MAE NAK, THAILAND’S MOST FAMOUS GHOST

“Mae Nak Phra Khanong” (meaning “Lady Nak of Phra Khanong”) or simply “Mae Nak”

Country: Thailand

This legend tells the story of a pregnant woman named Nak. She had an undying love for her husband Mak, who was sent away to war. While he was gone, Nak and their child died during childbirth. When Mak returns home, however, he finds his loving wife and child waiting for him. Neighbors who try to warn him that he’s living with ghosts are all killed.

Through a mixture of the neighborly rumors and strange occurrences at home (such as seeing Nak stretch her arm abnormally out), he finally realized that he was living with ghosts.

Mak eventually fled and took refuge in Wat Mahabut (a temple and holy ground which ghosts cannot enter), which enraged Nak so much that she haunted the region and people of Phra Khanong until she was eventually captured by an exorcist – who imprisoned her spirit in an earthen jar and tossed it into the river.

There are differing versions of the rest of the story. In one, an old couple new to Phra Khanong finds the jar while fishing; in another two fishermen dredge up the jar. Nak is freed when they opened it.

Nak is conquered again by the venerable monk Somdet Phra Phutthachan (To Phrommarangsi). The learned monk confines her spirit in the bone of her forehead and binds it in his waistband.

Later, a shrine dedicated to Mae Nak was constructed in Wat Maha. In 1997, the shrine was relocated to the nearby Suan Luang District of modern Bangkok.

A statue of Mae Nak and her infant form the centerpiece of the shrine. Devotees often make offerings, accompanied by a request for help, generally by women seeking easy childbirth or for their husband to be exempted from military conscription.Offerings are usually lengths of colored cloth, wrapped around the trunk of the Bo Tree. Other offerings include fruit, lotuses, and incense sticks.

Toys for her child and portraits of the ghost are displayed in the shrine’s inner sanctum. A collection of fine dresses offered to her are displayed behind her statue.

Offerings are also made at Phra Khanong Canal, where fish purchased live at markets are brought in buckets to the edge of the canal and freed. Stalls at the shrine sell toys, fish, lotus buds, incense sticks, and garlands for those who wish to make an offering.

Photo: Laurel Tuohy/Coconuts

“The Siam Prabheth”, Real Document The Time and After Mae Nak Phra Khanong was alive