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As long as there is a demand, the supply will be met no matter how improper the way they go about it. Although Thailand has a literacy rate of over 90%, superstition is rife and many Thais resort to bizarre rituals to change their fortunes.
One of the most striking examples is the powerful spirit called Kuman thong. It must be stressed that this is not a Buddhist practice, but an occult practice related to necromancy. Genuine Kuman Thong, which was revered and created in ancient times according to traditional method by Adept practitioners of Saiyasart, was made by surgically removing the unborn fetus from the womb of its mother. The body of the child would then be taken to a cemetery where a ritual is performed to invoke a Kuman Thong. The body is roasted until dry whilst the Mage chants incantations of magical kata.
Orthodox Buddhism does not permit such practices. Monks involved are supposed to be defrocked. Many monks and temples get around this by selling effigies of the Kuman Thong. Some are amulet-sized. A few go one step closer to authenticity by having the tiny effigy encased in oil. Some sellers of these amulets will claim that it’s real “baby oil”. Some of these effigies, though fake, are made to look like the real thing. Creepy as it sounds, many Thais believe that owning one of these charms will bring them good luck.
It is believed that real “baby oil” or nam man prai, is still being secretly produced in Thailand. Nowadays, they normally pick up stillborn infants. The practitioner “adopts” these dead children and then roast them for their oil. When stillborn infants are in short supply, practitioners of necromancy go for adult corpses.
Udon Thani:- Two corpses have lately been stolen from a graveyard in Udon Thani’s Prachaksinlapakhom district in what police believe is related to amulet making.
A prime suspect is a roaming monk who claims to have supernatural power, Pol Colonel Jamlong Panjana of Prachaksinlapakhom Police Station says.
According to the ongoing police investigation, this monk popped up in Ban Non Sa in the district last month and told locals that he could use the corpses that belong to persons suffering from shocking deaths in fixing lottery results.
“Many locals are thus willing to tell the monk where he can find such corpses,” Jamlong says.
Superstitious beliefs say such corpses can be used for black magic.
Locals in Ban Non Sa found out about the stolen corpses after they visited the graveyard ahead of the Songkran Festival to clean the graves of their late relatives.
One of the bodies belongs to a 32-year-old man who was shot dead and buried late last year. The other belongs to a 26-year-old woman who died in the stage of pregnancy.
“Such thefts have brought much grief to their relatives. The mothers want to make merits to their late children but they can’t,” Ban Non Sa village head Wichien Boonpa complains.
The two mothers officially lodged complaints with police on Sunday.
Police say evidence suggests the corpses were dug up just a few days before the graveyard-visit period began.
Last month, police in another district also received a report that the bodies of two drown siblings were stolen from a graveyard.
“We believe the thefts are related,” Jamlong says, “We will try to nail down culprits”.
