Seven years ago I visited Koh Chang with my wife. We stayed at a small beach side bungalow. During the night the wind picked up to about 40 kph. My wife heard its moan and shivered in bed very close to me. I asked what was wrong and she said in all seriousness, "This bungalow have ghosts."
I explained that I would protect her.
"Can not protect against Pee-Bob?" She was almost on the verge of tears in fear of pee-bob, a famous ghost with no flesh and its entrails spilling out of its skeleton while a decapitated skull aimlessly orbits the bones.
In the morning we checked out of the resort and returned to Pattaya, where she felt safe again, but ghosts still influence our lives as do local superstitious customs such as the following;
Don't cut your hair on a Wednesday.
No finger or toenail manicures at night. it's like breaking your ancestors' bones.
If you sweep the house at night, you can't sweep out the dust or else your money will disappear. Same goes for disrupting spider webs at night and certainly don't hide anything t night, because a ghost will steal it. I had this happen, when I arrive home drunk and hid a gold ring. I couldn't find it the next day or ever. Round up the usual ghosts as suspects.
If you sneeze then someone is talking about you and not good either.
A dream about losing teeth is a warning that someone close to you will get into an accident.
Spilling rice is bad luck.
No whistling at night.
Opening an umbrella in your house will make you bald, especially dangerous for bald men.
Candy dropped on the floor belongs to ghosts.
Broken Buddha images are bad luck.
Don't tell a bad dream while you're eating or else it will come true.
Throwing anything on the roof is bad luck since you might have to go up and get it down. Do not throw anything onto the roof of the house. It is bad luck.
Tapping a child on the head might make them a bed-wetter.
Never enter a house through a window.
Don't itch at a funeral or else the scratch will become infected.
Forbid your children from playing with night shadows or else the shadow phee will take them away.
Picking flowers at a temple will send you to hell.
Walking with your head down will shorten your life.
Some of these superstitions are common sense, I asked my Thai friends about the origins of these superstitions and received a blank stare.
"Mai lu." was the only answer I received from an old Thai woman, as if speaking about ghosts was also bad luck. Thankfully there aren't many of them I would have to violate anyway as long as there's nothing about not drinking beer.
Chok dee there isn't a beer ghost as far as I know.
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