What is it with Thais and new home rituals?

[notmyself]

Does this ritual only apply to a newly built house?

Does it apply to moving in an old house too?

May happen but I have not personally heard of it. In a 'used' house there are spirits all around so the monks only need eject the bad spirits while to good ones remain. With a new house there are no spirits at all so the monks would leave the house without ANY spirits in it.

[Bkungbank]

Few tips to follow :

1) Chinese will place use ro old cloth which have been wear inside the house to tell that it's occupied already so later spirits will known it has owner in it.

2) Japanese will place salt at every side isde the house where it's believe have element to expel evil spirits

3) Thai open some window to get sun lights inside of the house even owner are not there for few weeks. darkness will attract spirits but also thieft

4) If some spirits already there before you some Thais will built a spirits house outside call 'Tah Yai house' for them with some offering in return get protecting back from them.

[thailandbeachisland]

Cannot stand all these shity believes anymore ! It's time that they enter the real world finally !

[Fullstop]

"What is it with farangs and "House warming parties?"

[Igor]

at least 10 monks in the house for blessing

Hope not 10! My understanding is you need an odd number of monks for a blessing and an even number for funerals.

I love these parties. Lots of good food, interesting people, families to meet. Music, dancing, laughter. Great fun.

Thai Buddism/Hunduism/animism can be an endless source of interest and even entertainment. You curmudegeons should relax and, even if you refuse to understand, try to enjoy,

[thailandbeachisland]

After 8 years of this type of nonsense.. I finally put a stop too it.

It encourages a valid fear of ghosts and luck, whether good or bad.

When it got to the point where I could not enjoy a short holiday with the missus, because someone was scared of ghosts, I knew it was time.

So I sat down with the family... Banned all soapies... explained why I did... then said, that if you believe in ghost sh*t, then do it elsewhere as this home is now updated to 2014 specs and those old ways that you worship are gone... Since then, my 2 young kids seem more relaxed and the eldest shocked me when she wanted a comic book on ghosts. I asked why and her reply was... "they don't scare me anymore".....

Finally someone with balls ! Congratulations !

But 8 years is way too long, I didn't accept any BS even 1 month.

Poor kids who have to listen to all that BS...

[HeijoshinCool]

I forgot about this one, not a new home, but ….

My next door neighbor in Rhek Thum bought a brand new Honda whatchamlcallit -- the hybrid car, expensive sucker. Glossy black. Went through all that rigamarole at the dealer, had goop from temple smeared all over it, undecipherable finger painting over the driver's head, a couple of pot-bellied guys plopped on the dash, and of course, some photos pasted to the top of the windshield of what looked like mummified bald guys.

He had the detail shop clean off all the junk from the temple and drove it home. I was sitting out front drinking a cold one. He toots his horn at everyone, and turns into his drive to pull into the carport. I heard a roar.

He hit the gas, not the brakes.

He finally got the brake thing going, only tapped his front door, but the passenger side front quarter-panel had already smacked a 4" x 4" corner support. Roof comes down in slow motion, and crushes the top of the car, and the hood.

He wears amulets, too.

[thailandbeachisland]

In my small town of Rhek Thum, there are currently seven new houses. Most have been empty for at least six months, some for over two years. Most are relatively expensive homes.

They are empty.

Why, I asked the GF?

Because they wait to have money to buy new furniture and appliances. They can't take stuff from old house. Bad luck.

There is really a town called RECTUM ????

Never heard about it before !

[HeijoshinCool]

In my small town of Rhek Thum, there are currently seven new houses. Most have been empty for at least six months, some for over two years. Most are relatively expensive homes.

They are empty.

Why, I asked the GF?

Because they wait to have money to buy new furniture and appliances. They can't take stuff from old house. Bad luck.

There is really a town called RECTUM ????

Never heard about it before !

No, it's my polite word for where I live. Though the true name isn't far off.

[mimi9000]

This new house "behavior" has nothing to do with Buddha, even though the Thai people think it does. Most things that Thais do that are superstitious in nature are due to Chinese Folk Religion, even though the Thais have no idea about it, because they think they are being "Buddhists." Chinese Folk Religion is heavily infiltrated into what is otherwise supposed to be Buddhism. It's very unfortunate. Example... with all the fatal vehicle crashes in Thailand, and Thailand being in the top 3 of worst rates in the world, I said to my Thai friends... "good thing you guys keep that decoration hanging from your car mirror that obstructs your vision while also protects you from being Number 1 in the world for fatal vehicle accident rates." sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeez

[malt25]

Kinda the same with the car blessing thing. All that bloody string & white finger prints on the roof lining.... but it keeps em happy.

Another good one.... why can't I get a haircut on a Wednesday ?

But hey, it's their country & we are the visitors.

But when you come to think of it, we have some pretty strange customs as well. That could be a post in itself.

Just think, be like me. If you're that laid back that you occasionally fall over you ain't stressin too much & are probably fitting into the scheme of things just fine.

[NeverSure]

FWIW, my friend, a Thai teacher, is moving used things into her new house. She had a bed and some other things at her parents' house and she is using them.

[lucifer666]

Kinda the same with the car blessing thing. All that bloody string & white finger prints on the roof lining.... but it keeps em happy.

Another good one.... why can't I get a haircut on a Wednesday ?

But hey, it's their country & we are the visitors.

But when you come to think of it, we have some pretty strange customs as well. That could be a post in itself.

Just think, be like me. If you're that laid back that you occasionally fall over you ain't stressin too much & are probably fitting into the scheme of things just fine.

There's a good reason hat you can't get a haircut on wednesday. They are usually closed

[Trentham]

Kinda the same with the car blessing thing. All that bloody string & white finger prints on the roof lining.... but it keeps em happy.

Another good one.... why can't I get a haircut on a Wednesday ?

But hey, it's their country & we are the visitors.

But when you come to think of it, we have some pretty strange customs as well. That could be a post in itself.

Just think, be like me. If you're that laid back that you occasionally fall over you ain't stressin too much & are probably fitting into the scheme of things just fine.

Yep! Salt over the left shoulder, not walking under ladders, the black cat thing, Fridays the 13th, not stepping on cracks in the pavement - on and on. However it mostly does not rule our lives.

[samjaidee]

Actually in many populations, circumcision is held to be the best hope for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

And modern medicine has rediscovered valid uses for leeches in surgery.

And don't forget maggots are making a come-back. They just love to clean open wounds.

[samjaidee]

I believe in some of these rituals. Better to be safe than sorry. There are just as many where I come from.

Sent from my GT-I9152 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Where do you come from? Laos?

[Rorri]

robertthebruce, on 03 Mar 2014 - 08:25, said:

It all gets a bit too much sometimes...

I always wind up my ''Thai Family'' and say that i have seen a Ghost the previous evening..

It really gets them going...

Bad i know, but thats the devil in me...

I shamefully did something similar, I "photoshopped" a ghostly face into a waterfall that we visited 2 days previously, when the Thai family saw it that was it, no matter what I said, they were off to the waterfall to make offerings and prey, this damn waterfall was nearly 200 k's away. Mmm, actually, not so shameful, am still laughing.

[Rorri]

ESCAPIS, on 03 Mar 2014 - 10:10, said:

Does this ritual only apply to a newly built house?

Does it apply to moving in an old house too?

Old and new....

[Rorri]

Trentham, on 03 Mar 2014 - 10:38, said:

The following is part of an email from my Aussie partner in our resort describing what happened when our Thai partner went to collect our new car.

Well, we did get the car. Last Wednesday. We had to go through all sorts of rigmarole of course – drive it out of the showroom at noon precisely (for good luck); visit the grandaughter of the last king of Nan for good luck; arriving at 12.09 for good luck; parking the car in her garden with all the doors open (to let the good luck in, along with the red ants and mozzies); then to the temple to have it and us splashed with water for good luck; then driving out of town to the first temple in Nan and circling it (tooting the horn first, of course) for good luck; and then driving back to the resort with good luck temple threads hanging from the steering wheel and the rear vision mirror. So much good luck. Then that first night K........ drives it up the bungalows driveway and demolishes the brick pillars and salt pan at the top. So, the next day (which is when I found out about it) his mother kills a chicken and we go to a jungle temple and the good luck process starts all over again. I asked him if I could get my 500bt back from the monk in Nan.

No "good" luck for the chicken... you should have told them you think the chicken was the reincarnation of your great great grandfather.

[Rorri]

Fullstop, on 03 Mar 2014 - 11:13, said:

"What is it with farangs and "House warming parties?"

Originally, it was to meet you new neighbours.

[Razer64]

My wife is Buddhist and our house in the US several friend's homes here and in the US have been blessed this way.

I am so glad I am atheist!

But I always attend these things for the free eats and good conversation! Fun!

[Datebayo]

It used to be that when a house was sold to another, that the Ham Yon over the bedroom door was taken down and broken. Ham Yon translates into something like magic testicles and was seen as the repository of male energy. No Thai man would want another mans energy in his house. So after the old Ham Yon was broken up, the new owner put his own up.

Generally speaking, the first item moved into a new house is the Buddha icon which is placed in an auspicious and high location.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The new owner nailed his balls to the wall???

Not before he crushed the previous owner's testicles like a cockaroach

[Craftsman258]

After 8 years of this type of nonsense.. I finally put a stop too it.

It encourages a valid fear of ghosts and luck, whether good or bad.

When it got to the point where I could not enjoy a short holiday with the missus, because someone was scared of ghosts, I knew it was time.

So I sat down with the family... Banned all soapies... explained why I did... then said, that if you believe in ghost sh*t, then do it elsewhere as this home is now updated to 2014 specs and those old ways that you worship are gone... Since then, my 2 young kids seem more relaxed and the eldest shocked me when she wanted a comic book on ghosts. I asked why and her reply was... "they don't scare me anymore".....

What ever happened to the oft quoted expression "When in Rome" the more I read these pages the more I wonder why some people decide to settle in a country that they seem so dismissive of.

[HooHaa]

Ritual after buying a car (last week).

Salesman: Yes, car will be ready on Monday.

Me: great, see you then. (Sold my old car, I had a rental car).

Wife: Wait, I go to internet.

10 minutes later....

Wife: Husband born on a Tuesday. He 51. So cannot take car out until Thursday. Next Saturday good too!

Me: What!

Wife: Yes, you take car out Monday, bad luck all year.

Fast forward to Thursday...

Wife: NO DRIVE YET. You have to....... before leave dealer.

Me: Got in the car, and drove in a small circle 3 <deleted>' times like an idiot before I could exit.

Good thing about this is that wife bought me lunch that day.

i love it when people present their wives using pidgin

[khunsuar]

It used to be that when a house was sold to another, that the Ham Yon over the bedroom door was taken down and broken. Ham Yon translates into something like magic testicles and was seen as the repository of male energy. No Thai man would want another mans energy in his house. So after the old Ham Yon was broken up, the new owner put his own up.

Generally speaking, the first item moved into a new house is the Buddha icon which is placed in an auspicious and high location.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The new owner nailed his balls to the wall???

Not literally. A ham yon is carved from wood, and is based on the span of the new owners hand... Lest you think something else was measured...

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[john fogerty]

When we moved into our house, we had 9 monks come round to bless the house. They put spots of paint over the front door. Many of the Thai neighbours came round as well. I hesitate to say it was for the free food. Likewise, we had a haidressing salon built onto the side of the house ( my wife is a hairdresser) and again, had the monks round. We had a 'Buddha House' built in the corner of the garden but this time it was blessed by, I assume, a local priest. In fact it was he who told us where to put it and what colour it should be.

As for the car, we were told by a friend of ours who's a medium ( spiritualwise not sizewise) what colour car is lucky for us and what time and day we should collect it. I only hope my watch was telling the right time!!!

[kbelyeu]

Oh yeah... don't forget no pissing or spitting in your yard near a fence... bad mojo for the budda!

Kurt

[khunPer]

When I – or rather my building constructor – was starting to build my new house, he consulted the temple to have the monks (or a wise monk) to tell him the date to begin and which post to be the “lucky post” and the first to make.

Of course I follow the rules and tradition – I even borrowed a pendulum from an old clairvoyant French madam and double-checked all post markings at the construction site; the monks were right…!

A serious ritual was held with merit offerings, and my GF, my little daughter and I had to pull the first bucket of cement in the posthole. The steel bearing was decorated with lucky bands and flowers – and a waterbottle(?). A small piece of gold was thrown under the cement – actually two pieces, one-piece Thai gold (24 carat) and one-piece farang gold (14 or 18 carat), as the house were both for a Thai and a farang. The ceremony was very important to my Thai building constructor, the two foremen and all the workers. The cement trucks were waiting till the ceremony had finished before they let the big loads fill into the many post foundations. We had a very successful construction.

However, my farang neighbour, who began building a few month after us, did not attend to the starting ceremony performed by the workers – and of course did not place any superstitious lucky piece of gold. Shortly after, an old big tree, intended kept in the middle of the house with an opening all way up through the roof, were hit by lightning during a thunderstorm, burned and died. The workers were scared – very bad. The architect had to change the construction drawings. There were so many problems during the construction period – and still is after the house have been finished…

Experiences like that makes me believe in the Thai magic…!

Later, when our house were almost finished, again the monks at the temple decided what day to move in – or rather sleep in the house; »just one night will do,« we were told. So even I would have preferred to wait another month or two to finish all details, we – my GF and I – had to “move in” and sleep in the house; and we stayed there so the spirits knew it was occupied. I shall believe that following, the for many Westerners superstitious traditions, we have been very lucky with our “dream house” – and I naturally also had two beautiful wooden spirit houses made in Chiang Mai and sent down, so the land ghosts and the house ghosts have nice places to stay; they are very thankful and never bothers us…

My not-at-all-superstitious neighbour also have no spirit houses, might be why the ghosts are making so much trouble in and outside his house…

Attached photos (for those who are ineterested):

Workers preparing the lucky post

The master(s) place gold and the first cement

The offerings – seems like spirits may smoke a cigar?

After the lucky-post-ceremony cement construction began

Spirit houses

Edited March 3, 2014 by khunPer

[Stuart21]

Ritual after buying a car (last week).

Salesman: Yes, car will be ready on Monday.

Me: great, see you then. (Sold my old car, I had a rental car).

Wife: Wait, I go to internet.

10 minutes later....

Wife: Husband born on a Tuesday. He 51. So cannot take car out until Thursday. Next Saturday good too!

Me: What!

Wife: Yes, you take car out Monday, bad luck all year.

Fast forward to Thursday...

Wife: NO DRIVE YET. You have to....... before leave dealer.

Me: Got in the car, and drove in a small circle 3 <deleted>' times like an idiot before I could exit.

Good thing about this is that wife bought me lunch that day.

Near Mother in law from 'Wagga Wagga' asked me to drive her car around the block to warm it up, before I went anywhere - same same?

[gcbruk]

I was supposed to have picked up a new motorbike today but having spoken to her 'soothsayer' (for lack of a better word), who she consults about anything and everything on an almost daily basis, my girlfriend told me I must wait until the 5th because today would not be fortunate.So I go along along with it, partly because I suppose I don't care to tempt fate, partly because I will never get her on the bike if I don't.

I'm not sure what to think of these soothsayers. My girlfriends belief in them has more to do with animism than buddhism I think. Sure there are outright scammers but there are also those who use their 'insights' genuinely and altruistically.

A few years ago I missed out on my visa renewals eventually resulting in a nine month overstay and I was very nervous about what might happen at the airport when I left thinking that I would have to pay 20,000b at least, and feared much worse. But her soothsayer consulted my charts three months beforehand and said my departure date fell during a particularly lucky period for me and he assured me that I had absolutely nothing to worry about, although worry I did. When it came to it, although it was picked up at check-in, the guy in immigration happened to be so busy chatting to the woman sitting next to him that he stamped me out without even looking through my passport so I got away with it completely. I would say the odds on that were not very high, so how or why did the soothsayer go for the least likely option with such complete confidence in a happy outcome I ask myself?

As for superstition; a while ago we had some Thai friends round for a meal. I spilled some salt and without thinking threw a little over my left shoulder. They asked why I did that, so I explained that we think spilling salt is unlucky but throwing some over your shoulder brings your luck back. Next thing was salt being passed round, and in all seriousness, getting thrown over shoulders by the handful. Couldn't help smiling.

We're moving into a new house shortly, not sure what date, off to see the soothsayer tomorrow and then we'll know.