There's really no autumn to speak of in Bangkok, but I learned long ago that if I want it to feel like a holiday, I have to put in extra effort myself.
My family always loved Halloween. Growing up, we would always decorate the house, carve pumpkins, and go trick-or-treating around the block. There are really no Halloween celebrations here in Bangkok, but when I saw that there was going to be a Halloween ghost-themed walking tour through the Old Town, I couldn't pass it up! After all, Thailand is a land of ghosts...
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| waiting for the canal boat at the Hua Chang Bridge |
We were a small group of about ten. Bow took us to a quiet area near the bridge, and introduced the tour.
First, Bow started off with a small ritual. She placed a tray with offerings of sticky rice and sliced mango at the foot of a tree, and passed around a stick of lit incense for each of us to hold in turn. "We give three sticks of incense at the temple", she explained, "but we just give one stick of incense for ghosts."
Bow was quick to explain that this ritual wasn't really a spiritual practice. It was just a demonstration of Thai beliefs in order to set the mood for the spooky haunted Bangkok tour.
Bow knelt down and, with a deep wai, placed the stick of incense in the ground at the foot of the tree next to the offering. "The incense smoke is like sending a message. It can pass from our world to theirs."
Bow lit a lantern and led the group through the dark Bangkok night.
The Ghost Gate
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| the Ghost Gate once stood outside of Wat Saket |
In 1817, Siam was struck by a terrible Cholera plague, which killed up to 30,000 people. Wat Saket was unable to handle the cremations of so many bodies, which began piling up outside the gate. The city was set upon by vultures in what must have been a grisly sight to behold.
A few decades later, a second outbreak of the plague hit the city, this time killing one out of every ten people. Again, the city was unable to give everybody a proper funeral.
Even though there is no longer a city gate, the area kept its name. Even to this day, locals believe the area to be quite haunted.
Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing
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| Wat Suthat, the Temple of the Giant Swing, was once the site of a dangerous ceremony |
As we stood in front of the temple, Bow took time to teach us about the different types of ghosts in Thai culture. There are two broad types: ancient pre-Buddhist spirits, and ghosts from Buddhism. There are all sorts of ghosts in Thailand, and they especially tend to like haunting old houses, schools, and hospitals.
Wat Suthat even has murals on its walls depicting different types of hungry ghosts (spirits who are tormented with eternal hunger but can never eat). Hungry ghosts are huge and thin, but have a mouth the size of a pin. They say that if you are at the Giant Swing late at night, sometimes you can see a hungry ghost standing in the swing!
The Giant Swing itself has a few stories.
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| I didn't take a good picture of the Giant Swing at night, but here's a picture of the temple. I made it black and white to fit in with the atmosphere of this post a little better. Pixabay.com |
This was a part of a Hindu ceremony called Triyampavai-Tripavai.
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| a historical photo of the ceremony provided by my guide |
Sanam Luang and the Grand Palace
We walked on, past shuttered shop houses and quiet alleyways. It wasn't late, but it was dark, and the streets in the Old Town were empty.
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| Ministry of Defense |
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| the Grand Palace at night |
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| Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok Old Town |
The City Pillar Shrine
The City Pillar is a shrine found in many cities and towns throughout Thailand. City Pillars are supposed to protect the city from danger and evil. In the Ayutthaya Period and before, city pillars were constructed in a ceremony that involved human sacrifice. Huge holes were dug, and people were pushed into the holes. Then, the huge pillar was dropped from above, crushing them.
When Bangkok was built, King Rama I forbade the gruesome ritual. Bangkok's City Pillar, fortunately, is not haunted!
Without the ritual, though, there was a prophecy that the kingdom would only last for 150 years. Interestingly, 150 years after the founding of the city marked the end of the absolute monarchy and the introduction of the Thai constitution and the current constitutional monarchy.
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| Bangkok City Pillar Shrine |
Thammasat University
The final stop was the outer gate of Thammasat University, one of the beat and oldest universities in the country. Thammasat is known for its political science department, and its students were involved in one of the most deadly political events in Thai history.
During the 1970s, Thailand was controlled by a dictator, and the monarchy had little real power. The October 6 Event was a mass pro-democracy protest organized by the students. The protest quickly got out of hand and was violently suppressed by the military and far-right paramilitary groups. During the massacre, over 100 students were killed.
This did eventually lead to a return to democracy in Thailand. The university is still believed to be haunted by the ghosts of the students who were killed on October 6, 1976. Bow told us of one particular elevator which sometimes says it is over limit despite having only one or two riders. Legend around the university says that it's full of ghosts.
The tour was organized on a Wednesday night. This is the time, Bow explained, when the border between our world and the spirit realm is weakest.
If you do find yourself haunted, don't worry! Bow said that all you have to do is take a shower to wash off the ghosts, then go to the temple and make merit for them. Luckily, I didn't see any ghosts on the tour!
I won't say that I believe in ghosts, but it's fun to go on a tour like this. I got to learn a bit about Bangkok's history and Thai culture.
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