Ghosts in Thailand

by Thai Travel Meister

If you’ve lived in Thailand for any amount of time you know that Thai people in general have a deep belief in ghosts. This may be an Asian thing in general, but I’m speaking here on first hand experience and that is with Thais.

I’ve been warned by villagers when visiting the rice paddies of Isan (northeastern Thailand) that I was crazy for going on a midnight ride to a sala in the middle of the paddies by myself. At first I was told because the local boys are out looking for trouble and a farang walking around in the middle of nowhere by himself is glutton for punishment. Makes sense but I don’t see any menacing looking folks around so I went anyway.

When I returned the villagers couldn’t believe it. They asked if I saw any ghosts. I told them, “Of course not!”. They looked like they had just seen a ghost themselves at my nonchalant return from the fields. They proceeded to tell me of all the ghosts that wander the rice fields at night and I’m lucky I didn’t run into any! Hey, everyone has their beliefs so I just smiled and moved on to a new subject.

Another example. Our previous apartment was in a very high end building with both very affluent Thais and foreigners residing there.

One day I went down through the lobby and saw the security guards and staff hanging a string that wrapped around the entire perimeter of the building. When I inquired what it was all about I was told it was some ghost/spirit protection for the building. Wow. Very well then.

My most recent experience with the Thai fascination with ghosts was on a trip to Baan Tawai in Chiang Mai. While my wife and I walked around shopping we noticed our SUV with the back hatch opened and the driver sitting there eating. We walked over to grab some more water and my wife pointed out a spoonful of this guy’s rice on the floor by the tree. She asked him what it was and he told her, very seriously, that it was for the ghosts so they leave him and the vehicle alone. Again, wow.

I felt like I had let Tupac Shakur and B.I.G. down for not pouring some water or beer onto the ground for my “homies who couldn’t be here today”.

To wrap this up while it may seem silly to people like me, it’s part of their Thai-Asian culture and it’s something to be understood if not embraced by you. Thailand is a wonderful place to visit and live and there’s always something about their culture to experience and learn. Ask questions, ask why about everything and you’ll soon get a deeper glimpse into the real Thailand and its people.

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