page_title: Thai folklore
section_title: Folk beliefs
hierarchical_section_title: Thai folklore / Folk beliefs
caption_attribution_description: City pillar shrine (หลักเมือง, Lak Mueang) of Bangkok, Thailand. The inside is highly decorated with flowers and other gifts donated to the shrine.
context_page_description: Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large parts of Thai folklore have become interwoven with the wider popular Thai culture.
  Phraya Anuman Rajadhon was the first Thai scholar to seriously study local folkloristics. He took copious notes on humble details of his culture such as the charms used by Thai shopkeepers to attract customers. He also studied in depth the oral literature related to different village spirits and ghosts of Thai lore.
context_section_description: The core of Thai folklore is rooted in folk religion. Until they were recorded, folk beliefs were handed down from one generation to the next.
  Village shamans are known as phram, a word that has its origin in Brahmin, from a general and vague historical Vedic background. The phram conducts exorcisms and performs marriages, among other ceremonies.
  Another important figure in Thai folk religion is the mo phi (หมอผี) or shaman who would also conduct rituals. To invoke spirits of the dead, four sticks are planted at equal distance from each other on the ground near the burial or cremation place. A thread is tied around the sticks forming a protective square and a mat is spread in the middle, where the mo phi sits down. In front of him, outside of the square there is a mo khao terracotta jar with a yantra painted on the outside containing the ashes or bones of the dead person. Beside the jar there is also a plate of rice as an offering and a stick or switch to keep the spirits at bay.
  In order to be protected against bad luck, charms and amulets for bringing luck or for protection are popular in Thailand. Some of these are tied around the body or worn as a necklace, while others come in the form of yantra tattooing. The yantra endows the wearer with supernatural protection, love, health, and wealth. In order to bring luck and provide protection, yants are also drawn in the receptions of multinational companies, the entrances of supermarkets, and the interiors of taxis, trucks, and airplanes.
  In shops and houses, often next to a shelf with a Buddha statuette, charms for attracting customers are hung. These include printed pieces of cloth of fish-shaped figures, as well as streamers or framed pictures of a crocodile or of Suvannamaccha, the mermaid character of the Siamese version of the Ramayana. Some of these charms have their origin in the culture of the Thai Chinese, as Phraya Anuman Rajadhon observed, but they have been adopted by the Thai people, often with changes.
caption: Bangkok city Lak Mueang. The longer pillar is the Rama I original, the shorter was added by King Mongkut (Rama IV)
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