Superstitions in Thailand
April 9, 2022
(Denis Costille / Shutterstock.com)
In certain parts of Thailand (North and Northeast) Animism plays a more important role than Buddhism.
The word animism comes from Latin (anima = 'spirit' or 'soul'). An animist believes in the existence of good and evil spirits, who can live in, for example, trees, houses, animals and utensils. The spirits must be put to good use by making sacrifices, holding rituals and observing taboo rules.
The latter is especially interesting: 'taboo rules'. Those are things you shouldn't do to displease the spirits. Something we call 'superstition'.
Thais have quite a few rules based on superstitions, such as:
- When you have dreamed: never talk about your dreams during dinner, that brings bad luck.
- Big trees near your house get in the way of the happiness of the house. The trees should not be too large in proportion to your house.
- Have you dreamed about someone dressed in white: never talk about it, because that person will not live long.
- Don't wear black clothes to someone's birthday party.
- It's bad luck to have a license plate with the number '0' in it.
- There is a monument that you have to run around three times to make sure you stay healthy.
- Do not store valuables at night, the ghosts can see that and they will steal it.
- Never place the toilet in the house near the front door. That would cause unhappiness and divorces.
- The front door of your home should never be perpendicular to the back door. This would ensure that the money that comes in then flows out again.
- It is better not to go to the hairdresser on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Those are not good days to get your hair cut.
- You shouldn't whistle at night because you invite spirits into your house.
- There is a monument where, if you drive past it by car, you have to sound the horn to make sure you don't get into an accident.
- Pregnant Thai women are not allowed to whistle because the baby would get a crooked mouth.
- Don't joke while eating because the ghost will steal your rice.
- Better not make clothes at night, because then the ghosts will come after you.
- Do not sweep the dirt through the front door because you will also sweep your money out the door.
- Don't open an umbrella in your house because it will make you bald.
- There is a stone where students light a candle to get better grades on exams.
- Do not remove cobwebs at night, you will lose all your money.
- You may not eat sweets that have fallen on the ground, they belong to the spirits from that moment on.
Fill it in dear readers……
I don't really have something that often, besides, we also have these things in the Netherlands, don't we? I can, however, write about our Buddha room, which I designed and built myself. The design phase, well that was something. After all, the Buddha must look in a certain direction, but he must not look at a toilet. I then discovered that it is allowed when there is a cupboard in front of it, for example. LOL. welles nothinges here in the house. We then called in the tallest monk we could find in the area and confirmed my story. Now we have a beautiful Buddha room and a beautiful closet 😉
Do not sleep with the soles of your feet facing east or towards a Temple. Now we live in a circle of temples, so don't go with your feet to the most important ones.
Every evening at 18,30 a silver bowl in front of the stereo system, half filled with water. A CD with Buddha texts is played over it. The water is used during or after showering. Sometimes a problem if I forget. Then I can't listen to DWDD or football. Well see. Take care that there are no candle stains on tiles or sills outdoors, clean them up. When they are discovered, the rapan is cooked. The white haji also occurs in Indonesia. When it gets dark, turn on the lights on the entrance posts of the gate. Are the eyes of the Makon(Dragon). Two lights on the carport are the eyes. And recently we have sanseferias which is the dragon's tongue. Can you imagine when you stand in front of home you look at the dragon. Then another mirror to let the ghost look into and realize that he is evil and therefore not welcome.
This week we washed the curtains, very long about 4 meters that I had placed over several drying racks in the length of the carport. In my innocence I say: 'Look, there is now also the body of the dragon, we now have a complete Chinese dragon in our house.' Fortunately, we could still laugh about that. The Majom, the eternal deciduous rotting thing. Every house should have one in the yard. And then there are some that you absolutely should not have in the garden, such as the Bodhi tree, Ficus Religiosa. And if you want to know if your partner has a strong heart, then when you have bought a brand spanking new house, which is being consecrated by the monks, you have to bring in a second-hand dinner set.
Don't sleep with your head towards sunset. Is there one too.
In your 25th year of life, most Thais run to the Temple every week because this is an unlucky year. They then think that they are most likely to have an accident or other serious things happen to them.
In my opinion, it only has to do with the fact that people here in Thailand are about 50 to 100 years behind in time. In the past, people in Europe also had all kinds of delusions about anything and everything. We have also become wiser.
GerG
Amusing. Let my Thai wife and Thai friends read it (no, they don't read Dutch and I don't read Thai).
We live in the middle of Isan, where superstition is as big as gossip. But nobody recognizes themselves in the statements.
We did have a family consultation right away, because if we read it like this, there is a lot wrong with our house and our environment. We are therefore very concerned.
Tonight I stay up, make plans for the big trees around our house, I seem to have a motorcycle with a number plate with no less than 2 zeros, I walk with difficulty so running around that monument will be difficult, during dinner there is only chatter and laughter , a toilet is not far from the front door etc.
You understand how uncomfortable I feel right now. Fortunately (just checked) the front door is a bit crooked compared to the back door and we often leave spiders alone and I don't go to the hairdresser on Tuesday and Wednesday because he is too busy then.
Early tomorrow we go straight to the nearest temple to have a local world famous monk read us the future. Fortunately, I'm sure that forecast will turn out well, if you pay the right rate
A little more serious. Superstition indeed lurks in every house here, often under the guise of Buddhism, which it has nothing to do with.
What pisses me off is that adults both in the neighborhood and at school often frighten children with stories about ghosts and spirits. We regularly had to reassure our daughter that all such stories are nonsense. But you can see the doubt in the eyes of an 8 year old.
Incidentally, I turned out to be one of those “ghosts” myself. For 2 years now, a boy next door has been terrified of me and even spontaneously peed in his pants when I wanted to give him a hand.
When asked by his parents, it turned out that they threatened him daily to send that nice falang from next door at him if he did something wrong again. It was agreed that they would stop this immediately and he would call me Uncle …… (lung). Now a year later he dares to come close to me and I occasionally get a hand.
Which is also nice, if my girlfriend has dreamed again.
What passed in her dream will come true in the near future, no doubt.
Have had heated conversations a few times immediately after waking up, she once again dreamed that I was "butterfly".
The indoor shower/toilet is next to the bedroom, separated by a wall. The head of the bed should not be on the shower/toilet side.
Those beautiful tiny Buddha amulets, received from family, were given a nice spot at the head end. That same evening they were moved to another room, out of respect.
The front door of your home should never be perpendicular to the back door. This would ensure that the money that comes in then flows out again
I once had the window frames at the rear of our house replaced
me and my wife went shopping and when we returned the window frames had been replaced and the door was bricked up and plastered.
this door was an extension of the front door.
The money would disappear too quickly.
Well, the door is still bricked up and the money is still disappearing too quickly.
Another one:
You can't cut your fingernails and toenails when it's dark!
When my wife asked what will happen if you do: she simply sign that you will die!
I must have died many times by then.
But you learn to live with it! I try to respect that, and ne Farrang can be wrong sometimes, right?
In the dark you cut wrong, that will kill you!
You have a caring wife! 555
We had to replace the ghost house because it collapsed from misery. So I buy a new house and immediately want a different place, the old house was in the way. But we also wanted to enlarge the house and as the spirit connoisseur. here the village wizard, now just there puts his stick in the ground?
So I picked up the spirit connoisseur in the dark and in my yard. Add a few cans of beer and together we determined the best place for the new house of the gods and not where I wanted to build. Placed a tile on the desired spot and put 200 baht in his pocket.
He came a few days later. A few toothless old aunts added, a bag of chicken bones, a quarter of an hour of murmuring and another 200 baht, and yes, the spirits enlightened him and he stuck his stick….2 cm next to that tile. My wife was very satisfied because oh dear, going against the will of the spirits would have brought me hell and damnation.
Superstition is sometimes only as long as a banknote is wide!
If a snake crosses the road from the right, don't kill it, bring good luck to your life.
Always change 2 mirrors of your vehicle at the same time, otherwise a divorce will occur soon.
On the road between Ban bung and Sattahip I pass a place, perhaps not coincidentally near the top of one of the many mountains in the landscape, where it is / is full of all kinds of discarded spirit houses.
I suppose they were dumped here because they were not up to the job, or worse, possibly counterproductive in the perception of their former owners?
There is also a covered wooden construction in which clothing (apparently ceremonial clothing) is hung.
In addition, I assume that the clothing once belonged to people who have died in the meantime, who performed / happened something special during their life or something like that?
Apparently offerings are regularly made to this stall.
And just about everyone who passes this place by moped or car honks here!
Can someone tell me what the exact causes of these phenomena are?
Thanks for the comments
Kito
Please also a nice consequence of the widespread animism in Thailand: I once had a girlfriend from Udon Thani who was very (super) religious, which very often gave rise to "anima-o-ed" discussions between my Thai happiness at the time and myself.
And I probably don't need to convince any of the experienced Thai bloggers that something like this can sometimes lead to a lot of frustration for someone who has a rather sober and even rather skeptical view of religion and animism.
Yet this extreme superstition also had a positive side.
After all, my girlfriend had told me that it brings good luck (mainly financially, I thought I understood) when a woman receives a (little) phallus symbol, and then always wears it as a talisman, or at least carries it with her.
Although I meant it as a slightly cynical joke at first, I was able to convince her that it was EVEN much more efficient if she was offered a real phallus, and then she lovingly took care of it as often and intensely as possible.
The sweet (well, disregarding her whims for a moment) child turned out to take that message beyond any initial expectation for the Buddhist equivalent of gospel and, as befits a worthy Buddhist, would from that day very dutifully discharge her responsibility to of her lifelike good luck amulet.
And this to so much greater honor and glory of my most intimate parts that I have actually started to applaud animism ever since!
Kito
I live with my wife for a large part of the year in a village near Chiangrai, where I get to know new spirits and customs almost every month. When I first visited my wife's house 20 years ago, our house spirit, whom my wife reverently calls "Pi Phu Yaa", had to be asked for permission so that I could spend the night here. To appease him, the ghost was invited to eat a cockerel, and was also given a bottle of Mekong Whiskey to drink. Thank God "Pi Phu Yaa" is the only one of the Family who does not drink alcohol, so after a few days I could drink the Whiskey myself with my brother-in-law. When I go wandering with my wife, I am forced to relieve myself behind a tree every time, where there is no toilet, so that, on the advice of my wife, I have to apologize to the earth spirits every time. With songkran we usually visit a waterfall with the whole family, where we celebrate together. Also at this festival, the earth spirits are not forgotten, and a small drink is placed behind a tree, so that the spirits do not wither. As the only Farang, I can't resist making a cautious joke every now and then, but my wife immediately whistles back, because this is a serious matter for the Thais. I remember a case with my brother-in-law, who likes to drink a swig of Whiskey, hiding the bottle in such a way that he thinks no one will get it. Now I happened to be sitting on my terrace, and could see my brother-in-law carefully looking around, and not seeing me, he took a quick sip, then hid the bottle again. I then got the Idea to surprise him, and drew on a piece of paper a figure which I thought resembled a ghost, and wrote on Thai ,,that I see everything, and signed it with the name Pi Phu Yaa and then put it in the bottle. In an almost childlike anticipation I sat on my terrace the next day, and waited anxiously for the appearance of my brother-in-law, who usually appeared after his working hours. In reading the writing, without opening the bottle, and looking nervously to himself, he chose the hazepad, and although he later suspected me, he never confronted me about it. His wife who doesn't like him to drink secretly, I told what happened, and had a hearty laugh about it. Also when a child is born, you should never say anything positive about the child, so as not to awaken the evil spirits, which can harm the child. The superstition even goes so far that in a traffic accident, people write down the car number, and then use it for the lottery, hoping that this number will bring good luck. My sister-in-law has had a lot of bad luck in recent years, so she got the idea to change her name to "Wan Dee" in the hope that the spirits will be better disposed to this name.
– Don't step on the threshold or you will step on the ghosts that sleep under the threshold
– Do not give a watch as a gift because that indicates that the person you give it to can leave
– Do not give shoes as a gift, same as above
– in response to gifts; Giving gold and money is highly appreciated.!!!
– Do not give towels because then you indicate that the person you give it to is not very clean.
there are more that are not coming to my mind at the moment.
Regards Linda.
Experienced myself.
Been coming to Thailand for twenty years, and also know a lady with a travel agency for the same time,
On the last visit a few months ago I had to come and see the new bathroom.
To my great surprise, the toilet was 20 cm behind the door, I asked her why
Is it so close to the door, you had to squeeze past it to get into the bathroom.
Her answer!!!
The monk had determined this place for a fee.
Good luck Karel
I also know a few:
- Hair that comes loose with combing should not be thrown in the trash, but outdoors.
-You do not have to wear a seat belt if you sound the horn at least 3 times at a certain temple.
-Pointing at something with your feet, or moving up….. Out of the question.
- Don't put your shoes away too high.
-Socks and underpants should not be washed together with shirts
- Placing the bed with the headboard towards the toilet is bad luck
-New shoes have to be said a prayer and bite into them, otherwise they will always hurt.
When “superstition” becomes faith. Where is the border?
There is no boundary between 'superstition' and 'belief'. Half of all Dutch people still believe in an Almighty God, and pray and beg him for favors.
I call my superstition faith, and another's faith I call superstition.
Half? Less than 10%, I'd say. Not even my very Catholic mother begs God for favors.
I myself am a convinced agnostic. I do not believe in powers that transcend this world.
But I thought I was the only one who often exaggerates 🙂 Less than 10% you say, Chris? Almost half of the people indicate that they still pray sometimes, 32% still confess themselves to a religious community, Christian, Islamic or otherwise. Many no longer go to church, but 17% of them still believe in a 'higher power'. I'd like to provide a source:
https://nos.nl/artikel/2092498-hoe-god-bijna-verdween-uit-nederland.html
Well. I've read the story but I'm closer to the truth than you. About half of the population no longer prays, but that is quite different from “believing in Almighty God and praying to him and begging favors”. Biddeen can also be a quick prayer or dwelling on a certain event from the past or present.
82% never come to church. That is the place you go when you believe in the almighty Giod and have something to ask or beg him for. Partly because the Netherlands is so prosperous and has a welfare state, there is much less begging than in Thailand. My father always played the state lottery and the football lottery but never begged God for a prize.
I don't do that in NL and not in TH.
I am a religious person, but I hardly ever go to church or temple.
I pray daily, for all the good things I have and experience in my life.
Ask only for health and happiness.
For me there is a god or something, but not specifically Rk or PROT or Islam or Buddhist.
There is no limit to me. Both belief and superstition are – in the eyes of the infidel – wholly irrational.
'Thank God I am an atheist', I recently heard someone say….,,,,,,,
I once read the following definition: 'a belief is a superstition with success'…
I was once in Burma in the mid 90s and during a bus ride (mostly ethnic tribes) most of them peeled an orange and put the peels on their heads – this was for a safe ride. Probably it worked because we arrived safely at the destination !!
we put banana plants in our garden and now they tell me it's dangerous because ghosts hide behind it? Is that correct and what should I do to make them favorable?
Putting up a ghost house… That is due to the spirits that live on the land
You can also have a chat with them. 😉
Several articles have already appeared on TB.
Here's one of them
https://www.thailandblog.nl/achtergrond/geestenhuisjes-in-thailand/
You should use the search function at the top left and enter “Ghosts”.
You get various articles about ghosts.
Some rules are just Feng Shui rules.
I have the impression that the writers of this article on superstition are Christians. For it was Christianity in our lands that declared the beliefs of our pre-Christian ancestors to be superstitions and their gods to be devils. The fact is, after all, that in all cultures, religiously defined or not, there are matters of lower order and higher order, whereby the 'lower' may be more diverse and locally different, but the 'higher', of greater political importance, namely whether you belong to us or to others, formerly gods, now perhaps called principles, norms or values, had a more obligatory character to determine your loyalty to our community.
So-called animism recognizes in stones, trees and houses a representation of the 'Great Spirit', of the divine and will therefore treat it with deep respect. If we use it, we owe it a debt of gratitude, which we can express through a gift. Just as it happens among people: if you offer me hospitality, I owe you to offer it to you if you need it. This respect thus ensures that we treat the earth sustainably and peacefully with each other. So very different from Christianity, which has only a spiritual relationship between people and God, the rest being explained as things that man can use at will for his own gain. Exactly this has led to the exhaustion of the earth!