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Supernatural Beings in ASEAN Folklore
By _Kim Si-eun, CEO of ASEAN Lab

Last year, villagers on the island of Java, Indonesia, made global headlinesas they took turns dressing up as pocong, a ghost in their folklore, to prevent the spread of COVID-19. As superstitious belief has it, the novel corona virus will be unable to affect villages protected by these ghosts. Pocongare similar to mummies in appearance. According to legends, the strings used to firmly tie the deceased’s shroud must be loosened, as otherwise, the soul cannot leave the body and walks about in the middle of the night, asking to be released. Other ghosts include kuntilanak, the spirit of a woman who died during childbirth, and wewegombel, a vengeful spirit of an old woman who kidnaps children.

Kuntilanak some what resembles the cheonyeogwisin in Korea, who are vengeful ghosts of women who died as virgins and are thus jealous of pregnant women and obsessed with children. To thwart off kuntilanak, Indonesians carry a sharp object around. The superstition is also didactic in nature, instructing people to care deeply about the health and safety of pregnant mothers and their babies.In Thailand, where folk beliefs were widespread long before the introduction of Buddhism, the former has a significant influence on the latter. To this day, many people believe in a host of supernatural beings, which in turn flourished into a rich history of horror films.

Pop,a ghost who appears in the 2012 movie Mekong Hotelby acclaimed film director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, is one of the most commonly believed myths by Thais. These ghosts look bloody and gory as they feed on people’s guts. Often said to be seen near the Mekong River, popare commonly believed to exist in everyday life.

Nang nak, another ghost in Thai lore, is the spirit of Lady Nak of PhraKhanong, who died during childbirth, along with her baby, and waits for her husband to return from war. There are temples in PhraKhanongDistrict, Bangkok, that honor the spirit of nangnak. The 2013moviePee Mak, produced by Banjong Pisanthanakun, director of the 2021 Thai-Korean film The Medium, is also based on the story of nangnak. It became Thailand’s highest-grossing film of all time.

Thais’strong belief in folklore is further evidenced by many more spirits, including nangtani, a female spirit that haunts wild banana trees;krahang, a goblin-like male spirit that flies around with a big pestle between his legs; and krasue, a spirit of a woman with her internal organs hanging down from the neck, who is often said to occupy the same area ask rahang.