On a daily basis, it may be my husband, my daughter, colleagues or just about anybody around me, but for sure someone, on just about any topic, will tell me some strange notion like:

"Oh no, you can never eat watermelon when you have a cold"

"if a dog bites you, you must kill it, boil its head and eat it"

"the water in Bangkok is better to wash yourself because your skin will get whiter"

it is always said in such an indubitable way that it makes me wonder ma I crazy

or are they kidding me.

Do you know what I mean?

Yes, Gisele, and it is quite a culture shock when a "rational" conversation is suddenly diverted into a surreal mystical realm without any change of tone by the Thai speaker.

A recent example: our resident computer whizz and wireless provider also belongs to a well-known meditation organisation. He never misses an opportunity to push his spiritual agenda. We were discussing quality of printers etc when he showed us some photographs of "angels" that he'd taken at a recent meditation meeting in Bangkok. These were like bubbles of light. We expressed polite interest but refrained from pointing out that in certain conditions such as the presence of mega-powerful sodium lights, refraction will produce such images on the camera lens!

I enjoy the co-existence of mystical and rational thought, but eating the dog's head is pretty far out on left field!

"Oh no, you can never eat watermelon when you have a cold"

On a daily basis, it may be my husband, my daughter, colleagues or just about anybody around me, but for sure someone, on just about any topic, will tell me some strange notion like:

"Oh no, you can never eat watermelon when you have a cold"

"if a dog bites you, you must kill it, boil its head and eat it"

"the water in Bangkok is better to wash yourself because your skin will get whiter"

it is always said in such an indubitable way that it makes me wonder ma I crazy

or are they kidding me.

Do you know what I mean?

I have been told,

never eat chicken when you have something wrong with you skin.

Mother's should drink cocount milk so their babies will be white.

Also there seems to be one million natural forms of viagara, or so I am told: bear, monkey, a spcific tree mixed with Lao Khao the list goes on and on.

Along the watermelon line, Rambutans are bad when you have a cold as well??

So yes I really know what you mean.

Don't we have the same 'old wives tales' back in the west? Never been told to throw salt over your left shoulder if you spill it? Carrying rabbit's foots for luck? Having a horseshoe on the wall for good luck? Make sure its tuned the right way up though or all the luck will fall out!

Edited November 25, 200619 yr by bkkmadness

Don't forget knocking on wood

I am a believer, makes my husband laugh tho

I don't mind the superstitions, some are funny, some make you think. Same as ours. Although my husband thinks the sudden goose pimples explanation is creepy (someone walking over your grave).

Before we started construction of the house, we had to consult the Monks at the local Wat for the best day to start, the head Monk named the day and on that day he and a few other Monks arrived so that they could splash us with water and chant when the contractor helped us to raise the first column.

When the construction was nearing completion we again consulted with the Wat about the 'lucky day' to move in and have the house blessing party. May the twelfth, came the answer.

The house was habitable by May 2nd and we had spent the three months prior in the in-laws house (interesting but not exactly pleasant)..... wifey sought a second opinion and found out that we could move in sooner as long as Mama-in-law came round every night and stuck six burning incense sticks in the ground at the front door.

I did ask the wife if she found it odd that the date of May 12th given by the head Monk just happened to be the same date that the contractor had to finish the work by.

"How, Monk not see contract?"

But they did talk together for an hour or so while we were laying the first column into place..... must have been about fishing

Superstition Ain't The Way.......................

It's a very strong Far Eastern thing although 'we' have the same in Western countries but not as strong.

If it 'ain't the way'....?

Well how can someone change hundreds, even thousands of years of 'wisdom' advice and strong believe from mothers and fathers ?

Better take it with a smile....

LaoPo

A few years ago when I was in Thailand for Christmas I was trying to explain about it to my partner's Thai friends. The whole idea that Jesus was born of a virgin impregnated by a spirit got some hearty laughs. Very bizarre sounding belief to non-Christians. There were other parts of Jesus' story I'm forgetting just now that elicited the same response--like, "how funny that anyone would really believe THAT!"

Depends on what you were taught growing up and then held onto, doesn't it?

Edited November 30, 200619 yr by mapletree

Don't we have the same 'old wives tales' back in the west? Never been told to throw salt over your left shoulder if you spill it? Carrying rabbit's foots for luck? Having a horseshoe on the wall for good luck? Make sure its tuned the right way up though or all the luck will fall out!

the rabbits foot has allways been a mystery, has anyone ever considered how unlucky the rabbit was??

Don't forget knocking on wood

I am a believer, makes my husband laugh tho

I don't mind the superstitions, some are funny, some make you think. Same as ours. Although my husband thinks the sudden goose pimples explanation is creepy (someone walking over your grave).

This is a classic, I and my wife say it and we both want to be cremated and our ashes spread!

A few years ago when I was in Thailand for Christmas I was trying to explain about it to my partner's Thai friends. The whole idea that Jesus was born of a virgin impregnated by a spirit got some hearty laughs. Very bizarre sounding belief to non-Christians. There were other parts of Jesus' story I'm forgetting just now that elicited the same response--like, "how funny that anyone would really believe THAT!"

Depends on what you were taught growing up and then held onto, doesn't it?

Excellent point. Irrational beliefs abound in every culture, and ethnocentrism often prevents people from recognizing their own culture's "superstitions"/legends/myths for what they are.

Edited December 2, 200619 yr by fruittbatt

my sister broke a mirror recently which is considered to be several years bad luck by some.

my mum told her to bury the mirror and she'll be ok.

my sister broke a mirror recently which is considered to be several years bad luck by some.

my mum told her to bury the mirror and she'll be ok.

No gardening near your mums place in the near future then ....

Unless you're wearing kevlar gloves ...

my sister broke a mirror recently which is considered to be several years bad luck by some.

my mum told her to bury the mirror and she'll be ok.

That's because glass is made from sand & water. People used to believe that spirits from the sand & water got trapped in the mirror, so if you broke it you let them out & they would create your bad luck as revenge for imprisoning them.

If you returned one of them to their natural element, though, you'd be OK. So, running water is supposed to be OK, too!

Another thread is running regarding Thai women afraid of sleeping alone, has anyone encountered this in their lives? A few years after my husband and I got married he went into the temple to be a monk for a couple of weeks (his grandfather had died) and his mom showed up at my house that morning with her little bag packed to come and stay with me! Never mind that my brother-in-law and his wife and kid lived less than 10m away. I told her, I was going to stay with a friend. It made her feel better and I got some peace and quiet.

Another thread is running regarding Thai women afraid of sleeping alone, has anyone encountered this in their lives? A few years after my husband and I got married he went into the temple to be a monk for a couple of weeks (his grandfather had died) and his mom showed up at my house that morning with her little bag packed to come and stay with me! Never mind that my brother-in-law and his wife and kid lived less than 10m away. I told her, I was going to stay with a friend. It made her feel better and I got some peace and quiet.

Its not an exclusively mutual womans issue this one sbk (fear of sleeping on your own and fear of the dark) although many men would be loathe to admit such a seemingly 'irrational weakness'.

I can tell you however, that I'm not keen on the dark myself especially if Im on my ownsome and would be very hesitant about sleeping in a big old fashioned style house on my own without a big bottle of whisky to help my bravado ....

As Terry said on the other thread 'it freaks me out' ...

I do believe in ghosts/spirits and have never seen one ... I can understand why some people have fears even though they might seem irrational to others.

Each to their own I suppose ...