Traditions Will Never Die In Thailand

[mataus101]

my wife is a modern girl, lives in the city (BKK) and has a good accounting job.

sister works in marketing, very good job also with a boyfriend who hosts a soccer show, modern young couple.

Brother is a monk and has a law degree, is also an author.

despite this they still believe spirits wander around the apartment, and were convinced i was sick one time because i never made an offering to the spirit box when i got there.

now we are having our 2nd baby and they say its absolutly a boy as the cousins female baby refused to put its feet on my wifes belly, must be a male in there as males can be monks and babies have paranormal abilities aparantly and would never put its feet on a potential monk.

not knocking it but they truly believe, we may believe in ghosts but even believers have doubts, to them its as real as the nose on there face.

I do find the constent beliefs i learn about so interesting, dont tickle the babies feet or he wont be able to walk, dont talk bad about anyone during the wifes pregnancy as it will became like the person your knocking,

always amazes me, she is an isan girl born and raised in bkk, but the beliefs never die, not even a little

[h90]

my wife is always a bit upset if I not only show disbelieve but make "bad luck" things.

But she is a mild case. Others see ghosts behind every corner...

[weary]

There are more superstitions than you can shake a stick at, and they differ between different parts. Which is funny.

I'd love to get a bunch of witch doctors from various parts of the country together for a drinking session and discuss spiritual matters, just to listen to the argument.

[phaethon]

I'd love to get a bunch of witch doctors from various parts of the country together for a drinking session and discuss spiritual matters, just to listen to the argument.

Good luck getting them to pay for the booze.

[mataus101]

i do have maany traditional tattoos from Ajarn noo annd he shaved the hair off my arm with a box cutter, then he dug and slashed at my arm 7 times very hard, never cut.

was a good trick.

[travelmann]

The problem is when the most trusted source of information tells you this at a young age its highly liable to stick..............thank her parents next time you see them.

[mataus101]

and my large number of thai friends also have equally strong beliefs

[travelmann]

I find these beliefs downright sad, in a world where so much has already been discovered people have to resort to fantasy.

[slapout]

I have been waiting for the water/flood good luck/protection kits to hit the market place. I do not even try to understand the background of some of the beliefs and new ones seem to arise on a regular basis.

[Kilgore Trout]

I wonder how they would react if you said something that happened to them was because they broke a mirror, walked under a ladder, crossed the path of a black cat etc.

Would they laugh and call you stupid or would they have an understanding of how you think and relate it to the idea of their superstitious beliefs?

[Kimera]

I know Thai that are educated, but I find most are still children in the way they think, and dont forget they have missed two generations of growing up, from buffalo to pickups and rice fields to the big city, and the tv soaps they watch are full of it. However my mother told me long ago that a bird in the house was bad luck, someone will die!! still troubles me even now if it happens

[tgeezer]

I wonder how they would react if you said something that happened to them was because they broke a mirror, walked under a ladder, crossed the path of a black cat etc.

Would they laugh and call you stupid or would they have an understanding of how you think and relate it to the idea of their superstitious beliefs?

I read in a school book, that the loss of Ayudtaya to the enemy was because of the disunity of the Thai. Everyone was taught this but it seems to have had little impact. All the squabbling going on now while this great enemy attacks the city seems to be history repeating itself.

[mataus101]

it no more fantasy then many things written in other beliefs, such as a virgin birth, rising from the dead, raising the dead, people walking on water.

parting the red sea, killing a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, thats even more fanciful.

[soomak]

It was the same in Europe 200-300 years ago, and in some parts even a hundred years ago,

but these things do die out, it just take a long time.

[lannarebirth]

now we are having our 2nd baby and they say its absolutly a boy as the cousins female baby refused to put its feet on my wifes belly, must be a male in there as males can be monks and babies have paranormal abilities aparantly and would never put its feet on a potential monk.

Superstition is no substitute for good pre-natal care, which includes ultrasound imaging. Light a candle.

[travelmann]

it no more fantasy then many things written in other beliefs, such as a virgin birth, rising from the dead, raising the dead, people walking on water.

parting the red sea, killing a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass, thats even more fanciful.

Quite correct all is tripe but we arent discussing those.

[travelmann]

I wonder how they would react if you said something that happened to them was because they broke a mirror, walked under a ladder, crossed the path of a black cat etc.

Would they laugh and call you stupid or would they have an understanding of how you think and relate it to the idea of their superstitious beliefs?

Well Id like to think theyd laugh and say it was stupid but Im sure they would agree it was all acceptable and completely plausible.

If the cat had one white hair would it still be lucky? How about chipping a wafer thin sliver off the mirror, if they half walk under the ladder and then step back then what?

Nope your right its all too real and scary for me to contemplate, so Ill "keep my fingers crossed" it wont happen

[ARISTIDE]

It's just occur in your Thai community that many Thai don't know about such tradition or believes.

[mataus101]

of coarse she will get an ultrasound when the time is right, i said they are superstitious, I did not say they neglect there parental duties.

[travelmann]

I know Thai that are educated, but I find most are still children in the way they think, and dont forget they have missed two generations of growing up, from buffalo to pickups and rice fields to the big city, and the tv soaps they watch are full of it. However my mother told me long ago that a bird in the house was bad luck, someone will die!! still troubles me even now if it happens

I rest my case M'lud

[fritter1970]

My ex-girlfriend's father was quite obviously suffering from mental illness. But oh, no....... what was really going on was that a bad spirit had infiltrated his body

[Thongkorn]

It was the same in Europe 200-300 years ago, and in some parts even a hundred years ago,

but these things do die out, it just take a long time.

There are still many superstitions in the UK to this day, Not just in Thailand.

[maxme]

I wonder if this is a Thailand thing or an Asian thing... Look at the Japanese...

But so far what I have experienced it's tradition and part of their culture. Though there are many non believers among Thais, atheists pof, its still brought to them by their parents and by the media in form of ghost movies, series, ghost hunting programs (much like we have in the west). It can be they have bigger belief in this or that we westerners are more prone to discard experiences like this as to childish superstition. Perhaps we are more of atheists than the Thais are...