Ghosts in Thai culture, 15 ancient popular Thai ghosts
Ghosts in Thai culture is both popular and enduring. In the history of Thailand Buddhist popular beliefs intermingled with legends of spirits or ghosts of local folklore. Before taking your trip, here’s your chance to get to know the Thailand culture better. Thai spirits or ghosts are known generically as phi (ผี). Get to know the legend of ancient Thai ghosts at this Halloween festival.
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Mae Nak – Ghosts in Thai culture
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A female ghost who died at childbirth and that can extend her arms. Nak was beautiful and truly in love. Her husband was conscripted to fight in the war. Whilst he was away, Nak and the baby both passed away in childbirth. The husband returns to find his wife and baby, and is warned by the villagers that she’s now a ghost but he not believe. Until he saw Nak stretch her arm out to pick something up, and he flees. Nak pursues him and scares the people of villages but is eventually subdued by an exorcist and confined to a jar and drilled her head to made girdle.
Characteristic
Mea Nak is a beautiful girl have long black hair and wear traditional Thai costume. She holds her baby all the time (Her baby’s name “Dang”) when is appeared she like to sing a Thai lullaby and cry.
Photo by www.travel.trueid.netYou can visit to Wat Mahabut by Mae Nak story. Mae Nak was truly in love so Thai people like to pray for love at the shrine of Mae Nak at Wat Mahabut, Bangkok.
Pret – Ghosts in Thai culture
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Said to be as tall as a palm tree, Pret are ghosts that are prominent in Buddhist folklore. Ungrateful and materialistic people are reincarnated as Pret. A tall being with a ravenous appetite that can’t be satisfied by its tiny, pinhole mouth, which it earned from gossip and injure parents. Therefore, likes to ask for merit in various merit-making events. Which once accumulated merit and born again in the next life will not have to suffer as it is. Pret have inspired one novel and Many temples have built pret statues to remind people to be good.
Photo by www.thailandtopvote.comCharacteristic
A thin ghost, tall as a sugar palm, hand as big as a yard, but has a mouth as small as a pinhole. Therefore, not able to eat anything Likes to appear to ask for merit with people.
Phi Krasue
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Phi Krasue is a woman’s head with her viscera hanging down from the neck. And they like to eat raw stuff, blood and faeces. Some believe they are a type of spirit that belong to humans who earned a living by deceiving others. When they die, they become krasue who go on to possess the bodies of people who commit the same kind of wrongdoing. In another legend, a woman tries to learn black magic but makes a mistake or uses a wrong spell, causing her head and body to become detachable.
Characteristic
Phi Krasue is an old female ghost that floats with her head and gut and other organs such as the heart, lungs, and fluorescence.
Krahang
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Krahang are said to be the result of a man who once practised sorcery but it backfired on him, turning him into an arguably scary ghost. Like krasue, they live as a normal person during the day and transform into a ghost at night. Krahang takes to the skies with the aid of rice baskets acting as wings, and has been blamed for attacks on women in local villages.
Characteristic
Krahang is a man ghost will fly at night. Use rice winnowing basket attached to the arm instead of the wing and use a millstone to the leg instead of the tail.
Phi Pop
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History
Phi pop’s origins It is the wandering spirit of a prince’s servant whose body was destroyed. His spirit goes from one body to another, eating its intestines. It’s also said to be the spirit of men or women who practised sorcery. They committed a taboo act and the magic backfired on them, turning them into a ghost. Those who are thought to be possessed by Phi Pop need to undergo an exorcism, in the form of a dance, which drives the ghost away.
Characteristic
Phi Pop like a normal human, symptoms are ferocious, some case may lie like a very sick person but some case may cry and bemoan. They like to eat raw animals.
Nang Tani – Beutiful ghosts in Thai culture
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It’s a female spirit living inside banana trees most of the time, she comes out at night when the moon is full. She’s considered a gentle ghost. Gentlemen, there’s a ritual to have nang tani as your wife. It’s said that once you sleep with her you can’t be with another woman. Sleeping with her also drains men’s vitality.
Characteristic
She appears as a young beautiful woman in a green traditional Thai costume. Her feet don’t touch the ground and her skin has a tint of green.
Mae seu
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An angel or ghost who takes care of babies believes that every child born must have a Mae seu it on a birthday basis. to prevent the child from getting sick. In the northeast or the central region, it still holds a Mae seu ceremony. A ceremony to bring babies to basket gliding to inform Mae seu that someone had adopted the child. So this ceremony help to Mae seu can’t take the child from real mother.
Characteristic
Mae seu are seven types.
- Mae seu a regular child born on Sunday named “Vijit Mawan” has a lion’s head and red skin. Habitat on the anthill.
- Mae seu a child born on Monday called “Wan Nongkran”, some textbooks named “Mrs. ManphanaNongkran”, with the head of a horse and white skin living in the pond.
- Mae seu a regular child born on Tuesday named “Yakborisud” with a head of a buffalo and pink skin. Living at the Thepharak shrine.
- Mae seu a regular child born on Wednesday called “Samatas”, some textbooks named Mrs. Samuthachat with an elephant’s head and green skin. Living in the Sri Maha Bodhi tree.
- Mae seu a regular child born on Thursday called “Galotuk” with a deer head and light yellow skin. Living in the ponds.
- Mae seu a regular child born on Friday named “Yak Nongyao” has a bull’s head and a light blue skin. Living in the big banyan.
- Mae seu a child born on Saturday named “Ekalai” with a tiger’s head and black skin with golden clothes. Living at the guardian shrine.
Phi Lang Kluang
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Phi Lang Kluang are ghosts in the south of Thailand who’ll join your group and will seem to be normal until they ask someone to scratch their back. Upon doing so, their terrifying secret will be revealed; a gaping wound right through the body, festering with maggots, worms and millipedes.
Phi Lang Kluang like raw and they live in a cool place. Especially the waterfall area It is said that in the Ton Nga River Waterfall and the Hu Rae area in Songkhla Province, used to be the residence of Phi Lang Kluang.
Characteristic
“phi lang kluang” means a hollow-backed phi in human form. One can see through the opening all the entrails inside, and they are full of worms. Perhaps they are not phi but aborigines whose characteristic hollow back has been exaggerated. A Chinese book, “Shan Hai Ching” contains a report of many strange peoples residing beyond, the borders of the Middle Kingdom.
Phi Prai
History
Phi Prai is ghost that lives in water such as in rivers, canals, marshes, swamps, or even wells. There are both female and male spirits. Like to pulling the legs of people who play in the water to get cramps and eventually drowned. Because the ghost needs a friend to live with.
Characteristic
This spirit always appears as a woman in a white shirt. They often come out at six o’clock, noon, six o’clock, and midnight, often in the most fatal canal or river.
Phi Am
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Phi Am. Phi Am is a ghost that sits on the chest of people as they sleep and she is apparently the reason you feel discomfort during the night. In fact this type of ghost has been described in many countries under many different names. Thai people say that a Phi Am spirit sleeps on his or her chest. To defend against this ghost, men in some northeastern villages put on lipstick before retiring to bed, in the believe that these female widow ghosts are women and won’t harm other females.
Characteristic
An evil spirit sleeping on people’s chests. Phi Am is very similar to the Incubus and Succubus ghosts that can be found in Western culture.
Nang Ta Khian
History
The Nang Ta-khian belong to a type of spirits or fairies related to trees and known generically in Thai folklore as Nang Mai (“Lady of the Tree”). It manifests itself as a woman that haunts Hopea odorata trees, these are very large trees known as Ta-khian. In some parts of Thailand, Nang Ta-khian has become a popular tree deity. Miracles are attributed to her power and not only living trees.
Characteristic
Nang Ta-khian is appears as a beautiful young woman wearing traditional Thai attire, usually in reddish or brownish colours, contrasting with Nang Tani who is mostly represented in a green dress.
Ghost of Nang Ram – The legendary ghosts in Thai culture
History
Ghost of Nang Ram, the legendary Thai ghost. ” Phi Nang Ram “ who often accompanied the sound of Thai music. Created a very creepy atmosphere ever. Create a level of haunting I can tell that anyone who has encountered it must be terrified. Even if you find a dance style Delicacy but terrifying is shocking.
The story of this ghost. We are often familiar in places such as the school dance room, Thai music room, old Thai house. Lonely place or even the area of the shrine that followed a big tree with coloured cloth tied
Characteristic
Ghost of Nang Ram is wearing a dress style dancer will be accompanied by a musical Thailand by Title IX goers.
Yaai khara and Ta karee – Guardian spirits in Thai culture
History
Yaai khara and Ta karee are guardian spirits by belief of the traditional Thai people. Originally believed to be the ghost who created the world They formed the first human pair. Later, when Buddhist and Brahmin beliefs replaced, they became the guardian ghosts in the cemetery. Classified as a ghost with a high influence in the occult.
Characteristic
Old man and old woman, they are wearing Thai cloths.
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Full Name: Dararat Petsawat
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