Mae Nak Phra Khanong
- Origin
- Thai devotion at Mae Nak's shrine on Sukhumvit Soi 77, Bangkok (Bangkok Post, 2016; Wikipedia). First written record: K. S. R. Kularb's 1899 article in the periodical Siam Prapet, answering a reader's letter about the Nak demon (Sarakadee Magazine, 1999).
- How we treat it
- Covers the shrine devotion practised today: offerings with requests for an easy birth or for exemption from military conscription (Wikipedia; Bangkok Post, 2016). The ghost story itself is folklore, and the label makes no claim that a ghost exists.
- Routes out
- No temple-written or community-written source was found. The Bangkok Post report on shrine visits comes first as the closest to current practice, then Sarakadee on the 1899 record, then Wikipedia's description of the shrine, then the coverage of the films.
Mae Nak is the ghost of a woman who died giving birth while her husband was at war, the most popular Thai ghost story according to the Bangkok Post. Her shrine on Sukhumvit Soi 77 in Bangkok draws devotees who bring offerings and requests.
In the story as the Bangkok Post told it in 2016, Nak died in childbirth, bearing a son, while her husband, Mak, was away at war. When he came home her spirit stayed, and Mak lived with her believing she was still alive. The Bangkok Post called it the best-loved ghost tale in the country in 2019.
The oldest known account, according to Sarakadee Magazine in 1999, is K. S. R. Kularb's 1899 article in Siam Prapet, a periodical. A reader had written in with a question about the Nak demon, and Kularb answered with some one and a half pages of history. Sarakadee notes that mae is an old form used ahead of a woman's name.
Nonzee Nimibutr's film Nang Nak, written by Wisit Sasanatieng, opened on 23 July 1999 and was the first Thai film to earn more than 100 million baht at the box office, the Bangkok Post reported.
Mae Nak is also a figure of devotion. Wikipedia describes her shrine: at its centre a statue of Mae Nak holding her infant, lengths of coloured cloth wound round the trunk of a Bo tree, offerings of fruit, lotuses and incense, toys for the child, portraits of the ghost, and fine dresses given to her. Devotees usually make a request with their offering, most often women hoping for an easy birth or for a husband to be spared military conscription. The Bangkok Post places the shrine on Sukhumvit Soi 77, where people hoping to avoid the draft come to pay respects.
"A statue of Mae Nak and her infant form the centrepiece 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.[8] Offerings are usually lengths of coloured 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."
- The Legend of Mae Nak Prakanong, Sarakadee Magazine (1999)
- As cultures come together, it's all in bad spirits, Chaiyot Yongcharoenchai, Bangkok Post (2016)
- Nang Nak at 20, Bangkok Post (2019)