Thai folklore

Superstitions of the Thai people include:

• Auspicious dates. Identification of auspicious dates and moments is common in Thai culture. This is especially important when setting a wedding date, as well as when building a house or purchasing a car.[1]
• Lucky numbers. Divination techniques are often used to predict numbers before buying a lottery ticket.
• Cutting one's hair or fingernails. Wednesday is regarded as a highly inauspicious day for having a haircut.
• Shapes on the moon. In Thai folk belief the dark spots on the moon, the lunar maria, form either a rabbit shape or the shape of a man and a woman pounding rice.

• Gecko. The chirping sounds of different species of geckos native to Thailand have different interpretations according to the moment and occasion. Also, if a gecko happens to fall on or near someone in a home or veranda, it has a meaning which is auspicious or inauspicious depending on the side on which it falls.
• Auspicious colors. Since certain colors may be auspicious for certain persons, much thought is given to the color of a car before acquiring it. Also in the case of taxicabs certain colors that are deemed unlucky will be avoided. Taxicabs in Bangkok come in various colors and formerly a number of taxis were violet, but these have been repainted in recent years for violet was considered an unlucky color, both by cabdrivers and customers.
• Rainbow. A rainbow is held in high regard and it is important to avoid pointing at it because one would lose one's finger.

• Nang Kwak (นางกวัก) is a benevolent female deity that brings luck to business owners and attracts customers. She is widely considered the patron of traders and shopkeepers and can be seen in almost every business establishment in Thailand.[3]
• Phi Fa (ผีฟ้า) is an ancient deity of Isan folklore. In her malevolent aspect she is related to Phosop.
• Phosop (โพสพ) is the traditional and ancient rice goddess of Thailand. She is part of very ancient Thai folklore rather than of the mainstream Buddhist religion.[1] In order to propitiate her during the different stages of the harvest, ritual offerings known as Cha Laeo used to be periodically made in villages and hamlets in rural areas.[4]
• Kuman Thong, represented as the effigy of a young boy, is believed to bring good luck.

Nang Tani, the female spirit that haunts banana trees

Spirits or ghosts are known generically as phi (ผี) and they may be found, among other places, in certain trees, burial grounds near Buddhist temples, some houses, as well as mountains and forests. The Phi Pan Nam Range (ทิวเขาผีปันน้ำ), "The mountain range of the spirits dividing the waters" that divides the Mekong from the Chao Phraya watershed, is named after the ancient spirits believed to dwell in the mountains.

Spirit houses, known as san phra phum (ศาลพระภูมิ) in Thai language, are small shrines to provide a home for the tutelary spirits of a place. They are common near trees and groves and in urban areas, close to buildings. It is considered a bad omen to neglect these spots and offerings are regularly made by people living nearby.[5]

The local beliefs regarding the nocturnal village spirits of Thailand were studied by Phraya Anuman Rajadhon. Most spirits were traditionally not represented in paintings or drawings, hence they are purely based on stories of the oral tradition.[6]

Thai cinema, Thai television soap operas and Thai comics have contributed to popularize the spirits and legends of the folklore of Thailand. Phraya Anuman Rajadhon established that most of the contemporary iconography of folk ghosts[7][8][9] has its origins in Thai films that have become classics.[10]

Most of the spirits or ghosts are so popular they appear regularly in comic books as well as in films, including the Nak animated movie for children. The most well-known are the following:

• Chao Kam Nai Wen (เจ้ากรรมนายเวร), the spirit of a person with whom one has previously interacted, usually appearing as a spirit who sitting on someone's back
• Krahang (กระหัง), a male ghost that flies in the night
• Krasue (กระสือ), a woman's head with her viscera hanging down from the neck
• Mae Nak (แม่นาก), a female ghost who died at childbirth and that can extend her arms
• Phi Am (ผีอำ), a spirit that sits on a person's chest during the night
• Phi Hua Khat (ผีหัวขาด), a headless male ghost that carries his head
• Phi Phraya (ผีพราย), a female ghost living in the water
• Phi Phong (ผีโพง), a malevolent male ghost having an unpleasant smell. It lives in dark places under the vegetation
• Phi Pop (ผีปอบ), a malevolent female spirit that devours human entrails
• Phi Song Nang, female ghosts that first lure, and then attack and kill young men
• Phi Tai Hong (ผีตายโหง), the ghost of a person who suffered a sudden violent or cruel death
• Phi Tai Thong Klom (ผีตายทั้งกลม), the wrathful ghost of a woman having committed suicide after being made pregnant and subsequently betrayed and abandoned by her lover
• Phi Thale (ผีทะเล), a spirit of the sea, which manifests itself in different ways
• Pret (เปรต), an extremely tall hungry ghost looking like a large and thin man with a very small mouth
• Nang Mai (นางไม้; "Lady of the Wood"), a type of female tree spirits or fairies.[9]
• Nang Takian (นางตะเคียน), a spirit living in Hopea odorata trees
• Nang Tani (นางตานี), a young woman haunting certain clumps of banana trees that appears on full moon nights

Some traditional celebrations, including Buddhist festivals, provide an opportunity for the expression of local folk beliefs.

• Loi Krathong, on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar
• Mo Lam (Mor Lam), a traditional Isan song and dance festival
• Phi Ta Khon, ghost festival of Loei Province is part of the Buddhist merit-making holiday also known as Bun Phawet (Thet Mahachat).
• Prapheni Bun Bang Fai, the traditional rocket festival of the ethnic Lao people
• Thet Mahachat, the Buddhist festival of the Great Sermon is colored with strong folkloric elements. It is celebrated in different ways across Thailand and neighboring Buddhist countries

The Jataka tales, such as the Vessantara Jataka, the Twelve Sisters, and Prince Samuttakote (Samuddaghosa), have provided inspiration to Thai traditional storytellers. These Jatakas have been often retold, abridged, and adapted to fit local culture in Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Indonesia. As a consequence, they have become so familiar to average people that they fully belong to the folklore of their respective country. Often each country claims the story as its own cultural achievement. Thailand is no exception.[13]

Sang Thong (Suvannasankhajātaka), where the marriage between a man and a woman of different social status is the main subject of the story,[14] and Honwichai and Kawi are also long traditional stories. The "Woodcutter who lost his Axe" is a well-liked Thai tale with a moral lesson promoting honesty.[15]

Sri Thanonchai is a trickster which tricks people with his word.

Many figures of the Buddhist tradition have been fully incorporated into Thai lore, among these are the yaksa (ยักษ์), ogres (yaksha), and ogresses (Pali: Yakkhini), the tall and scary Prets (เปรต),[16] Ongkhuliman (องคุลิมาล), the violent criminal named after the garland of the fingers of his victims he wore around his neck, as well as Nariphon, the mythical tree of Buddhist literature bearing fruits in the shape of young girls.

Vivid descriptions of the torments of hell,[17] sometimes in the form of garish sculptures, are to be found in some Buddhist temples in Thailand.[18] These representations are so popular that, along with figures of local spirits, they have become a regular feature in present-day Thai comics.[19]

The mynah is featured in some tales for its ability to talk and imitate sounds. The "Hen and her six chicks", explaining the origin of the Pleiades, "The White Crows" and tales with elephants such as "The Elephant, the Monkey and the Quail", and "The Elephants and the Bees"[15] are common folk tales, some of which are based on the Panchatantra.[20]

Snakes are part of the Thai popular lore, and depending on the background of the tale or myth, they have different meanings. Nak (นาค), Nagas figure in some stories of local folklore and are represented as well in Buddhist temples as architectural elements. Male lust is often popularly represented as a snake growing on top of the head of the lustful man.[21] Thai folk mythology also includes the idea of a link between snakes and women. Some stories based on snakes have been made into Thai movies.[22]

Thai amulets

Thai Buddha amulet (Thai: พระเครื่อง) is a kind of Thai Buddhist blessed item. It is used for raising funds in order to help the temple producing the amulets. Worshippers can obtain an amulets or Thai Buddhist monk blessing by simply donating money or offering oil to the temple. After the donation, Thai Buddhist monk will give amulet as a gift to them. With the change of time, amulet no longer simply means as a "gift" , but a kind of tool to help enhance luck in different aspects, some people use amulets to improve marriage, wealth, health, love and people relationship.