Ghosts in Thai culture

[1] In the history of Thailand, Buddhist popular beliefs intermingled with legends of spirits or ghosts of local folklore.

[3] There are, however, others, such as Phi Dip Chin, which have entered Thai ghost lore through the Chinese community residing in Thailand for the past few centuries.

In front of him, outside of the square there is a mo khao terracotta jar containing ashes or bones of the dead person with a yantra painted on the outside.

In these cases the mo phi may conduct a ritual in order to confine the dangerous ghost to an earthen jar, which may be sealed and thrown into a deep canal, river or lake.

[6] The persistence of folk belief in malevolent spirits was demonstrated in a 2017 case occurring at Ban Na Bong, Nong Kung Si District, Kalasin Province.

Seeking help, villagers from 370 households paid 124 Thai baht per house to hire an exorcist from Chiang Yuen District in Maha Sarakham Province and a well-known monk from Wat Chaiwan to eliminate the malevolent spirits.

The people of Ban Na Bong turned up en masse at the village hall for a ghost busting ceremony on 29 October.

Preventive medical specialists from the Kalasin Provincial Public Health Office later identified the cause of death in Ban Na Bong as leptospirosis (Thai: โรคฉี่หนู; RTGS: rok chi nu) and high blood pressure.

The latest cinematic version of the Mae Nak story is Pee Mak, a 2013 comedy-horror film by GMM Tai Hub.

Some soap operas, such as Raeng Ngao, include the folk ghosts of Thai culture interacting with the living.