Many are too scared to sleep at all after several sudden nocturnal deaths were blamed on lovesick spirits looking for husbands.
Doctors, however, have put the deaths down to a more worldly cause: they believe the men died from pesticide poisoning. Postmortem examinations on two farmers found they had high levels of toxins in their blood and suffered heart attacks as a result. A diet of contaminated fruit and vegetables has been blamed.
Thais, especially those in the rural northeast, are terrified of ghosts and often refuse to go into forests alone at night, fearing the spirits that dwell there.
There is even a Thai Web site devoted to ghost stories, which have become popular after last year's hit film Nang Nak - a story about a female ghost who came back to haunt her husband. The film opens in Hong Kong tomorrow.
Ghosts Drive Thai Men into Dresses
Thai men in two remote villages have taken to dressing in women's clothing to ward off evil "widow ghosts" who are after their souls.
Before bedding down for the night they varnish their nails, slip into blouses and hang carved wooden penises outside their homes to trick the ghouls into thinking they are women.
[Original headline: Thai men in dresses foil 'widow ghosts']
South China Morning Post / Hongkong | By James East - April 5 2000
