Students Suffered Mass Psychiatric Symptoms

[NBT TV Phuket]

Choeng Thale Wittayakom School in Phuket orders 3 days of closure of school after its student faced mass psychiatric symptoms for the second time.

Around 30 students of Choeng Thale Wittayakom School in Phuket’s Thalang’s district have had mass psychiatric symptoms again yesterday afternoon, during a religious ceremony which took place at the school grounds. The community leaders, religious leaders of Buddhism, Islamic and Chinese got together to perform religious ceremonies after the same group of students screamed and became unconscious on Friday. The ceremony aimed to restore the students’ peace of mind. The incident happened in the middle of the ceremonies, forcing school Director Nachi Khemphan to ask parents to take their kids home and he ordered a three day school break to have students’ minds settle down. A spiritual house will also be built at school after this he said. Psychologists explained that the students were facing mass psychiatric symptoms which occur between the students’ sub-consciousness in the same environment and same beliefs.

mini-video & photo on http://www.thaisnews.com/news_detail.php?newsid=152530

from Andaman News TV11 Phuket, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket & Radio Thailand FM90.5 Phuket, 8.30am Tuesday 29 November 2005 & www.Thaisnews.com

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Around 30 students from Choeng Thale Wittayakom in Phuket’s Thalang district were taken to Thalang hospital after they all started screaming and became unconscious. The incident caused panic to the whole school so teachers sent them to a hospital nearby. The Director of the School, Nachai Khemniphan, explained that some of the students were mediums during the annual vegetarian festival which may have affected their beliefs and thoughts. On the day the incident occurred, the school was also working on re-landscaping a location which used to be a Chinese cemetery.

A doctor at Thalang hospital diagnosed the students’ symptoms as mass psychiatric shock, which happens from time to time. The school administrator however is prepared to hold a religious ceremony for blessings to restore peace of mind for its students.

Andaman News TV11 Phuket, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket & Radio Thailand FM90.5 Phuket, 8.30am Monday 28 November 2005 & www.Thaisnews.com

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[LivinLOS]

School closed after ‘pupils possessed by spirits’

THALANG: The Director of Cherng Talay Wittayakom secondary school sent students home for three days from Monday, following an apparent case of mass hysteria the previous Friday.

On that afternoon, a number of students were supposedly possessed by a spirit after a backhoe being used as part of a renovation project accidentally damaged an old Chinese shrine behind the school.

According to some accounts, one girl first became possessed by the shrine’s spirit. She began pointing her finger at School Director Nachai Keimnipatt, screaming abuse at him.

Other students also showed signs of possession, some screaming until they collapsed. The wave of hysteria then spread in varying degrees to other students – and to some staff.

K. Nachai downplayed reports that up to 100 students had been “possessed” and that some required hospitalization for shock.

One tea cher told the Gazette that about 10 students went to the hospital after the incident, while the rest simply went home.

K. Nachai told the Gazette that, following that Phuket Vegetarian Festival, some students had undergone ritual purifications at a local shrine for cases of possession.

“My students regularly served as mediums for the shrine during the Vegetarian Festival, so rituals were performed afterward to help release the spirits from them,” he explained.

“But on Friday I had ordered a backhoe to do some landscaping work in an overgrown area behind the school, and the operator didn’t notice the old Chinese spirit house, and damaged it,” he said.

“One student became terrified and began screaming, [claiming that] an apparition appeared to her after the spirit house was damaged.

“The spirit [appeared to have] entered the girl’s body. Through the possessed student, the spirit told me she no longer had a dwelling place and wanted a new shrine. I promised to rebuild the small shrine just for the Khaaw Spirit [which had possessed the girl] and another, larger, shrine for all the other gods and godesses. After that I called the hospital. Then the police came too.

“It was all very tumultuous,” K. Nachai said.

He downplayed reports that up to 100 students had appeared to have become possessed, putting the actual number at around 20 or 30.

“With all their screaming, they frightened the other students and staff, so I made the decision to close the school for three days,” he said.

Ceremonies will be arranged to ensure there is no repeat of the strange event, he added.

“I have invited local community leaders to take part in ceremonies to atone for whatever bad things happened, and to dedicate the new spirit houses. These will be in a new area that will be easier to take care of, and more convenient fo r believers who want to pay their respects.

“Although I believe in science, I don’t want to be disrespectful [of their beliefs], so I myself will make offerings of pork, chicken and garlands of flowers,” he added.

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The Phuket Gazette

15:26 local time (GMT +7)