Strange Thai Superstitions

[spasticated]

<br />

My wife like many Thais is convinced people born with no arms or legs deserved this as they were bad in a previous life. I spent many hours talking to her about DNA and damage to this and associated problems followed by a nice chat about thalidamide drugs and general birth defects as my Brother is mentally handicapped. She was amazed and I am staggered they still believe this crap in 2008!! Keeps them all "dwon and in their place" I suppose!!<br />She has a nephew who was born with an eye problem and I asked if he had been bad in a previous life too? She said no he handt so i asked her at what point does a birth defect mean you "have" been bad, ie born with 6 fingers does it mean you have been good or bad? etc etc I think she may be changing her opinion but she had certainly never heard of DNA and she has a degree but then again its a "Thai" degree and after speaking to a Thai/Australian she told me its all parott fashion learning here.

<br />Are you going to tell the 3 billion Hindus and Buddhists that they are all wrong too and you are right? <img src="style_emoticons/default/dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="<_<" border="0" alt="dry.gif" /> <br /><br /><br />

Interesting. In my experience it's not unusual for a Thai lady, when she's feeling particularly affectionate towards you, to squeeze you repeatedly while hissing sort of mock-fiercely "mun kieow, mun kieow". (<font color="#FF0000">Actually what I hear is more like "man kieow</font>".)

<br /><br />No, it's definately 'mun'.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

id tell em all and all the other daft religions , pixies and elves, goblins, re birth pahhhhhhhhhhh drivel.

[Cuban]

Also, if somebody has a dream about this or that the first thing they think is what it means to the lottery.

Her mobile rang this morning at 7am, she chatted for a short while, I heard a few numbers being mentioned then she hung up.

"...let me guess - your sister had a dream about lottery numbers and asked you to look for a ticket." I said from my side of the bed.

"How you know that ?", was her surprised response.

"...I dreamed it....", turning over for an extra 30 minute dozing.

[kolohe]

Thais would make great baseball players.

[Neeranam]

Thais would make great baseball players.

Why?

[appleman]

Here is one story about why barber shops are closed on Wednesday. It comes from the story of Ganesh (Thai: Pra Pikanet). Ganesh is the Hindu god (also seen often in Thailand) with the head of an elephant. In one story, Ganesh had his head cut off by Shiva by mistake and they had to find a replacement head. The only one they could find was one of a recently slain elephant, so that is what they used (there are lots of variations on this story but this one works for the explanation of why barber shops are closed on Wednesday). What's the connection? All this was said to occur on a Wednesday. So if you want to keep your head don't get a haircut or a shave on a Wednesday.

[paulyonthemove]

My girlfriend has just had a baby in the North Of Thailand in a rural area. 2 days after arriving home from the hospital i offerd her some banana with yogart for nurishment as she is breast feeding. Her reply to this was "i don't want to die" to which i replyed "what the f#ck are you talkin about. Don't be stupid and eat some banana you stupid bitch (in a relaxed manner, i have no patience for stupidity), it will make you strong and be good for breast feeding the baby". She then proceeded to tell me that she cannot eat banana for three months after having the baby or she will die. I told her that i have never in my life heard of anyone dying from eating a banana after giving birth, cut up a banana and mixed it with yogart and give it to her to eat, telling her it will make the baby strong.

2 minutes after giving her the bowl she was on the phone to her mum telling her to come quick, as she has eaten a banana that i give her and was feeling funny. Next thing the whole f*#king village was outside the house like an episode of a Thai soap with her mum running around squawking like a headless chicken pulling rice weeds out of the floor to prepare to boil a concoction of god knows what else which my girlfriend drank and felt "better afterwards".

"I have seen it all now" was my thought.

Last week she called me to say she wants to shave the babys hair beacause Thai's belive it will make it grow "more beautifull". bare in mind the baby is 6 weeks old and will not have a strong developed skull yet. I won't tell you what i said but she replyed "well my mum done it to me when i was a baby and nothing's wrong with me".

"Well that explains why you've got no brains, she proberbly &lt;deleted&gt;*king cut them out didn't she"

"What next"

"Education, education, education"

[LucMee]

My Great Gran, Gran And My Mom would whack the bejesus out of us if we were caught sweeping the house after dark... To this day I raise the roof if it happens in my house.... But this is one the wife doesn't subscribe to.. So she'll do it now and then... Mainly to get my goat!

But none of our beds can have the head to the west.... She's got to rub talcum powder on my face before I take a business trip... And she can get pretty crazy about ghosts.... Any unusual happenings are usually attributed to some departed relative or another. Plus she's always planting some "lucky" plant in the yard.

My parents had a run of bad luck once and the wife had a monk over who wouldn't enter the house but had us bring all of the house plants outside and pronounced that several of them were planted in dirt from a graveyard... Funny thing was that even though we didn't confirm the graveyard thing... My mom was shocked that the monk picked only plants that she'd gotten from some neighbor around six months before.

Needless to say.. Those plants went straight to the bin... nice pots and all.

She's mellowed a bit over the years .. But slips back into it pretty easily whenever she gets back from visiting the in laws.

Edited March 10, 2008 by LucMee

[paulyonthemove]

I do know, for a fact, that a pregnant women cannot drink chocolate milk because the baby will have dark skin!

But i am here cause i like coffee with milk...

Your not Thai are you by any chance because that sounds like a joke my girlfriend would come out with and you know i aint got no patience for that kind of talk, know what am sayin

[kmart]

My wife like many Thais is convinced people born with no arms or legs deserved this as they were bad in a previous life. I spent many hours talking to her about DNA and damage to this and associated problems followed by a nice chat about thalidamide drugs and general birth defects as my Brother is mentally handicapped. She was amazed and I am staggered they still believe this crap in 2008!! Keeps them all "dwon and in their place" I suppose!!

She has a nephew who was born with an eye problem and I asked if he had been bad in a previous life too? She said no he handt so i asked her at what point does a birth defect mean you "have" been bad, ie born with 6 fingers does it mean you have been good or bad? etc etc I think she may be changing her opinion but she had certainly never heard of DNA and she has a degree but then again its a "Thai" degree and after speaking to a Thai/Australian she told me its all parott fashion learning here.

Former England football manager Glenn Hoddle was sacked from the job for stating this as a personal belief also.

Him (and former professional footie player / now professional conspiracy-theorist nutter) David Icke would be a popular pair here, most probably.

[Krungbin]

A Thai friend of mine recently gave birth to a healthy beautiful baby girl. She has returned home from hospital and not left the house for more than 3 weeks. She says "she will not leave the house for 1 month" as she beleaves if she were to smell a strong smell of food or some other strong smell that she or the baby would be sick later in life. Also she has to keep herself covered ,hat, big jumper etc, so as not to expose any skin. This being for the same reason I am not sure? Where do these beleifs originate from? Do you know of any other superstitions that would appear strange to Farangs?

Obviously this is a Thai tradition and I am in no way knocking it! Just wanted to understand it a bit more.

Nothing to be understood... it is just "tradition and local beliefs"!

Just like that friend of mine who told me she won't eat any duck for two years after she gave birth to her daughter. By fear of becoming terribly sick...

[Cuban]

She then proceeded to tell me that she cannot eat banana for three months after having the baby or she will die. I told her that i have never in my life heard of anyone dying from eating a banana after giving birth...

I spoke to one of my office staff about this, she is originally from Issan but is university educated and has travelled to work in other countries.

The origin of this particular belief comes from the Issan "problem" of not enough hospitals and doctors up until the last 15 years or so. The problem is not so much one of after the birth but during the delievery stage. Without medical help the key problem was death of the baby or mother or both during labor and child birth, mother's that enjoyed better protein during pregnancy produced larger babies that were more difficult to deliver outside of modern medical facilities (how many well equiped hospitals in Issan?). Banana is a good food, lots of good carbohydrate and minerals etc. promoting good growth, just the thing that you/she should now be eating, also good for mother's breast feeding.

But the old ways of producing small healthy babies dies hard in a place where the "wisdom" of the elders lingers long after the situations that made sense in the past has changed. Less death from diseases due to poor health care and malnutrision means less reliance on the old ways. But the custom remains.

Will the customs change and the future folklore be "To have a healthy baby you need Bupa Gold Card service." ? maybe this will be the folklore "education" that the health care mega companies will promote? Unless the people of Issan strike oil I doubt it.

Now, where's my luck rabbit's foot - wasn't very lucky for the rabbit was it?

Edited March 11, 2008 by Cuban

[bsided69]

Here is one story about why barber shops are closed on Wednesday. It comes from the story of Ganesh (Thai: Pra Pikanet). Ganesh is the Hindu god (also seen often in Thailand) with the head of an elephant. In one story, Ganesh had his head cut off by Shiva by mistake and they had to find a replacement head. The only one they could find was one of a recently slain elephant, so that is what they used (there are lots of variations on this story but this one works for the explanation of why barber shops are closed on Wednesday). What's the connection? All this was said to occur on a Wednesday. So if you want to keep your head don't get a haircut or a shave on a Wednesday.

How do you cut someones head off by mistake?

[starkey_rich]

i was also told that if a man had sex with a woman whilst she was menstruating, any future children would be 'stupid'.

Seems like a lot of menstuating women have sex here then.

[paulyonthemove]

She then proceeded to tell me that she cannot eat banana for three months after having the baby or she will die. I told her that i have never in my life heard of anyone dying from eating a banana after giving birth...

I spoke to one of my office staff about this, she is originally from Issan but is university educated and has travelled to work in other countries.

The origin of this particular belief comes from the Issan "problem" of not enough hospitals and doctors up until the last 15 years or so. The problem is not so much one of after the birth but during the delievery stage. Without medical help the key problem was death of the baby or mother or both during labor and child birth, mother's that enjoyed better protein during pregnancy produced larger babies that were more difficult to deliver outside of modern medical facilities (how many well equiped hospitals in Issan?). Banana is a good food, lots of good carbohydrate and minerals etc. promoting good growth, just the thing that you/she should now be eating, also good for mother's breast feeding.

But the old ways of producing small healthy babies dies hard in a place where the "wisdom" of the elders lingers long after the situations that made sense in the past has changed. Less death from diseases due to poor health care and malnutrision means less reliance on the old ways. But the custom remains.

Will the customs change and the future folklore be "To have a healthy baby you need Bupa Gold Card service." ? maybe this will be the folklore "education" that the health care mega companies will promote? Unless the people of Issan strike oil I doubt it.

Now, where's my luck rabbit's foot - wasn't very lucky for the rabbit was it?

Interesting. I can see the logic in this

[leogerritsen]

"Oh RUNT!"

I think this comes from the Dutch, when they do something stupind they say "RUND", its meaning : COW, for STUPID !

[loong]

Wait till you come across some thai girl who DROp something .. and you will be SHOCK at WHAT come out of HER mouth .

my wife don't do it .. but i had Heard it so many time from many Thai girl .. even the Old people and the young kids do it ..

..

try asking them what do there say when there Drop some item .

Quite a common one TaTu, and yes it is quite shocking to hear it from a lady

Can you guys clarify this one?

Thanks,

BFD!

What they usually exclaim - the ladies only ever do - is something along the lines of "Oh heeyah!" or just "Heeyah!" all by itself. It's an equivalent to us saying "Oh $hit!" when we drop a plate and it breaks, say. The translation literally is more like "Oh RUNT!" where runt rhymes with another word ending in -unt. Pick the anatomy, pick the bodily function, go figure.

Sometimes when a girl has spilt something or tripped I am almost certain that they have exclaimed "Mother's C***!", but not totally sure. I've never been able to get one to repeat it though .