SNAPSHOTS | very thai
Dying prematurely causes the resultant phii tai hong to hang around, worried about the loose ends and unfinished businesses, including those they’ve left behind. A prompt cremation may avoid turning merely scary phii tai hong into vengeful phii phrai. On the other hand, those who die violently were buried to prevent angry souls being freed. Psychopathic phii phrai only find peace by luring victims to an identical death. Pregnant women (and/or their foetuses) make the most virulent phii phrai, like Thailand’s most enduring ghost, Mae Nak Phrakhanong. Some evil spirits purportedly possess the living. Normally, exorcisms aren’t violent and aim for a compassionate rebalancing of energy to right wrongs and begin again, like an audit clearing the books for a new financial year. Haunted houses, restless souls and supernatural soap operas Conducted by an unorthodox monk or a lay spirit doctor, exorcisms still happen. aunted houses are hardly sophisticated urban Thais who Seeking answers in the unique to Thailand, what’s poo-pooh superstition often find occult has only increased with unusual is the sheer themselves assuaging the phii ‘just modernisation. In a culture amount and how much phii (bad in case’, and uttering a mantra at governed by hierarchy and belief in spirits) affect serious day-to-day moments of fright. karma, science and logic wilt before perceptions. Ghosts are mainstay Thai ghosts come in over the unanswerable and at times of newspapers, magazines, soap 40 generic kinds, with regional arbitrary authority figures, both operas and movies. variations, each conveying moral human and divine. Generic phii Most potent is oral tradition. message. impart particular social messages, A purported 80% of Thais Other spooks derive their forms thus these spirits haunting each believe in the supernatural, and and habits from the way a person environment and activity formed take seriously those who’ve lived and died. When Thais expire a part of early Thai law. While experienced a visitation, or their winyaan (soul) hovers around, the spirit house defies modern someone who knows someone sometimes spotted translucently advancements and is a necessity who has. Some believe that dogs near their body or past known or in all homes, offices, and any howl at night on seeing a ghost, favourite hangouts. After seven properties which represent the others believe one can see a days in limbo, karma determines belief of environmental or property ghost’s true form when looking their fate and that coincide with spirits guarding the village, forest, back between one’s legs. Even the usual time for cremation. mountain, field, path or pier.
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River Books by Philip Cornwel-Smith with photos by John Goss and Philip Cornwel-Smith B995 32 | SEP/OCT 2019
“Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture” is a virtual bible on Thai pop culture and an influential must-read among foreigners and Thais. It guides you on an unconventional technicolor tour of the quirky things that make Thailand Thai. Prepare yourself for the sideways logic and snap up a copy of the new edition at any good bookshop. bangkok101.com
