped spirits, practiced magic and used talismans. Over time, the main tenet of animism—that natural entities, including plants, animals and even inanimate objects like shrines and statues, contain spiritual souls—became intermingled with Buddhist and Hindu philosophy and tales. Contemporary Thai Buddhist spirituality, therefore, is quite an eclectic
