Guest Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 Thais believe in ghosts, falangs for the most part, do not. Trying to understand why Thais believe in ghost might help falangs understand what some Thais are going thru. From the Thais I have spoken to, it appears many have seen ghosts, or at least what they believe are ghost. If a person has seen what they believe is a ghost, it is almost impossible to change their mind that what they saw was not real. And if falangs or anybody else should critize them for their belief, it only distances them from us. Even to discuss it with them may cause problems. Why I say that is if you approach a person with the attitude that their belief system has flaws, you might win the battle with them but you probably will not even come close to winning the war. Instead of making fun and putting Thais down for their beliefs, what might be done instead is look at the problem and at ways to solve or resolve the issue(s). Thais feel there are more ghost, especially in the areas were so many have died. One way of bringing about a resolution to this deliminia is to have the monks or somebody else perform a cermony or ceremonies to help the ghost to get on with their life. Something else that would be beneficial is erecting more spirit houses. In the west spirits/ghost are 'allowed' to roam and cause all kinds of havoc whereas in the East, they have a tendency to build a nice house for them so they will want to stay in their own, new house. If they stay in their new homes, they are not apt to go outside and cause trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 One way of bringing about a resolution to this deliminia is to have the monks or somebody else perform a cermony or ceremonies to help the ghost to get on with their life. My wife said something about 99 monks doing ceremonies for 9 days would be needed to help the ghosts of the people in the disaster areas. I've learned not to make fun of or question her beliefs, but there are sure some strange ones ::. I'm not referring to believing in ghosts, but things more like "Eating peanut butter on a Tuesday will cause your arm to fall off". Not a real example, but just about as strange as some of the things she says. Ranger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 Numbers have meaning and in Thai culture 9 has a tendency to mean completion. When I first saw this I wondered why 99 monks and 9 days - but in how many beleive - a 9 day ceremony by 99 monks would help. Because of the severity of the situation, I would say 99 groups of 99 monks over a span of 9 days (starting on the same day) would come close but would still fall short. In this case, if the land was also left barren for 9 years - then the land would be back to normal. It will be interesting to see what will be done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limbo Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 Spot Ranger, There's a few odd beleives out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted January 1, 2005 Report Share Posted January 1, 2005 If a thai opens a new shop he/she prefers to do it september 9th 9.29! Nine is an important lucky number also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiLuk Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 THE NATION Ghost stories scaring tourists away Published on January 27, 2005 The president of the Phuket Tourism Business Association yesterday asked the media not to run articles about ghosts or superstitious aspects of tsunami-affected areas as it has a negative impact on tourism. Phattanaphong Ekwanich said that any mysterious happenings after the tsunami that killed thousands of people on December 26 were just figments of peoples? imagination, as rites for all faiths have been held for the dead so they could rest in peace. ?It?s inappropriate for media operators such as Thai television to be presenting this aspect because it is not amusing and also has a serious impact on the tourist industry, affecting Asian people in particular as many of them believe in spirits,? said Phattanaphong. Almost all media in Asia have concentrated on this subject, he said. He asked media outlets to drop the subject as it was negating efforts to revive the tourism industry. Chalermkiat Ongjarean, chairman of the Kusonlatham Foundation, said the foundation had held religious ceremonies between January 18-24, helping thousands of spirits rest in peace so tourists could be sure that there are no restless souls. In related news, the executive director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, Joseph Tung, said the number of people booking holidays in Phuket for Chinese New Year was down nearly 70 per cent on last year. Many direct flights to Phuket have been cancelled. Bookings for Japan, South Korea, China, Europe and Australia had risen, Tung said. The chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents, Michael Wu, said Chinese people believed that one should avoid places where many people have died, especially during the New Year Festival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 <<If a thai opens a new shop he/she prefers to do it september 9th 9.29! Nine is an important lucky number also! >> How does Thailand think it can compete in the international commercial market place when the majority of Thais believe in all this mumbo jumbo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 [color:"white"] XXXXXXXX [/color] One psychiarist was reported to have said something like this in one of the local papers [color:"red"] [color:"white"] XXXXXXXXX [/color] "the people act like they are hypnotized and they should seek medical treatment." [/color] [color:"green"] Why? It appears the good doctor did not really understand what he had just said. He said they act like they are hypnotized - let's stop there. Why does this mean? They believe in something that is illogical but their belief is reinforced when they see or hear ghosts. When people see or hear ghost, it is almost impossible to get them to believe differently. So instead of saying they are superstitutious, etc., what might be better is to look at what is really happening. So what is happening? They are able to get into a state, sometimes very rapidly, in which they can see/hear things nobody else can. In hypnosis, this is possible. Actually, a good part of hypnosis is involved in this type of phenonomea. A good tool to use to help a person who sees/hears ghost is to use hypnosis by somebody who is trained in that particular field. Some may say this is crazy because some actually see/hear ghost. To people in the west, it may seem like the talkings of crazy people but to these people it is as real as night and day is to us. A good test to use to see if hypnosis is playing a major role in somebody's belief system is to see if their belief has a foundation that does not really exist. For example, many cultures believe in ghost, but each culture, has a different version as to what ghost are. If everybody believed about the same, then ghost may exist, but being there are culture variations, it is indicative that hypnosos is more at play then what might actually be seen/heard. We might laught at people who believe in ghost, but then look at ourselves, how many of us actually where, directly or indirectly involved with the Cold War in which we believed the commnist were terrible people? Now ask yourself, what do communist believe in that is so much different then what we believe in? I once got hold of a card the American Communist carry around with them. Every one of their beliefs are in harmony with most people's beliefs except for the last belief - which is that of promoting the communist part. [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . . [/color] [color:"white"] . . . . . [/color] [color:"green"] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 Hi, Would you mind not typing in green? It is bloody annoying to read. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 How does one choice a colour? I'd like Pink, or rainbow myself, unless hungove DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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