Ghosts torment goldcrests in Phattalung

In Phattalung, fear of ghosts appears to be a stronger incentive to hand over excavated gold to the Fine Arts Department than imprisonment.

Last month, villagers dug up gold coins, ornaments and engraved gold blades - reportedly worth 18 million baht. The service offers a third of the gold value.

The gold rush started when the new owner of a piece of land came across the gold objects while plowing the land just below the surface. Word spread quickly and hundreds of residents, equipped with improvised mining equipment, thought they could make an easy fortune.

But the Fine Arts Department threw a spanner in the works. The gold is considered a national treasure by law and is owned by the state. The site was cordoned off and soldiers and archaeologists began looking for other items, such as pots and beads, that could help date the gold, as carbon dating is not useful for gold. That will probably never work, because residents may have thrown away that evidence during their excavation work.

The FAD has appealed to the residents to return the gold and is getting help from rumors about ghosts that haunt the lucky ones. The villagers who have since handed over their find say that a spirit had appeared and told them to hand over the gold.

Those visions, according to Pipad Krajaekun, lecturer in history at Thammasat University, are the result of guilt. “Thai people are afraid of two things: the law and ghosts. When they break the law, they pay the fine or go to jail. But ghosts can torment them endlessly. Law enforcement won't deter them, but ghosts can.'

(Source: Bangkok Post, June 8, 2014)