Chee Wit Dee

Spiritual Beliefs in Thailand

Hi everyone,

In the Oriental or Asian countries, people are very superstitious. They believe in spirits and ghosts. In Thailand, there is a spirit house in almost every single house there. A little house is for the spirit of  the land where the house sits on. The family makes a food  offering to  the spirit house daily. They believe that the spirit will keep them safe and protect them. The spirit house has to  be put  up right and has to be straight and level. If they do any damage to the spirit house, they have to make  a food offering and apologize right away. Of course they have to repair it  right away. If they don’t do that, they believe the spirit will come to see them at night and will break their neck. The spirit will kill them instead of protecting them.

Thai people believe in fortune telling. At the temples, they have bamboo sticks to tell their fortune. There are many flat bamboo sticks with numbers on them. They are about 12 inches in length inside the round bamboo container. Thai people make a wish and shake the bamboo container until one of the bamboo sticks falls out of the container. They look at the stick to see what the number is. Once they find out about the number, they go to the wall of the temple to see what  fortune is written. There are hundreds of written fortunes on the wall. You just match the number on the stick and written fortune paper. After that, they make a donation to the temple so that their wish will come true.  Some Thai people go to the palm reader to seek their fortune. The palm reader has their booth set out side the temple. They really believe the palm reader even if they have to pay the money for it. Some people go to see  the man or woman which has been possessed by some spirit. It is the same way  in the movie ” Ghost ” in USA. They ask about their loved ones that passed away or what their future  is that lies  ahead. I didn’t know if they really had been possessed or not. I was very young at that time. Their voice had changed so much and was  different from their own voice. Sometimes it was a man’s voice and sometimes it was woman’s voice. I just observed and kept it to myself.

There is a true ghost story in Thailand. The story of Mae Nak Phra Khanong is  well known in Thailand. This story is based on actual events that took place during the 19th century. The story is about a beautiful young woman named Mae Nak ( Miss Nak ), who lived by the Phra Khanong canal in Bangkok, and her husband, Mak.

With Nak pregnant, Mak is called off to war, and is severely injured. While he is being nursed, both Nak and the child she is carrying die during childbirth. When Mak eventually returns home, he is cast under a spell and finds his loving wife and his new child waiting for him. Neighbors, who try to tell Mak of the death of his wife and to warn him that he is living with her ghost, meet with grisly ends.

One day, while Nak is preparing a meal, she drops a lime down to the cellar. In her haste, she extends her arm to pick the lime from the upper floor through the floor’s hole, not knowing that Mak saw the whole event. Terrified, Mak realizes she is a ghost, and tries to find a way to  be free without her becoming aware.

At night, Mak lies to Nak by saying that he needs to go to the rest room. He then breaks a little hole in an earthen jar which is filled with water, so that Nak will think that he is urinating, and runs away into the night.

After discovering Mak is leaving, Nak pursues him. Mak sees his wife’s ghost, he runs to the temple of Wat Mahabut, where Nak cannot enter the holy area. In grief and despair Nak terrorizes the people of Phra Khanong, venting her anger towards them for helping Mak to leave her. Eventually, Nak’s ghost is bound by a powerful exorcist. After confining her within an earthen jar, he throws it into the canal.

Mae Nak’s story is popular because her true love and devotion for Mak inspires many people. There is a shrine dedicated to Mae Nak at Wat Mahabut. The shrine is located by Phra Khanong canal, at Wat Mahabut, a large temple down a small soisoi ( side road ) off Sukhumvit soi 77, also known as On Nut Road. I did visit and gave  respect to her on my last vacation in Thailand.

My parents told me that there are so many unknown things in the world. Some are very powerful. It is better off for us not to go challenge them, no matter you believe it or not. The story of Mae Nak, you should pray for her and wish for her and her family to rest in peace. If you believe in after life, you should pray for her and her husband to be able to see each other again, and have an ever lasting love together to eternity.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this article. I see you later. Bye for now.