Airport Ghosts

[taxexile]

Eerie experience interrupts rite

Ghostly encounters at Suvarnabhumi

By Amornrat Mahitthirook

Airports of Thailand (AoT) organised its largest religious rite at the new Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday to ward off evil spirits, only to experience an encounter with the unexplained. Rumours of occasional ''ghostly sightings'' have gone around since the first foundation brick was laid at the airport many years ago. The AoT is determined to correct the growing perception that the airport is possibly harbouring some ''uninvited inhabitants'' and to put its staff members' minds at ease.

Yesterday's rite was presided over by 99 monks who chanted en masse to improve the luck of the new airport, set to open commercially on Thursday.

However, halfway through the rite, a man appeared, quivering, and began to speak in a commanding voice claiming to be ''Poo Ming'', a guardian spirit of the land partially developed into the airport.

He ordered that a proper spirit house be built at the airport to allow for its smooth operation. The man, who was unidentified, later passed out and woke up to find the spirit had left him.

AoT president Chotisak Asapaviriya said the ceremony helped to boost the morale of airport staff, some of whom were unnerved after learning of frequent car crashes on the road running parallel to the airport's eastern runway.

Some veiled figures have sometimes been spotted on the 6km-long road.

Somchai Sawasdeepon, the airport general manager, said he had heard ghost stories from staff who came across a woman dressed in a Thai-style costume at the airport construction site in the evening.

He said the airport land formerly belonged to some local communities encompassing the centuries-old Wat Nhong Prue and its cemetery. It was reported that the bodies had not been exhumed for proper religious cremation.

Sqn Ldr Panupong Nualthongyai, head of Suvarnabhumi airport security, was also a witness to some strange, unexplained episodes.

''Whatever you make of it, it is the belief associated with the Thai way of life. For the non-believer, it is best not to act disrespectfully [towards the supernatural],'' he said.

bangkok post.

[OlRedEyes]

[george]

Exorcising the ghost at Bangkok's new airport

BANGKOK: -- A religious rite organised over the weekend to quell fears that Bangkok's new $3.8 billion airport was haunted by dissatisfied ghosts apparently failed to achieve its purpose.

The rite, involving 99 Buddhist monks, was interrupted mid-prayer Saturday by an unidentified man who claimed to be "Phu Ming", or "Grandfather Ming", who demanded that a proper "spirit house" be built to assure the smooth operation of the airport, the Bangkok Post reported Sunday.

The man reportedly passed out after delivering his message. When he awoke, the spirit had left him.

"Spirit houses" are part of Thailand's traditional belief system. The small shrines are meant to show respect to the spirits that inhabited a plot of land before the new owner.

Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport will officially open Thursday at 3 a.m. when the old airport at Don Muang will be closed to commercial traffic. The new airport was built on land bought by the government four decades ago in an eastern suburb of Bangkok that was previously called Nong Ngu Hao or Cobra Swamp.

Ghost sighting by superstitious workers were common during the construction period.

The project has proved an unlucky one for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who planned to preside over the opening of the billion-dollar infrastructure project Thursday as one of the crowning successes of his five years in power.

Thaksin was overthrown by a military coup last Tuesday and with his government out of the way, several investigations into corruption, including for equipment purchases at Suvarnabhumi Airport, are expected to reveal some skeletons in the closet.

--DPA 2006-09-24

[george]

Thai monks soothe mad spirits at new airport

BANGKOK: -- The control tower is built and the luggage carousels are operating but one thing officials at Bangkok's new airport had not expected was the late arrival of Poo Ming, the guardian spirit.

After a spate of ghostly sightings and unfortunate accidents, 90 monks massed inside the shining new complex Saturday to chant rites ensuring good luck ahead of Thursday's official opening.

During the religious proceedings, a shaking man appeared crying and speaking in a strange voice claiming to be Poo Ming (Grandfather Ming), the guardian spirit of the land on which the airport was built.

He demanded a spirit house to be built at the airport - a fixture in many homes and work places in Buddhist Thailand - before promptly fainting.

"Even if it's unbelievable, we will not insult something we cannot prove," said senior airport official Surajit Surapolchai. He said the authorities planned to build a spirit house soon.

Supernatural events had long been talked about at the new Suvarnabhumi international airport built on land that once been home to a centuries-old temple and a cemetery.

Workers had spoken of seeing a woman in Thai-style costume at the construction site in the evenings and were unnerved after frequent car crashes on a road parallel to a runway, the Bangkok Post reported.

Airport general manager, Somchai Sawasdeepon, said the monks chanted rites at 10 places in the airport for Saturday's ceremony.

"The rite is to help promote and lift the people's spirits before the new airport opens since there were many bad things that happened during its construction," he said.

Last week the roof started leaking. Then Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the man who had made the airport's construction a priority project, was unseated in a military coup nine days before the official opening.

Thailand's turbulent politics and repeated corruption scandals have delayed the airport's opening since it was first mooted four decades ago.

Thai officials hope the airport, capable of dealing with 45 million passengers a year, will become the new hub for regional air travel.

The Thai population is 95 percent Buddhist and a belief in ancient spirits remains strong, particularly in rural areas.

--iol.co.nz 2006-09-24

[aussie dollar]

god no I arrive thursday hope there gone by then,

"built it and they will go"

thought it was "built it and they will come"

[Tony Clifton]

I saw this on tv yesterday and was wondering what that was all about. I thought maybe it's the airport technician who switched off a breaker last week and is now feeling sorry, over doing it on the acting. The monks seemed quite embarassed and skeptical while tapping the guy on the shoulder, and then relieved when he "snapped out of it".

[astral]

Knowing Thai tradition I would be very surprised if the airport does not have a Spirit House,

and I am not talking about the bonded warehouse for alcohol.

[phibunmike]

Some veiled figures have sometimes been spotted on the 6km-long road.

Somchai Sawasdeepon, the airport general manager, said he had heard ghost stories from staff who came across a woman dressed in a Thai-style costume at the airport construction site in the evening.

He said the airport land formerly belonged to some local communities encompassing the centuries-old Wat Nhong Prue and its cemetery. It was reported that the bodies had not been exhumed for proper religious cremation.

Sqn Ldr Panupong Nualthongyai, head of Suvarnabhumi airport security, was also a witness to some strange, unexplained episodes.

Oh no, I hope my wife doesn't hear about this; we'll end up having to go everywhere by bus

[lomatopo]

Paging Dr. Peter Venkman

[1900]

I just read this story, with tears of laughter in my eyes. Voodoo dolls and sprit houses and the employees feel better. There are things in life that need to be rushed along. Airports and their planning, operation and construction are not amoung those "things." It would take a lot of money in safety over-sights and ten million black-magic charms for me to feel safe landing there.