Bangkok has a busy afterlife. Here are nine places in and around the city with a ghost story, plus the Thai words that go with each one.
Looking for haunted places in Bangkok? Here are nine with a story, from the Sathorn Unique “Ghost Tower” and an old cemetery that’s now a jogging park, through the Old Town temples of a famous Thai rhyme and Mae Nak’s shrine, to a spirit shrine at Bangkok’s main airport. For each one you get the story, the kind of ผี (pǐi, ghost) involved, and a few Thai words to take home. Want to know who’s who in the Thai spirit world first? Our guide to Thai ghosts has the full line-up.
Quick note before we start: these are stories Thais tell, not police reports. Nobody has confirmed the ghostly deaths in the legends, so treat every “the story goes” as exactly that.
1. Sathorn Unique Tower, Bangkok’s “Ghost Tower”
If Bangkok haunted folklore has a poster child, it’s this one. Sathorn Unique is an unfinished 49-storey condo tower on Charoen Krung Road, across from Wat Yannawa and near BTS Saphan Taksin. Work began in 1990 and stopped during the 1997 “Tom Yum Kung” financial crisis, when the building was about 80 to 90 percent done. It has stood empty ever since, which is how it earned its English nickname.
Thais call it ตึกร้างสาทร (dtʉ̀k ráang sǎatɔɔn), from ตึกร้าง (dtʉ̀k ráang), “abandoned building”. Local talk blames its bad luck on location. People say its shadow falls over the revered Wat Yannawa, and that the cinema that stood on the site before it also failed. There’s no particular ghost type in the stories, just a heavy sense that the place never had a chance. It was even a filming location for a Thai horror film, GDH’s The Promise (2017).
Seeing it: from outside only. The site has been fenced since 2016 and trespassers can be arrested. The view from the river or from around BTS Saphan Taksin is the way to do it.
2. Wat Don Cemetery, Now the Teochew Cemetery Park
For decades, ป่าช้าวัดดอน (bpàacháa wát dɔɔn), the Wat Don cemetery in Sathorn, was the place Bangkok taxi drivers wouldn’t pass after dark, with stories of riders who “came in alone and left as two”. Founded in 1899 as the Teochew Chinese cemetery, it holds tens of thousands of burials, and the story goes that many of the dead were unclaimed or died sudden, violent deaths, what Thais call ตายโหง (dtaai hǒong). Thais believe those make the most restless ghosts.
Then came the plot twist. From 1996 the cemetery was turned into a park open to the public. Today about a thousand people a day jog and shoot hoops between rows of ฮวงซุ้ย (huangsúi), Chinese tombs. Spooky? Mostly sweaty.
Visiting: free, in daylight (sources disagree on hours). Families still visit their graves, especially at Qingming, so don’t sit on, climb or pose on the tombs, and leave the ghost hunting at home.
3. Wat Saket, the Golden Mount and the Old Ghost Gate Area
This one starts with real history. Old Bangkok had a rule: no cremations inside the city walls. So the dead left through one gate, known to everyone as ประตูผี (bpràdtuu pǐi), the Ghost Gate, and on to a crematorium beside Wat Saket. When cholera hit the city in 1820 and again in 1849, bodies arrived faster than they could be burned, and vultures gathered at the temple to feed. Thais still say แร้งวัดสระเกศ (rɛ́ɛng wát sàgèet), “the vultures of Wat Saket”, and you’ll find vulture sculptures on the grounds today.
Whether any of the gate itself survives is unclear, but the street keeps the name.
Visiting: the temple grounds are free, and foreigners pay a small fee to climb the Golden Mount, ภูเขาทอง (puukǎo tɔɔng). Dress modestly. The old Ghost Gate area is now a food street with no ghosts on the menu, so go hungry.
4. Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing
A short walk away, Wat Suthat finishes a rhyme every Thai kid knows:
“The giants of Wat Arun, the vultures of Wat Saket, the preta of Wat Suthat.”
A เปรต (bprèet) is a hungry ghost from Buddhist teaching, paying for greed in a past life. Thais picture it as impossibly tall and thin, with a mouth too small to ever eat its fill. The story goes that a giant preta was once seen standing near the temple at night. Skeptics say people simply saw the tall shadow of the Giant Swing, เสาชิงช้า (sǎo chingcháa), in the fog. Two lines of the rhyme, แร้งวัดสระเกศ เปรตวัดสุทัศน์, are also the title of a Thai horror film from Phranakorn Film, first announced in 2024.
Visiting: go by day, since sources disagree on hours. Foreigners pay an entry fee. Look for preta in the old murals, dress modestly and skip the touts offering “guides”.
5. The Chao Mae Takhian Thong Shrine, Saranrom Park
Thai folk belief holds that some old trees are home to spirits, and one of the best known is นางตะเคียน (naang dtàkian), the female spirit of the ตะเคียน (dtàkian) tree. Treat her with respect and she may bring you luck, even a lottery number. Insult her tree and bad luck is said to follow.
Saranrom Park, a quiet garden near MRT Sanam Chai and the Grand Palace, has a shrine to เจ้าแม่ตะเคียนทอง (jâomɛ̂ɛ dtàkian tɔɔng), “Lady Takhian Thong”. It’s a three-storey Chinese-style pavilion from the reign of King Rama VI, and people still come with flowers and incense to ask for luck.
Visiting: the park is public and free. A small ไหว้ (wâai) is plenty. Please don’t touch the offerings or climb the trees.
6. The Mae Nak Shrine at Wat Mahabut
Meet Thailand’s most famous ghost. แม่นาก (mɛ̂ɛ nâak), Mae Nak, has a shrine at Wat Mahabut in Suan Luang, beside Khlong Phra Khanong, in Soi On Nut 7, off On Nut Road (Sukhumvit 77). At the shrine you’ll see her called ย่านาค (yâa nâak), “Grandma Nak”, usually spelled with ค. Both spellings sound the same.
The story goes that Nak died in childbirth, along with her baby, while her husband Mak was away at war. When he came home, she carried on living with him as if nothing had happened, until he discovered the truth. That makes her the classic ผีตายทั้งกลม (pǐi dtaai táng glom), the ghost of a woman who died pregnant or in childbirth.
Here’s the twist. Today people don’t run from Mae Nak, they ask her for help. Visitors pray for an easy childbirth, to avoid the military draft, for lucky lottery numbers and, lately, for love. If a wish comes true, the custom is to leave her a Thai dress. Her story is a Thai cinema favourite. Nonzee Nimibutr’s Nang Nak (1999) was the first Thai film to earn 100 million baht, and the horror-comedy Pee Mak (2013) went on to break Thai box-office records.
Visiting: it’s a working temple and free to enter. Dress modestly, keep your voice down, give a respectful ไหว้ (wâai), and go in the daytime, since sources disagree on opening hours. People say the shrine stays open through the night before a lottery draw, but the daytime is the best time to go.
7. The Soi Sai Yood Bus Cemetery (Now History)
For years, the bus cemetery at ซอยสายหยุด (sɔɔi sǎai yùt), Soi Sai Yud, was the stuff of late-night ghost stories. The story was that wrecked buses and cars from fatal crashes were stored there, and that each wreck came with someone who had died violently inside it. That’s the territory of ผีตายโหง (pǐi dtaai hǒong), the ghost of someone who died a sudden, violent death.
The tales were vivid. Lights in the empty buses switched on by themselves. Hitchhikers waved from the roadside and then vanished. People ran out in front of cars and vanished.
The real site was less spooky than it sounded. A visitor in December 2013 found a sign showing it was a Metropolitan Police impound lot for evidence vehicles, and said the locals weren’t afraid of it. By late 2014 a commenter reported the wrecks were nearly all gone and a new road was being built. Nobody has confirmed what stands there today, so think of it as Bangkok ghost history rather than a place to visit.
8. Wat Prasat, Nonthaburi (Near Bangkok)
Just outside Bangkok, Wat Prasat (วัดปราสาท, wát bpraasàat) is a real, active temple believed to date from the middle to late Ayutthaya period. Its ordination hall is a registered national historic site, and its murals are described as the oldest in Nonthaburi.
The ghost story sits behind that hall. An old, run-down pavilion, or คุ้ม (kúm), is said to belong to Phra Nang Usawadi Thewi. Locals call her “Mae” or เจ้าแม่ (jâomɛ̂ɛ), a revered lady spirit, so she isn’t a ผี at all. The area is said to feel eerie at night, and the belief is simple: anyone who speaks or behaves disrespectfully meets strange events, then comes back to ขอขมา (kɔ̌ɔ kàmǎa), ask forgiveness.
Bonus for tree-spirit fans: the temple keeps a giant ตะเคียน (dtàkian) log. Takhian trees are linked to นางตะเคียน (naang dtàkian), the same tree spirit honoured at Saranrom Park, though we found no story tying a ghost to this particular log.
Visiting: public and free. Dress modestly, and please don’t “test” the spirit. That’s exactly what the legend warns against.
9. Pu Ming, the Spirit at Suvarnabhumi Airport
If you flew into Bangkok, you’ve already met a Thai spirit. In September 2006, days before Suvarnabhumi Airport opened in Samut Prakan, just outside Bangkok, the airport authority invited 99 monks to bless the site. During the ceremony, the story goes, a worker went into a trance, announced he was a spirit called ปู่มิ่ง (bpùu mîng), “Grandfather Ming”, and demanded a ศาลเพียงตา (sǎan piangdtaa), an eye-level spirit shrine. The airport agreed and built one. Its chairman later said the airport keeps 16 shrines.
This isn’t really a ghost story. It’s a เจ้าที่ (jâotîi) story, about the guardian spirits Thais believe look after the land before any building goes up. It’s why nearly every Thai house, office and mall has a spirit house, ศาลพระภูมิ (sǎan prápuum), out front, with drinks and garlands for its spirit.
Forum Legends: Unconfirmed Stories From Old Thai Message Boards
Three more stories have been passed around Thai forums since at least 2007. We couldn’t confirm any of them, and all three were on private land, so enjoy them as campfire tales only.
The Piyaporn housing estate, Soi Watcharapol. The story goes that the estate was built on an old ป่าช้า (bpàacháa, cemetery) without first making offerings to the เจ้าที่เจ้าทาง (jâotîi jâotaang), the guardian spirits of the land. Accidents followed, the houses didn’t sell, and the project was abandoned. (Thai sources blame the poor sales too.)
The old pen factory near Kasem Bundit University. It sat in the university’s soi off Phatthanakan Road, not on campus. Older English versions got the spirit wrong. The Thai story is about its guardian spirit, the เจ้าที่ (jâotîi). Legend says knocking three times on its three water tanks brings the spirit out.
The Ramkhamhaeng Soi 32 house. The story goes that a maid was killed there during a robbery, and that people later heard a woman calling for help. Thais call her ผีสาวใช้ (pǐi sǎao chái), the maid ghost. The house is reported to have been demolished, so this one now lives only in retellings.
Sidebar: What Thais Do for Restless Spirits
Thais also try to help lonely spirits rest. At the Ruamkatanyu Foundation desk at Wat Hua Lamphong, on Rama IV Road by MRT Sam Yan, people make merit by donating coffins for the unclaimed dead, ศพไร้ญาติ (sòp rái yâat). It’s called ทำบุญโลงศพ (tambun loongsòp). You give a small donation, write your name on a slip, stick it on a coffin, pray, then burn the slip. It’s believed to bring great merit and to help those spirits find peace, and foreigners are welcome to take part. It’s a charity, not a haunted spot.
Bonus: Siriraj Forensic Museum (Spooky, Not Haunted)
Want a shiver you can actually buy a ticket for? The Siriraj Medical Museum and its forensic museum, at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok Noi, is nicknamed the “Museum of Death”. It’s a medical and pathology collection rather than a haunted house in Bangkok, but it’s legal, open to the public and properly eerie. It’s ticketed, closed on Tuesdays and public holidays, and photos aren’t allowed in the medical museum.
Visiting Haunted Places in Bangkok: Be Respectful
Stay off private property. Most “haunted” buildings belong to someone, and trespassing is illegal, ghosts or no ghosts.
Treat shrines and temples as places of worship. Dress modestly, keep quiet, and don’t mock the spirit for a photo.
Go in daylight. Every place worth visiting on this list is a daytime trip.
Frequently Asked Questions About Haunted Places in Bangkok
What is the most haunted place in Thailand?
There’s no official ranking. Among foreigners, the Sathorn Unique “Ghost Tower” in Bangkok is the best known. Among Thais, the most famous ghost of all is Mae Nak, whose shrine is at Wat Mahabut.
What does ยักษ์วัดแจ้ง แร้งวัดสระเกศ เปรตวัดสุทัศน์ mean?
It’s an old Thai rhyme, yák wát jɛ̂ɛng, rɛ́ɛng wát sàgèet, bprèet wát sùtát: “the giants of Wat Arun, the vultures of Wat Saket, the preta of Wat Suthat.” The vultures recall the cholera years at Wat Saket, and the preta is the hungry ghost of Wat Suthat.
Can you go inside Sathorn Unique?
No. The tower has been fenced since 2016 and trespassers can be arrested. View it from outside, for example from the river or near BTS Saphan Taksin.
Who is Mae Nak?
Mae Nak (แม่นาก, mɛ̂ɛ nâak) is Thailand’s most famous ghost. The story goes that she died in childbirth while her husband was at war and kept living with him as a ghost. Today people pray at her shrine for love, luck and safe childbirth.
Is it OK to visit haunted places in Bangkok?
Yes, if they’re public and you go by day. The temples and parks on this list are open to visitors. Abandoned buildings are private property, so keep to the outside.
Ghost stories are one of the most fun ways into Thai, because every legend comes with words people really use. If you’d like to learn the language behind the shivers, take a look at our Thai courses at DLS.
Dubbed “Monkey City,” the province of Lopburi (150km northeast of Bangkok) in Thailand is known for its population of long-tailed macaques that guard its ancient ruins and temples.
Like a boss...
The Thai version of the Ramayana legend claims that the ancient city of Lopburi was created with the help of his friend Hanuman the Monkey King. Many of Lopburi’s residents consider the macaques descendants of Hanuman, hence this monkey feast is held in their honour.
Prang Sam Yot Temple (now monkey territory)...
To give thanks to the monkeys, the city holds an annual “monkey buffet” feast every last week of November at an ancient Khmer temple, Prang Sam Yot, built in the 10th century by the Khmer dynasty with similar architecture as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.
And what a feast it is.
Too busy eating to bother stealing from tourists...
Buffet tables are laid out with with over 4,000 kilograms of food — peanuts, cabbage, watermelon, bananas, pumpkin, pineapple, boiled eggs, cucumbers, cakes, candies, and cans of soda and juice — all prepared for the monkeys. The fruits and vegetables are sometimes arranged in festive, colourful pyramids or simply laid out on mats by the temple, to the delight of the monkeys.
Buffet molesters...
The buffet sparks a feeding frenzy among the 3,000 macaques that live in the area, and the festivities have become a popular attraction for both local and foreign visitors.
Most of them suffer from severe lack of table manners...
The monkey buffet festival also hosts performances and activities that celebrate all things monkey, such as music and dances with people dressed like monkeys in monkey costumes and monkey masks. Monkey sculptures also flourish around the area.
Monkey statues dressed in fancy suits offering drinks and sweets...
Lopburi’s monkey population survives in part due to Buddhist discouragement of killing animals.
Lunch is served!
Because the monkeys that populate the town are used to human interaction, they have also been known to cheekily steal unwary tourists’ belongings or food. Officials remind visitors that the monkeys are wild animals and can get aggressive, and warn photographers against luring the monkeys with food.
Living life to the Max...
Milk for the young ones...
I need to stay awake to chow down more food...
Lopburi is a three-hour train ride from Bangkok via Ayutthaya. Entrance to the Prang Sam Yot temple is 30 Baht inclusive of sticks that will help ward off aggressively cheeky monkeys.
9 Haunted Places in Bangkok You Can’t Unsee
Bangkok has a busy afterlife. Here are nine places in and around the city with a ghost story, plus the Thai words that go with each one.
Looking for haunted places in Bangkok? Here are nine with a story, from the Sathorn Unique “Ghost Tower” and an old cemetery that’s now a jogging park, through the Old Town temples of a famous Thai rhyme and Mae Nak’s shrine, to a spirit shrine at Bangkok’s main airport. For each one you get the story, the kind of ผี (pǐi, ghost) involved, and a few Thai words to take home. Want to know who’s who in the Thai spirit world first? Our guide to Thai ghosts has the full line-up.
Quick note before we start: these are stories Thais tell, not police reports. Nobody has confirmed the ghostly deaths in the legends, so treat every “the story goes” as exactly that.
1. Sathorn Unique Tower, Bangkok’s “Ghost Tower”
If Bangkok haunted folklore has a poster child, it’s this one. Sathorn Unique is an unfinished 49-storey condo tower on Charoen Krung Road, across from Wat Yannawa and near BTS Saphan Taksin. Work began in 1990 and stopped during the 1997 “Tom Yum Kung” financial crisis, when the building was about 80 to 90 percent done. It has stood empty ever since, which is how it earned its English nickname.
Thais call it ตึกร้างสาทร (dtʉ̀k ráang sǎatɔɔn), from ตึกร้าง (dtʉ̀k ráang), “abandoned building”. Local talk blames its bad luck on location. People say its shadow falls over the revered Wat Yannawa, and that the cinema that stood on the site before it also failed. There’s no particular ghost type in the stories, just a heavy sense that the place never had a chance. It was even a filming location for a Thai horror film, GDH’s The Promise (2017).
Seeing it: from outside only. The site has been fenced since 2016 and trespassers can be arrested. The view from the river or from around BTS Saphan Taksin is the way to do it.
2. Wat Don Cemetery, Now the Teochew Cemetery Park
For decades, ป่าช้าวัดดอน (bpàacháa wát dɔɔn), the Wat Don cemetery in Sathorn, was the place Bangkok taxi drivers wouldn’t pass after dark, with stories of riders who “came in alone and left as two”. Founded in 1899 as the Teochew Chinese cemetery, it holds tens of thousands of burials, and the story goes that many of the dead were unclaimed or died sudden, violent deaths, what Thais call ตายโหง (dtaai hǒong). Thais believe those make the most restless ghosts.
Then came the plot twist. From 1996 the cemetery was turned into a park open to the public. Today about a thousand people a day jog and shoot hoops between rows of ฮวงซุ้ย (huangsúi), Chinese tombs. Spooky? Mostly sweaty.
Visiting: free, in daylight (sources disagree on hours). Families still visit their graves, especially at Qingming, so don’t sit on, climb or pose on the tombs, and leave the ghost hunting at home.
3. Wat Saket, the Golden Mount and the Old Ghost Gate Area
This one starts with real history. Old Bangkok had a rule: no cremations inside the city walls. So the dead left through one gate, known to everyone as ประตูผี (bpràdtuu pǐi), the Ghost Gate, and on to a crematorium beside Wat Saket. When cholera hit the city in 1820 and again in 1849, bodies arrived faster than they could be burned, and vultures gathered at the temple to feed. Thais still say แร้งวัดสระเกศ (rɛ́ɛng wát sàgèet), “the vultures of Wat Saket”, and you’ll find vulture sculptures on the grounds today.
Whether any of the gate itself survives is unclear, but the street keeps the name.
Visiting: the temple grounds are free, and foreigners pay a small fee to climb the Golden Mount, ภูเขาทอง (puukǎo tɔɔng). Dress modestly. The old Ghost Gate area is now a food street with no ghosts on the menu, so go hungry.
4. Wat Suthat and the Giant Swing
A short walk away, Wat Suthat finishes a rhyme every Thai kid knows:
A เปรต (bprèet) is a hungry ghost from Buddhist teaching, paying for greed in a past life. Thais picture it as impossibly tall and thin, with a mouth too small to ever eat its fill. The story goes that a giant preta was once seen standing near the temple at night. Skeptics say people simply saw the tall shadow of the Giant Swing, เสาชิงช้า (sǎo chingcháa), in the fog. Two lines of the rhyme, แร้งวัดสระเกศ เปรตวัดสุทัศน์, are also the title of a Thai horror film from Phranakorn Film, first announced in 2024.
Visiting: go by day, since sources disagree on hours. Foreigners pay an entry fee. Look for preta in the old murals, dress modestly and skip the touts offering “guides”.
5. The Chao Mae Takhian Thong Shrine, Saranrom Park
Thai folk belief holds that some old trees are home to spirits, and one of the best known is นางตะเคียน (naang dtàkian), the female spirit of the ตะเคียน (dtàkian) tree. Treat her with respect and she may bring you luck, even a lottery number. Insult her tree and bad luck is said to follow.
Saranrom Park, a quiet garden near MRT Sanam Chai and the Grand Palace, has a shrine to เจ้าแม่ตะเคียนทอง (jâomɛ̂ɛ dtàkian tɔɔng), “Lady Takhian Thong”. It’s a three-storey Chinese-style pavilion from the reign of King Rama VI, and people still come with flowers and incense to ask for luck.
Visiting: the park is public and free. A small ไหว้ (wâai) is plenty. Please don’t touch the offerings or climb the trees.
6. The Mae Nak Shrine at Wat Mahabut
Meet Thailand’s most famous ghost. แม่นาก (mɛ̂ɛ nâak), Mae Nak, has a shrine at Wat Mahabut in Suan Luang, beside Khlong Phra Khanong, in Soi On Nut 7, off On Nut Road (Sukhumvit 77). At the shrine you’ll see her called ย่านาค (yâa nâak), “Grandma Nak”, usually spelled with ค. Both spellings sound the same.
The story goes that Nak died in childbirth, along with her baby, while her husband Mak was away at war. When he came home, she carried on living with him as if nothing had happened, until he discovered the truth. That makes her the classic ผีตายทั้งกลม (pǐi dtaai táng glom), the ghost of a woman who died pregnant or in childbirth.
Here’s the twist. Today people don’t run from Mae Nak, they ask her for help. Visitors pray for an easy childbirth, to avoid the military draft, for lucky lottery numbers and, lately, for love. If a wish comes true, the custom is to leave her a Thai dress. Her story is a Thai cinema favourite. Nonzee Nimibutr’s Nang Nak (1999) was the first Thai film to earn 100 million baht, and the horror-comedy Pee Mak (2013) went on to break Thai box-office records.
Visiting: it’s a working temple and free to enter. Dress modestly, keep your voice down, give a respectful ไหว้ (wâai), and go in the daytime, since sources disagree on opening hours. People say the shrine stays open through the night before a lottery draw, but the daytime is the best time to go.
7. The Soi Sai Yood Bus Cemetery (Now History)
For years, the bus cemetery at ซอยสายหยุด (sɔɔi sǎai yùt), Soi Sai Yud, was the stuff of late-night ghost stories. The story was that wrecked buses and cars from fatal crashes were stored there, and that each wreck came with someone who had died violently inside it. That’s the territory of ผีตายโหง (pǐi dtaai hǒong), the ghost of someone who died a sudden, violent death.
The tales were vivid. Lights in the empty buses switched on by themselves. Hitchhikers waved from the roadside and then vanished. People ran out in front of cars and vanished.
The real site was less spooky than it sounded. A visitor in December 2013 found a sign showing it was a Metropolitan Police impound lot for evidence vehicles, and said the locals weren’t afraid of it. By late 2014 a commenter reported the wrecks were nearly all gone and a new road was being built. Nobody has confirmed what stands there today, so think of it as Bangkok ghost history rather than a place to visit.
8. Wat Prasat, Nonthaburi (Near Bangkok)
Just outside Bangkok, Wat Prasat (วัดปราสาท, wát bpraasàat) is a real, active temple believed to date from the middle to late Ayutthaya period. Its ordination hall is a registered national historic site, and its murals are described as the oldest in Nonthaburi.
The ghost story sits behind that hall. An old, run-down pavilion, or คุ้ม (kúm), is said to belong to Phra Nang Usawadi Thewi. Locals call her “Mae” or เจ้าแม่ (jâomɛ̂ɛ), a revered lady spirit, so she isn’t a ผี at all. The area is said to feel eerie at night, and the belief is simple: anyone who speaks or behaves disrespectfully meets strange events, then comes back to ขอขมา (kɔ̌ɔ kàmǎa), ask forgiveness.
Bonus for tree-spirit fans: the temple keeps a giant ตะเคียน (dtàkian) log. Takhian trees are linked to นางตะเคียน (naang dtàkian), the same tree spirit honoured at Saranrom Park, though we found no story tying a ghost to this particular log.
Visiting: public and free. Dress modestly, and please don’t “test” the spirit. That’s exactly what the legend warns against.
9. Pu Ming, the Spirit at Suvarnabhumi Airport
If you flew into Bangkok, you’ve already met a Thai spirit. In September 2006, days before Suvarnabhumi Airport opened in Samut Prakan, just outside Bangkok, the airport authority invited 99 monks to bless the site. During the ceremony, the story goes, a worker went into a trance, announced he was a spirit called ปู่มิ่ง (bpùu mîng), “Grandfather Ming”, and demanded a ศาลเพียงตา (sǎan piangdtaa), an eye-level spirit shrine. The airport agreed and built one. Its chairman later said the airport keeps 16 shrines.
This isn’t really a ghost story. It’s a เจ้าที่ (jâotîi) story, about the guardian spirits Thais believe look after the land before any building goes up. It’s why nearly every Thai house, office and mall has a spirit house, ศาลพระภูมิ (sǎan prápuum), out front, with drinks and garlands for its spirit.
Forum Legends: Unconfirmed Stories From Old Thai Message Boards
Three more stories have been passed around Thai forums since at least 2007. We couldn’t confirm any of them, and all three were on private land, so enjoy them as campfire tales only.
Sidebar: What Thais Do for Restless Spirits
Thais also try to help lonely spirits rest. At the Ruamkatanyu Foundation desk at Wat Hua Lamphong, on Rama IV Road by MRT Sam Yan, people make merit by donating coffins for the unclaimed dead, ศพไร้ญาติ (sòp rái yâat). It’s called ทำบุญโลงศพ (tambun loongsòp). You give a small donation, write your name on a slip, stick it on a coffin, pray, then burn the slip. It’s believed to bring great merit and to help those spirits find peace, and foreigners are welcome to take part. It’s a charity, not a haunted spot.
Bonus: Siriraj Forensic Museum (Spooky, Not Haunted)
Want a shiver you can actually buy a ticket for? The Siriraj Medical Museum and its forensic museum, at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok Noi, is nicknamed the “Museum of Death”. It’s a medical and pathology collection rather than a haunted house in Bangkok, but it’s legal, open to the public and properly eerie. It’s ticketed, closed on Tuesdays and public holidays, and photos aren’t allowed in the medical museum.
Visiting Haunted Places in Bangkok: Be Respectful
Curious why Thais avoid certain things after dark? Our post on Thai superstitions about whistling at night explains a few.
Frequently Asked Questions About Haunted Places in Bangkok
What is the most haunted place in Thailand?
There’s no official ranking. Among foreigners, the Sathorn Unique “Ghost Tower” in Bangkok is the best known. Among Thais, the most famous ghost of all is Mae Nak, whose shrine is at Wat Mahabut.
What does ยักษ์วัดแจ้ง แร้งวัดสระเกศ เปรตวัดสุทัศน์ mean?
It’s an old Thai rhyme, yák wát jɛ̂ɛng, rɛ́ɛng wát sàgèet, bprèet wát sùtát: “the giants of Wat Arun, the vultures of Wat Saket, the preta of Wat Suthat.” The vultures recall the cholera years at Wat Saket, and the preta is the hungry ghost of Wat Suthat.
Can you go inside Sathorn Unique?
No. The tower has been fenced since 2016 and trespassers can be arrested. View it from outside, for example from the river or near BTS Saphan Taksin.
Who is Mae Nak?
Mae Nak (แม่นาก, mɛ̂ɛ nâak) is Thailand’s most famous ghost. The story goes that she died in childbirth while her husband was at war and kept living with him as a ghost. Today people pray at her shrine for love, luck and safe childbirth.
Is it OK to visit haunted places in Bangkok?
Yes, if they’re public and you go by day. The temples and parks on this list are open to visitors. Abandoned buildings are private property, so keep to the outside.
Ghost stories are one of the most fun ways into Thai, because every legend comes with words people really use. If you’d like to learn the language behind the shivers, take a look at our Thai courses at DLS.
Biggest “Monkey Buffet” in the world…
Dubbed “Monkey City,” the province of Lopburi (150km northeast of Bangkok) in Thailand is known for its population of long-tailed macaques that guard its ancient ruins and temples.
The Thai version of the Ramayana legend claims that the ancient city of Lopburi was created with the help of his friend Hanuman the Monkey King. Many of Lopburi’s residents consider the macaques descendants of Hanuman, hence this monkey feast is held in their honour.
To give thanks to the monkeys, the city holds an annual “monkey buffet” feast every last week of November at an ancient Khmer temple, Prang Sam Yot, built in the 10th century by the Khmer dynasty with similar architecture as Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.
And what a feast it is.
Buffet tables are laid out with with over 4,000 kilograms of food — peanuts, cabbage, watermelon, bananas, pumpkin, pineapple, boiled eggs, cucumbers, cakes, candies, and cans of soda and juice — all prepared for the monkeys. The fruits and vegetables are sometimes arranged in festive, colourful pyramids or simply laid out on mats by the temple, to the delight of the monkeys.
The buffet sparks a feeding frenzy among the 3,000 macaques that live in the area, and the festivities have become a popular attraction for both local and foreign visitors.
The monkey buffet festival also hosts performances and activities that celebrate all things monkey, such as music and dances with people dressed like monkeys in monkey costumes and monkey masks. Monkey sculptures also flourish around the area.
Lopburi’s monkey population survives in part due to Buddhist discouragement of killing animals.
Because the monkeys that populate the town are used to human interaction, they have also been known to cheekily steal unwary tourists’ belongings or food. Officials remind visitors that the monkeys are wild animals and can get aggressive, and warn photographers against luring the monkeys with food.
Lopburi is a three-hour train ride from Bangkok via Ayutthaya. Entrance to the Prang Sam Yot temple is 30 Baht inclusive of sticks that will help ward off aggressively cheeky monkeys.
References:
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/25/travel/gallery/lopburi-monkey-buffet/index.html
http://festivalasia.net/festivals/Monkey-Buffet-Festival-2013.html
http://www.weather.com/travel/monkey-buffet-thailand-photos-20131105
http://travel.cnn.com/bangkok/visit/gallery-lopburis-annual-monkey-feast-sparks-feeding-frenzy-423899
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/9703067/The-annual-Monkey-Buffet-Festival-at-a-temple-in-Thailand.html?frame=2409767
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/6691127/The-annual-Monkey-Buffet-Festival-at-Pra-Prang-Sam-Yot-temple-in-Lopburi-Province-Thailand.html?image=1