10 questions and answers about ghosts and superstitions
January 24 2022
In Thailand, animism and superstition play a more important role than Buddhism. The fear of evil spirits that can bring mischief runs deep. These spirits must be appeased by offering sacrifices.
This way you will be confronted with the bizarre world of ghosts and supernatural (super) beliefs. There are a number of rules that almost every Thai knows. In this post we test your knowledge of the supernatural in Thailand. We limit ourselves to questions and the correct answer. Ask the questions first and don't cheat on the answers.
The questions
- What should you do if your dog starts whining at 2 a.m.?
- Why is it unwise to tap an empty board?
- What's the easiest way to see a ghost?
- Why do some Thais say a newborn baby is ugly?
- What superpowers does the mind possess Mae Nak?
- What should you do if you drive past a ghost house on a winding road?
- What do people like to sacrifice kuman thong?
- Why do some drivers hang a garland of flowers on their car's rear-view mirror?
- Why are colorful cloths tied around thick trees?
- How can a man's mind nang tani to call to action?
The answers
- Dogs howl when they see a ghost. Better not take a look to avoid a frightening encounter.
- Then you invite a hungry ghost to dinner. Okay, if you have enough food, but not recommended if you don't feel like washing an extra plate.
- This can be done in three ways. The easiest is to bend over and look between your legs. You can also rub earth from a cemetery on your eyelids and use a Ouija board.
- Becomes an ugly baby na kliad na chang (ugly and hideous) so that spirits are not tempted to kidnap the child.
- Mae Nak (the story has often been made into a movie) can grab things with her elastic arms and she mocks gravity by walking on ceiling beams.
- Honk three times in tribute to the ghosts in the cottage.
- The best offering kuman thong is a sweet energy drink, because happiness requires a lot of energy.
- Intended to honor the spirit that protects cars, Mae Ya Nang. Originally, the spirit ensured the safe passage of ships.
- The textile is an offering to the sacred entity that resides in the tree.
- Nang tani appears as a beautiful and kind woman. When a man gets intimate with her, he better not cheat on her, because her revenge is sweet.
Source: Guru
When we lived in the Netherlands I always told my wife that there are no ghosts here, they stay in Thailand. Now that we live here it is a lot less, but occasionally it rears its head again.
Especially if someone has just died, then they are firmly convinced that the spirit of the deceased will visit them and can help with a good number for the lottery.
I myself always say that I don't have to be afraid of the ghosts that come to visit them because I never do anything bad 🙂
This reminds me of a phone conversation I overheard between my partner and a friend. It was about the owner of a massage parlor in Surin. She goes to the temple several times a month to consult a monk. That monk speaks and buzzes a little towards her private parts, which remain covered. This treatment would give her a kind of power over her clientele. She would therefore receive more favors from the (farang) customer. When asked further, my partner told me that numbers of ladies in the bar scene also do this “treatment”, which would give the customer greater satisfaction and make them more willing to open their wallets. The monks are also said to play a role in preventing adultery. The woman goes to the temple with her story and the monk ties a female and a male doll together with rope. This would create a blockade. I had a good laugh at that story, but my partner looked at me offended.
Number 9: "The cloth is an offering to the sacred entity that dwells in the tree."
That's not quite right. In the sixties and seventies an ecological movement started to save the forests for logging. Monks 'consecrate' beautiful trees by tying them with an (often) orange colored cloth. Hairdressing is sacrilege then.
Offerings to trees are done by placing flowers, food, etc. next to them. For example, my ex once dreamed about her husband's hungry ghost in a past life. She built a house next to three mighty mango trees that were well supplied with all kinds of food every day, after which she started drinking and gambling so that our son and I had to eat in the village.
The distinction between faith and magical thinking is quite murky. It is not without reason that monks are all too often involved in hocus pokus. Anyone who has read the biography of Ajarn Mum by ajarn maha Bua knows that this saint's path was also regularly crossed by metaphysical phenomena, whether favorable or not! Unperturbed by supernatural rimram, however, the monk bravely continued his mission and proclaimed his spartan message. Praise be to Him!
The maker of that red drink must be really happy with all those ghosts. See standard 2/3 bottles of that brand at the houses. Catching!
Be sure to see the movie 'GHOST HOUSE' which is now playing in the movie and deals with exactly this subject! Really exciting and fun too!. English movie but set in bangkok
Dear Bram, calling such a place an (illegal) dump has everything to do with how we Westerners view public space. It seems that it is a gathering place, at least Thai people treat it with respect. Such a gathering place has become a (semi-)religious place because of the intentions people have with it. My wife always sounded the horn when she drove past such a place for which she knew the reason, or when she noticed such a place while driving.
The reason is that someone died at that location in the recent or more distant past as a result of a traffic accident. To give his/her mind some rest (or similar to what is common in the West, namely praying for the peace of someone's soul), one brings a spirit house to that place.
(The fact that the house is sometimes somewhat dated and already used has a pragmatic reason: a matter of reuse; and if you place a brand new house, it will be in someone else's garden tomorrow! The Thai knows his pappenheimers. )
Thais themselves also mock the belief in ghosts, see this witty video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntTq1rop8IEais
The questions
1. What should you do if your dog starts whining at 2 am?
That's the neighbour's dog, he likes to sleep in my garden.
Then I walk out with a long stick and show it.
oops! she thinks and then goes home with her children.
2. Why is it unwise to tap an empty board?
It is likely that the spirit will take a beating when called and the board is empty.
So you better put some food on that plate.
Maybe it will be a nice evening together.
3. What's the easiest way to see a ghost?
Open up wide and scream loudly.
At least that's how they always do it in movies.
I suppose, however, that ghost will find those screams annoying.
4. Why do some Thais say a newborn baby is ugly?
They say that because newborn babies are often indeed ugly.
Not in the mother's eyes, of course.
5. What super abilities does the ghost Mae Nak possess?
I don't think walking on ceiling beams is really a super ability for a ghost.
A little ghost can float even through walls without damaging them.
6. What should you do if you drive past a ghost house on a winding road?
That's an easy one.
Let go of your steering wheel and make a deep wai.
That brings luck.
7. What do people like to offer to kuman thong?
No idea actually I don't mind that spirit personally.
I would follow the advice in the article.
Although a jar of honey might also be appreciated.
Those energy drinks disturb your sleep.
8. Why do some drivers hang a garland of flowers on their car's rear-view mirror?
They may not have had a bath, trying to hide their body odor.
9. Why are colorful cloths tied around large trees?
In the past, the girls also had colored ribbons in their hair.
It will be something like that with those trees, just for the sake of it.
10. How can a man summon the spirit nang tani?
The answer in the article is not an answer to the question being asked.
But maybe through a dating site, or maybe she has a cell phone?
The 'real' answers…
1: Don't forget to close the gate in the morning; we do not have a dog(s).
2: Because then it will be filled again. Don't eat your plate completely empty.
3: Central Cinema, Netflix, or Thai channels in the afternoon.
4: Babies are ugly and not all Thais always lie.
5: He owns infinitely many valuable watches and lends them to honorable figures.
6: Same as anywhere on the road, in Thailand: pay attention and try to survive.
7: More than they can afford, but it doesn't matter because Karma gives it back double. Next time for sure.
8: Because they don't need that thing anyway.
9: To prevent the tree from darkening; that's not HiSo.
10: No, ghosts don't exist.
In any case, not everything is the government's fault. There is more between heaven and earth than we suspect, Horatio, or can dream, did the literary baker Shakespeare already babble!
When I read the article I also thought of providing realistic answers to the questions, but because Ruud and Peter V. beat me to it, I let it go.
Incidentally:
Assuming that ghosts exist, I don't understand why you should be afraid of them.
I've never seen evidence of ghosts harming people.
If you have to be afraid of anything, it is for people, because they have done harm to other people.