Thais flock to worship ‘sacred iron wood’ trees before lottery draws

[Thaivisa News]

Bangkok: As the first of March is coming up, Thairath Online has compiled a list of what many Thais believe to be “sacred takhien” or iron wood trees haunted by female ghosts.

Thairath said the believers hope the ghosts residing in the trees would help them find winning lottery numbers that they will bet on.

These believers place their hope on the trees two times a month – before the first and sixteenth days of the month when the lotteries are drawn.

Thairath has listed eight takhien trees or objects made of the trees that many Thais worship and believe they could find the winning numbers on the wood. The believers normally put powder on their hands and rub the wood to look for numbers.

The first one on the list is a boat made of takhien tree at the Amphawan Temple in Ubon Ratchathani’s district.

The second one is a log of takhine tree at the Sangkharachawas Temple in Sing Buri’s Muang district. The people believe this log is haunted by two sister ghosts.

A large takhien tree that has fallen down in Samut Sakhon’s Muang distric was the third one on the list.

The fourth one is a boat made of takhien tree at Bandaichang Temple in Tambon Huawieng in Ayutthaya’s Sena district.

The fifth one is a takhien tree inside the Thamdua Temple inKamphaeng Phet’s Muang district.

An ancient boat retrieved from a canal, which is being kept at the Thalard Temple in Ubon Ratchathani’s Don Moddaeng district, is the sixth one on the list.

The seventh one is a boat made of takhien wood that has been recently unearthed from a shore of Yung River in Roi Et’s Phonthong district.

Finally, a large takhien log at Takhien Ngarm Temple in Rayong’s Klaeng district is the eighth one on the list.

Thairath said please use your own judgment to believe it or not.

[Mcffee]

The 15th century called, they want their people back.

[NeverSure]

The 15th century called, they want their people back.

Are you sure it was that recent, LOL?

[Pimay1]

Notice that six of the eight trees are at temples. How convenient. But I'm sure the monks had nothing to do with putting this idea into peoples heads.

[soalbundy]

what ever turns you on.

[Sunderland]

Boo!

[Finlaco]

I come from a country where 82% of people believe a holy man (and it has to be a man) doing incantations in Latin (and it has to be Latin) turns bread and wine into the body and blood of a dead king (who isn't really dead, yet died for all our sins (real and imaginary) for a whole three days), and his followers regularly (at least once a week) participate in a cannibalistic ritual (eating and drinking his flesh and blood) and celebrate a Human Sacrifice. Many believe by doing this they will know morality and mortality (will live forever in a paradise after death). Many believe that he will also ward off evils including illness and reward them with sporting wins and lottery draws. Strange beliefs some people have.

[ithankGodagain]

People re been driven back word....this act is to covenant people with spirit of death ?' mind what u re doing...do not eat ? with Satan and think u will be free

[iReason]

"the believers hope the ghosts residing in the trees would help them find winning lottery numbers that they will bet on."

Say's it all.

"trees or objects made of the trees that many Thais worship and believe they could find the winning numbers on the wood."

Ignorant serfs with twisted priorities entangled in ghostly pu ying filled trees.

[kinmaew]

It baffles me the things and objects they worship in that country. Thais would bow down to a teapot if you told them it was once belonged to x and that same teapot has held by x for x years etc my god what a joke.

But over in the west its much more clean with idiots happily paying $8 a minute on 19** numbers to speak to some nutter who think they know their life story and their future.

If anyone has seen the movie "Leon" when the little girl asks "Is life always like this or only when you are little" Leon says "Always like this" - No need for a god-dam teapot to tell me what to do!! I prefer to listen to Luc Besson movies.

[kinmaew]

Instead of praying to trees (I cant believe I am writing this) how about getting off your ass and building some underground gas infrastructure so you don't have to rely on bottles and covering up the stinking klongs.

[davidmann]

i went to thailand in 1970 ,trees where in the jungle then ,not funny how its changed

[Mcffee]

In 1948, behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner published an article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, in which he described his pigeons exhibiting what appeared to be superstitious behaviour. One pigeon was making turns in its cage, another would swing its head in a pendulum motion, while others also displayed a variety of other behaviours. Because these behaviors were all done ritualistically in an attempt to receive food from a dispenser, even though the dispenser had already been programmed to release food at set time intervals regardless of the pigeons' actions, Skinner believed that the pigeons were trying to influence their feeding schedule by performing these actions. He then extended this as a proposition regarding the nature of superstitious behavior in humans.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Mcffee

[soalbundy]

why of all things is this so strange, Thailand has a ministry of justice, Thailand has a police force, Thailand has a ministry for education, these things a far more unbelievable.

[Mcffee]

why of all things is this so strange, Thailand has a ministry of justice, Thailand has a police force, Thailand has a ministry for education, these things a far more unbelievable.

This is from the Ministry of Tingtongness

[ratcatcher]

Talking to a brick wall. self flagellation kissing the blarney stone.

Thais, those crazy buggers, worshiping trees. Who'd a thunk eh?

[kinmaew]

Look at who they worship in this country. One of the many gods is now a "Female Ghost inside a Tree"? Explains the open drains and poverty that's what you get when you worship false gods.

[soalbundy]

Look at who they worship in this country. One of the many gods is now a "Female Ghost inside a Tree"? Explains the open drains and poverty that's what you get when you worship false gods.

as opposed to real gods you mean ?

[simon43]

The believers normally put powder on their hands and rub the wood to look for numbers.

My dysfunctional, Issan family members do the same thing with the large toads in their garden, rubbing talcum powder on the toad's stomach and then trying to identify lottery numbers in the stomach black markings.

With a blackboard marker and several willing toads, you can have hours of enjoyment watching the family members scrambling amongst the wet grass for these 'lucky' toads..

For some reason, my Issan wife and I went our separate ways shortly afterwards

[bkkjames]

This morning at 5am a resident Tom cat in our development took down a rat with lighting precision with no noise or scream from the rat. Must be a lucky cat. I will seek him out around the 15th for tips on how to pick lottery numbers.