“So, that’s a Jackfruit ghost, right?”
Photo of the annual Phi Ta Khon festival in Dan Sai, Thailand, from phuketguidebook.com.
If the all of the superstitions are to be believed, there are ghosts and demons lurking behind every banana tree in Thailand. After that catastrophic tsunami a couple years back, international news was full of bone-chilling accounts from Thai volunteers who’d been spooked by sightings of “dead foreigners [who didn’t] know what happened and all think they are still on the beach… on holiday.” Many families and businesses keep a spirit house where daily offerings of fruit, milk and trinkets are offered to supplicate potentially malevolent spirits who might be lingering nearby. Every June, in their equivalent to El Dia de los Muertos or Halloween, Thais rub elbows with naughty ghosts at the sumptuous Phi Ta Khon festival in Dan Sai.
I’m fascinated by Thai culture and folklore, and perhaps a bit guilty of taking it all a bit too seriously in an outside-looking-in kind of way, so this commercial slayed me:
Lightbulb ad spot from Jeh United and director Thanonchai Sornsrivichai for Sylvania.
Kudos to Brian Moroz (via BoingBoing Gadgets, I presume) for the much needed cheer-uppance.
May 21st, 2008 at 4:36 am
Ha, I’ve seen this one before. I love it! I sometimes wish we had more interesting superstitions in America. Ours seem to only consist of being afraid to step on cracks in fear for our mother’s back.
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 am
I would fit right in, with my staring into the dark every night, wide eyed, waking up my partner every five minutes “did you hear/see that?! OMG!”
Needless to say, I LOVE the light bulb ad.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:27 am
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May 28th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
This delights me to no end :D
December 17th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Excellent post on thailand superstitions! I really enjoyed reading it, and my site is about Thai Culture so I’m not just saying is lightly. Keep up the great work!