Odd Or Obscure Thai Traditions

[hookedondhamma]

Falung who wear string around thier wrists to keep the dead spirits away, now that is strange.

?? Falang?? I guess they learn from the best

Got an earful of spittle for reaching over someone to get a box of tissue who wouldn't move to provide a clear reach. Apparently it's very bad but when questioned, many 'uhhhs' and 'diaows', though in the end no reason was given. Two traditions, one obscure and another odd.

Edited August 29, 2012 by hookedondhamma

[Pseudolus]

Falung who wear string around thier wrists to keep the dead spirits away, now that is strange.

Nah - it is a very useful tool indeed that piece of string. It allows other Thais in Bangkok to know which of their Falang collegues married a bar girl.

[David48]

Falung who wear string around thier wrists to keep the dead spirits away, now that is strange.

Nah - it is a very useful tool indeed that piece of string. It allows other Thais in Bangkok to know which of their Falang collegues married a bar girl.

...

[buddy]

Some more obscure traditions, including explanations:

Touchwood

When people are hoping for something, they say ‘…touch wood’, and find something wooden to touch, to guard against bad luck. For example, ‘The business deal is finalized next week… touch wood’. This dates back to Celtic times. A tree could take evil spirits down into the earth, like a lightning conductor.

Friday the 13th

An unlucky number and unlucky day. The reasons are lost in the mists of time. Various religious explanations are given (the fate of the thirteenth guest at Jesus’ Last Supper, Jesus crucified on a Friday, Noah’s flood started on Friday etc.) none of them provable. Some hotels omit Room 13 and occasionally people reschedule business meetings mistakenly set for a Friday the 13th, but the date is usually ignored.

Four-leafed clovers

Clover has three leaves, so finding the rare mutation with four leaves is very good luck.

Ladders

People don’t walk underneath them. Some sources say this is because a ladder was traditionally propped up against the gallows; others, that a ladder against a wall was a triangle and therefore the sign of the Holy Trinity.

Horseshoes

It is good luck to have one nailed up over the door. Horseshoes in a bedroom protect people from nightmares. Possibly the good associations come from its shape, like a new moon. Finding a horseshoe in the road is exceptionally good luck. If it has come from a grey mare, this is doubly good.

Black cats

If a black cat crosses in front of you that is bad luck.

Touch wood is an interesting one. I don't know of many people though that if something goes wrong will say "Ohhhh I forgot to touch wood. It is all because of not touching wood that my pet cat died". Also, I don't know of many people who would insist upon a Walnut veneer dash board in their car so that they can say "touch wood I get there" and touch it. Have you seen the gonks and crap thai's have in their car?

13th Friday (number 13 in general) - If this was a Thai superstition, no one would do anything on these dates. Westerners joke about it and get on with their days. Because we know it is a load of superstitious nonsense.

4 Leaf clover - so rare that to find one it is lucky I guess. I don't know of anyone apart from Gypsies trying to sell them who actually believe they bring luck.

Ladders - as matey says, easier to walk around than get a bucket of whitewash on your head. Or a Tile. Or a drill. Just common sense.

Horse shoes - Again, does anyone actually take this seriously? Does every house in the UK have a horseshoe on the front door? Nope.

Black cats walking in front of you bring you luck because they are taking bad luck somewhere else. If this was a thai superstition there would be whole streets where enterprising young gangs would tether cats to wires and would be paid to wheel them across in front of the customer.

You're whole list kind of proves my point rather.... they might have been taken seriously in the west 400 years ago, but not today.

Friday the 13th?

Is the day in the year 1307 that the Roman Catholic Church murdered its opposition in a 1 day Europe wide assassination of the Knights Templar.

[maxme]

Some more obscure traditions, including explanations:

Touchwood

When people are hoping for something, they say ‘…touch wood’, and find something wooden to touch, to guard against bad luck. For example, ‘The business deal is finalized next week… touch wood’. This dates back to Celtic times. A tree could take evil spirits down into the earth, like a lightning conductor.

Friday the 13th

An unlucky number and unlucky day. The reasons are lost in the mists of time. Various religious explanations are given (the fate of the thirteenth guest at Jesus’ Last Supper, Jesus crucified on a Friday, Noah’s flood started on Friday etc.) none of them provable. Some hotels omit Room 13 and occasionally people reschedule business meetings mistakenly set for a Friday the 13th, but the date is usually ignored.

Four-leafed clovers

Clover has three leaves, so finding the rare mutation with four leaves is very good luck.

Ladders

People don’t walk underneath them. Some sources say this is because a ladder was traditionally propped up against the gallows; others, that a ladder against a wall was a triangle and therefore the sign of the Holy Trinity.

Horseshoes

It is good luck to have one nailed up over the door. Horseshoes in a bedroom protect people from nightmares. Possibly the good associations come from its shape, like a new moon. Finding a horseshoe in the road is exceptionally good luck. If it has come from a grey mare, this is doubly good.

Black cats

If a black cat crosses in front of you that is bad luck.

Touch wood is an interesting one. I don't know of many people though that if something goes wrong will say "Ohhhh I forgot to touch wood. It is all because of not touching wood that my pet cat died". Also, I don't know of many people who would insist upon a Walnut veneer dash board in their car so that they can say "touch wood I get there" and touch it. Have you seen the gonks and crap thai's have in their car?

13th Friday (number 13 in general) - If this was a Thai superstition, no one would do anything on these dates. Westerners joke about it and get on with their days. Because we know it is a load of superstitious nonsense.

4 Leaf clover - so rare that to find one it is lucky I guess. I don't know of anyone apart from Gypsies trying to sell them who actually believe they bring luck.

Ladders - as matey says, easier to walk around than get a bucket of whitewash on your head. Or a Tile. Or a drill. Just common sense.

Horse shoes - Again, does anyone actually take this seriously? Does every house in the UK have a horseshoe on the front door? Nope.

Black cats walking in front of you bring you luck because they are taking bad luck somewhere else. If this was a thai superstition there would be whole streets where enterprising young gangs would tether cats to wires and would be paid to wheel them across in front of the customer.

You're whole list kind of proves my point rather.... they might have been taken seriously in the west 400 years ago, but not today.

Friday the 13th?

Is the day in the year 1307 that the Roman Catholic Church murdered its opposition in a 1 day Europe wide assassination of the Knights Templar.

Wasn't so much the Church as it was the French King... to be fair but do carry on.

[Morakot]

Friday the 13th?

Is the day in the year 1307 that the Roman Catholic Church murdered its opposition in a 1 day Europe wide assassination of the Knights Templar.

Wasn't so much the Church as it was the French King... to be fair but do carry on.

[travelmann]

another oddity is i have seen a group of thai people being submerged in the river by some man holding a book before being able to join some cult

Bluddy scuba divers eh!!

[Morakot]

another oddity is i have seen a group of thai people being submerged in the river by some man holding a book before being able to join some cult

Bluddy scuba divers eh!!

The submerger doesn't usually hold a book. Get your diving facts right!

Edited August 31, 2012 by Morakot

[travelmann]

Built a small house recently, had to leave the land for a while as came back to the Uk so asked one of the builders to stay in the house for security.

He declined, apparently there is something "very big" living on our land, he couldnt say what it was but it scared the be jesus outta him.

GOOD NEWS I can now promote this story all round the village about the big demon which should then keep the locals well and truly away.

Even the wife was trying hard to contain her laughter when he started telling her.

We offered him 5k a month to stay there too.

House is s till there so the demon is doing a good job of keeping the vermin away although it didnt stop one nicking the water meter.

[travelmann]

another oddity is i have seen a group of thai people being submerged in the river by some man holding a book before being able to join some cult

Bluddy scuba divers eh!!

The submerger doesn't usually hold a book. Get your diving facts right!

Yeah sorry never got past the padi open water diver

[buddy]

Some more obscure traditions, including explanations:

Touchwood

When people are hoping for something, they say ‘…touch wood’, and find something wooden to touch, to guard against bad luck. For example, ‘The business deal is finalized next week… touch wood’. This dates back to Celtic times. A tree could take evil spirits down into the earth, like a lightning conductor.

Friday the 13th

An unlucky number and unlucky day. The reasons are lost in the mists of time. Various religious explanations are given (the fate of the thirteenth guest at Jesus’ Last Supper, Jesus crucified on a Friday, Noah’s flood started on Friday etc.) none of them provable. Some hotels omit Room 13 and occasionally people reschedule business meetings mistakenly set for a Friday the 13th, but the date is usually ignored.

Four-leafed clovers

Clover has three leaves, so finding the rare mutation with four leaves is very good luck.

Ladders

People don’t walk underneath them. Some sources say this is because a ladder was traditionally propped up against the gallows; others, that a ladder against a wall was a triangle and therefore the sign of the Holy Trinity.

Horseshoes

It is good luck to have one nailed up over the door. Horseshoes in a bedroom protect people from nightmares. Possibly the good associations come from its shape, like a new moon. Finding a horseshoe in the road is exceptionally good luck. If it has come from a grey mare, this is doubly good.

Black cats

If a black cat crosses in front of you that is bad luck.

Touch wood is an interesting one. I don't know of many people though that if something goes wrong will say "Ohhhh I forgot to touch wood. It is all because of not touching wood that my pet cat died". Also, I don't know of many people who would insist upon a Walnut veneer dash board in their car so that they can say "touch wood I get there" and touch it. Have you seen the gonks and crap thai's have in their car?

13th Friday (number 13 in general) - If this was a Thai superstition, no one would do anything on these dates. Westerners joke about it and get on with their days. Because we know it is a load of superstitious nonsense.

4 Leaf clover - so rare that to find one it is lucky I guess. I don't know of anyone apart from Gypsies trying to sell them who actually believe they bring luck.

Ladders - as matey says, easier to walk around than get a bucket of whitewash on your head. Or a Tile. Or a drill. Just common sense.

Horse shoes - Again, does anyone actually take this seriously? Does every house in the UK have a horseshoe on the front door? Nope.

Black cats walking in front of you bring you luck because they are taking bad luck somewhere else. If this was a thai superstition there would be whole streets where enterprising young gangs would tether cats to wires and would be paid to wheel them across in front of the customer.

You're whole list kind of proves my point rather.... they might have been taken seriously in the west 400 years ago, but not today.

Friday the 13th?

Is the day in the year 1307 that the Roman Catholic Church murdered its opposition in a 1 day Europe wide assassination of the Knights Templar.

Wasn't so much the Church as it was the French King... to be fair but do carry on.

I will....and the French King answered to who?, their was only one boss in those days and it was the Pope.

[payak]

"Does anyone know the background or any more information on this tradition?"

Yes - ignorance, poor education, and a culture that allows a small group of people to be believed no matter what dribble they say. I wonder how much dosh the parents also had / have to pay for the monks to cleanse the bad spirits?

the pope is educated yes, but funds the education of exercists to learn how to save possessed people yes.

not only thai people with unusual beliefs, several billion christians do to, and muslims who believe in demons called jin.

bit of an oversight to overlook several billion peoples strange beliefs and focus on the thai only as being uneducated and ignorant, same true believers in the temple are far and away more educated then all of us.

[aussiebebe]

The oddest Thai traditions I have actually seen are the Buddhist related things my Thai wife has done; a trip to the temple is like an episode of 'Superstition 101' - shaking sticks, candle oil, blessed water, coins in cups, fortune papers - the list is endless.

The oddest Thai tradition I've never experienced or met anyone with actual experience of is how Thai fathers will take their daughter's virginity. I can't give a source for this, it's just something I've been told about a bygone era in Thai society. Very odd. Hopefully it's died out now.

[travelmann]

The oddest Thai traditions I have actually seen are the Buddhist related things my Thai wife has done; a trip to the temple is like an episode of 'Superstition 101' - shaking sticks, candle oil, blessed water, coins in cups, fortune papers - the list is endless.

The oddest Thai tradition I've never experienced or met anyone with actual experience of is how Thai fathers will take their daughter's virginity. I can't give a source for this, it's just something I've been told about a bygone era in Thai society. Very odd. Hopefully it's died out now.

Nope still goes on in other countries..............what a lovely world w e live in

[jcw]

A while ago I wanted to get a haircut.

I was told that hairdressers are not open today, it was a Wednesday or Thursday, supposedly bad luck or something.

I did not ask any more, just rolled my eyes.

I use the ghost excuse when it is suits me too !!!!

[maxme]

@buddy

Fact is that the crusades is one of my favorite topics and I do a lot of research in the matter so here it goes...

Philip the fair blackmailed the pope into this since the pope Gregory V I believe it wasm had exposed of his predecessor in a manner and way which only the king knew about.

The loss of Acre was the secular princes and kings failing in understanding how it worked across the seas and blamed on the only multinational force who did... the templars and used this as an excuse to seize their assets. Knowing this, one of the templars escaped with the treasure on galleys.

The French king was the big shot during that time, he hold more power than any of the other kings... even England and pressured the Pope into choosing between sacrificing the Templars or losing the Church.

The pope didn't sacrifice them without a fight but he did lose the battle against the king and put himself in a sort of an exile as a protest over being overruled in the matter.

So no... it wasn't really the pope's fault and the whole matter is more complicated than I have explained here. I suggest you do a little digging and then come back with your claims.

Edited August 31, 2012 by maxme

[bina]

thanx mosha and loong.

im home alone while hubby is off being thai (i made the mistake of telling him that i dreamed that someone was trying to kill him - been seeing too many blood and guts and gore movies before bed probably- so he has run off to his cronies to play the thai israel lotto based on what i saw in the dream, and to wei phra just in case....

this thread and the thread about rude thais has made me laugh aloud .... compared to what i read in the news, this is infinately more fun... i have several friends that could rival any superstitious thai on every level from not keeping chipped plates in the house (even if u dont have money to buy new ones)casue it could cause strife among the family, to not wearing second hand clothing from house where someone has died- bad luck, to changing mezuza on the door cause people are always getting sick in the house so a letter on the parchment must be blurred, to tying red strings around babies' wrists against the evil eye-- think madonna--. all this, thai hubby thinks is superstitious and 'ting tong'.

waitng to see how much we will lose based on my dream...i was unable to give him exact dates so he is betting on months of winter as that is what i saw.....

[zzdocxx]

History

Rossini by Henri Grevedon

According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.^[1][2][3] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th.

He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that one Friday 13th of November he died.

^[4]

Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, twelve signs of the Zodiac, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
  
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,^[5] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects.
  
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,^[6] in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.^[1]
  
• Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V's coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. ^[7] However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.^[5][8][9]
  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th

[maxme]

    History

Rossini by Henri Grevedon

According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a "Friday the 13th" superstition before the 19th century.^[1][2][3] The earliest known documented reference in English occurs in Henry Sutherland Edwards' 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th.

He [Rossini] was surrounded to the last by admiring friends; and if it be true that, like so many Italians, he regarded Fridays as an unlucky day and thirteen as an unlucky number, it is remarkable that one Friday 13th of November he died.

^[4]

Several theories have been proposed about the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition.

One theory states that it is a modern amalgamation of two older superstitions: that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day.

• In numerology, the number twelve is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve hours of the clock, twelve gods of Olympus, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, the 12 successors of Muhammad in Shia Islam, twelve signs of the Zodiac, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.
  
• Friday has been considered an unlucky day at least since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales,^[5] and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects.
  
• One author, noting that references are all but nonexistent before 1907 but frequently seen thereafter, has argued that its popularity derives from the publication that year of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth,^[6] in which an unscrupulous broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.^[1]
  
• Records of the superstition are rarely found before the 20th century, when it became extremely common. The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in Dan Brown's 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and in John J. Robinson's 1989 work Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry. On Friday, 13 October 1307, hundreds of the Knights Templar were arrested in France, an action apparently motivated financially and undertaken by the efficient royal bureaucracy to increase the prestige of the crown. Philip IV was the force behind this ruthless move, but it has also tarnished the historical reputation of Clement V. From the very day of Clement V's coronation, the king falsely charged the Templars with heresy, immorality and abuses, and the scruples of the Pope were compromised by a growing sense that the burgeoning French State might not wait for the Church, but would proceed independently. ^[7] However, experts agree that this is a relatively recent correlation, and most likely a modern-day invention.^[5][8][9]
  

http://en.wikipedia....Friday_the_13th

And I might add that Philip the fair didn't even ask the pope for permission but just took over the role as overseer for the inquisition which led to the pope's self imposed exile. There you are buddy

[Mosha]

thanx mosha and loong.

im home alone while hubby is off being thai (i made the mistake of telling him that i dreamed that someone was trying to kill him - been seeing too many blood and guts and gore movies before bed probably- so he has run off to his cronies to play the thai israel lotto based on what i saw in the dream, and to wei phra just in case....

this thread and the thread about rude thais has made me laugh aloud .... compared to what i read in the news, this is infinately more fun... i have several friends that could rival any superstitious thai on every level from not keeping chipped plates in the house (even if u dont have money to buy new ones)casue it could cause strife among the family, to not wearing second hand clothing from house where someone has died- bad luck, to changing mezuza on the door cause people are always getting sick in the house so a letter on the parchment must be blurred, to tying red strings around babies' wrists against the evil eye-- think madonna--. all this, thai hubby thinks is superstitious and 'ting tong'.

waitng to see how much we will lose based on my dream...i was unable to give him exact dates so he is betting on months of winter as that is what i saw.....

One of our friends had a bad dream about her son. No time to organise a party. Hi jack someone else's monk party, Shaved head and in monk robes and down at the Wat for 2 weeks before he'd time to think. .I thought they were suppose to learn the chants by heart, I suppose emergencies are exempt.

[Payboy]

Have lost count of the number of cars I saw today with stickers claiming they were actually some other color.

[bina]

the numbers didnt take anything,, (

so much for dreams and numbers.

[maxme]

the numbers didnt take anything,, (

so much for dreams and numbers.

Maybe you should console a monk.

[xavierr]

The lines between superstition, tradition and religion are not clearly defined

[xenophon]

When it comes to superstitions and weird beliefs, the Chinese leave the rest of us for dead. The Devpt Bank of Singapore management (all western PhDs and MBAs) rearranged its furniture and swapped the staff and customer entrances on the advice of a feng shui master to increase profits. Unfortunately, it worked.

In addition, there are the caveats about sharp instruments as gifts, white wrapping paper, walking in straight lines and on and on. A Chinese friend of mine says it drives her crazy, but, especially if older people are around, they must do all this stuff.

[madmitch]

If you have a garland hanging from the mirror and amulets, ornaments and Buddhist figures on the front of the car/van/truck.minibus, you can drive as fast and as dangerously as you want and you will not be harmed.

[buddy]

Thank you for the confirmation.

[NoshowJones]

"Does anyone know the background or any more information on this tradition?"

Yes - ignorance, poor education, and a culture that allows a small group of people to be believed no matter what dribble they say. I wonder how much dosh the parents also had / have to pay for the monks to cleanse the bad spirits?

Are you sure it was a girl? I have seen this hairstyle on a lot of young Thai boys, or maybe I just thought they were boys.

[Gers1873]

I'm not Thai --- my gran refused to let me cut my nails on a Sunday

People eating only fish on Fridays??

If a black cat crosses your path, it signifies that the animal is going somewhere.” - Groucho Marx

Superstitions seem odd to some and normal to others

Edited September 2, 2012 by Gers1873

[Pseudolus]

"Does anyone know the background or any more information on this tradition?"

Yes - ignorance, poor education, and a culture that allows a small group of people to be believed no matter what dribble they say. I wonder how much dosh the parents also had / have to pay for the monks to cleanse the bad spirits?

Are you sure it was a girl? I have seen this hairstyle on a lot of young Thai boys, or maybe I just thought they were boys.

Umm ok.