Ghost Fears

[Candy]

Ghost Fears Keep Visitors From Thailand

HONG KONG (AP) - Worries about another deadly tsunami are keeping many tourists from Phuket, the premier resort island of southern Thailand. But hordes of Asian vacationers are staying away for another reason: Fear that the ghosts of thousands of victims may be haunting the beaches and bungalows.

Kang Jung-hoon, who arranges trips for the large Korean travel agency Hanna Tour in Seoul, said people are afraid of ghosts and rumors that bodies are floating around. Kang said that from January to June, only 1,230 customers went to Phuket _ down sharply from the 3,187 who went during the same period last year.

Media reports have helped fuel the superstition in South Korea. The free tabloid Sports Korea recently ran a story about three popular Korean celebrities who were filming a television show in Phuket, saying the stars reported hearing voices at their hotel that they believed were spirits.

This story saddens me for some reason. :(

[PhantomWolf]

I suspect that the voices were caused by spirits, though of the liquid variety.

[ToSeek]

Many years ago I knew a young woman from Malaysia who was convinced a friend of hers had had her soul stolen by a spirit because she went for a walk in the woods alone. She was a perfectly reasonable person otherwise, which made the discussion more than a little creepy.

[twinstead]

From my experience, many more Southeast Asians believe in ghosts as a matter of fact than Westerners.

My favorite food is Southeast Asian, usually Thai or Cambodian. I eat it so hot that when the endorphins kick in maybe I see ghosts, too.

[umop ap!sdn]

What's ironic is that after people grieve for the loss of living persons, these same people become so afraid of the idea of seeing the deceased in nonphysical form. It makes no sense. :?

[Candy]

What's ironic is that after people grieve for the loss of living persons, these same people become so afraid of the idea of seeing the deceased in nonphysical form. It makes no sense. :?

Good analogy. I never really thought about it that way. If I think about it, the dreams I've had of dead people don't scare me.

[Lance]

That's an interesting observation...

Maybe the living figure just the act of becoming a ghost pisses them off.

I know it certainly wouldn't make my day.

[gillianren]

my grandmother believed to the day she died that she'd seen her own mother's ghost.

my great-grandmother Gillen (the Gypsy, as it happens) died in childbirth when my grandmother Dillon was eight. afterward, she and her sibs and their dad went to go live with Great-Great-Grandma Gillen. one night, Grandma and Great-Uncle Tom were going upstairs to bed, and as they reached the top of the stairs, they saw their mother.

for a while, they just stood there. then, Great-Uncle Tom (who was probably six, if I remember family chronology properly) said, "Mama!"

Grandma and Great-Uncle Tom exchanged looks, then fled downstairs. Great-Great-Grandma Gillen made them say a prayer, and they never saw her again.

now, what I've always believed on the subject is that, if Grandma saw what she says she did, Great-Grandma Gillen just wanted one last look at her kids. (the word "great" is starting to lose all meaning to me as I type out this story . . . .) she saw that they were okay, and that Great-Great-Grandma Gillen was taking care of them, and she was content to move on.

I think where ghosts become scary is when what they want to check on isn't the way they want it. but hey, that's me, right?

[Candy]

I’ve never seen a ghost, but I had a weird experience. My grandfather was very mean to me as I grew up. He was just vicious. For example, if I got one B on my report card out of all A’s, he would tell me how stupid I was. One day, my high school class ring went missing. I thought I had lost it at school during swim class. I was very sad about losing it. Grandma felt so bad about it, that she bought me a new one.

The last thing I would have ever expected was grandpa had taken the original one and threw it away.

How do I know this? Well, just after Grandpa died, I moved back to Grandma’s. I was cleaning the waste can in grandpa’s old work area. For some reason, the can just spilled all over as I was dumping it into a bag. I began picking up the trash, when I noticed something shiny. To my surprise, it was my class ring. I thought how in the world it got into the waste can. I went to my bedroom and looked into my jewelry box. I now had two class rings.

I believe grandpa felt bad about being so mean to me all those years, and his way of saying he was sorry, was to give me back my original class ring. I know, it’s a stretch, but it gives me closure on such a soured relationship. I took awhile, but I eventually forgave him. This was a stepping stone to healing and lessoning the dysfunction.

[edit to add: The original ring went missing in 1984. The original ring re-appeared 10 years later.]