Spotlight

Ghostbusters

Thailand�s most famous ghost hunters share their creepy tales

By Suwitcha Chaiyong, Photographs courtesy of AP/Warner Bros/Bangkok Post

Did You Know : According to Thai ghost hunters, houses are the most haunted buildings, more so than temples, hotels and hospitals.

The ghost hunters, from left, Kwan, Pong, Jack and Ko.

It�s Halloween time again, the time of year when people�s thoughts turn to ghouls and goblins and ghosts.

And while many people cringe in fear at the thought of seeing a ghost, four guys from Shock FM 102 have taken a different approach: They actually seek out ghosts. They are Thailand�s most famous ghost hunters.

Every weekend from midnight to 3 am, DJ Kapol Thongplub (Pong), 37, Vivat Boonyaponpitaya (Ko), 35, Washarapol Fukjaidee (Jack), 27, and Pairoj Dumminsake (Kwan),26, go on air to tell ghost stories and reveal the results of their trips to some of the most haunted sites in the Kingdom.

FEAR FACTOR

While many people see them as brave, or perhaps even a bit crazy, the guys admit that they too are scared of ghosts.

�We are afraid of ghosts, but we like something exciting,� Pong said.

Yet with all of their experience hunting ghosts � Pong has been doing it for 12 years, Ko for 10 and Jack for five � the guys still aren�t sure if ghosts really exist, or if they do, but in a different form.

�I believe in power and spirits,� Pong said. �I just don�t believe in creepy ghosts.�

The youngest ghost hunter, Kwan, said that his view on ghosts has changed since he became a hunter.

�Before I worked here, I did believe in ghosts,� he said. �But now, I only believe in ghosts 60 percent, because we�ve never seen an actual ghost.�

What?! These guys have been hunting these creepy creatures for a decade and have never seen a ghost? Not exactly true, the guys said. They have noticed paranormal activity, but have never been confronted by one of the stereotypical storybook ghosts.

�We mostly notice spirits as noise or odours,� Pong said.

HAUNTED TALES

One time while phoning in a report to the station, Ko said he heard a strange voice on the line.

�During a report from a haunted house in Senanivej where a woman hanged herself, I heard a guy shout angrily �Go away!� on the phone,� Ko said. �I thought the signal was getting some interference, but Pong, who was at the station, also heard the voice. So did Fanden Janyathanakorn, a TV host who was with me that day. Fanden got scared and ran to our van, and I was quick to follow him.�

One time when Jack was at a haunted house in Nonjok, he said he encountered an unexplained odour. �We smelled something like Thai perfume when we were in the room where an old woman had hanged herself,� Jack said. �We tried to find the source of the smell, but we couldn�t figure out what was causing it or where it was coming from.�

Jack also has the scariest experience of any of the hunters. Two years ago, he was out at a haunted building near Ratchadapisek. It was known that a woman at the building had jumped off a balcony and died, but it was never determined if it was murder or suicide.

Jack and his crew had recruited two men and two women to play with a Ouija board at the building. While playing, one of the ladies became terrified and tried to take her hands off of the pointer.

�We tried to keep her hands on the pointer, thinking something was wrong, but she fought with us,� Jack recalled. �She then started shouting, �Let me go. I will kill you. You all will die.��

The lady then jumped up and started running for the balcony � it looked like she was going to jump. It took Jack and four other guys working together to stop her.

�I was holding on to her left hand, but she could lift me up,� Jack said. �I weigh 60 kilogrammes and she was so small. At that moment, I thought she was possessed by a ghost.�

The crew quickly called a temple and asked for a monk to come out and pray. It took five hours of praying, from midnight to 5 am, before the woman seemed to be back to normal.

�She said that before she lost consciousness, she saw a woman whose face was white with dirt,� Jack said. �She said she felt sorry for the woman and wanted to help her.�

RULES OF THE GAME

With all the spooky stuff happening around the guys, you would think they would be an amulet sellers dream. Not so. The guys said they never carry any Buddhist amulets or anything else that exorcists are supposed to have.

�If we go to see a ghost and carry a Buddhist amulet with us, no ghost appears,� Pong said.

�It�s a rule,� Jake added. �Even our fans who volunteer to visit haunted places with us have to leave their amulets at home.�

So what do the guys do to protect themselves while on the hunt?

�We just prepare our minds,� Pong said. �I believe that if ghosts exist, they must know we come for good.�

The guys are also preparing to take another step. After visiting more than 100 haunted spots across Thailand, they said they now dream of taking their ghost hunt abroad.

�We heard that there is a cemetery in Australia where people can take pictures of ghosts,� Pong said. �And in the UK, they have ghost tours of haunted castles.�

It seems the kings of Thai ghost hunting may soon be on the lookout for some royal ghosts.

Vocabulary

creepy (adj): causing an unpleasant feeling of fear or slight horror
odour (n): a smell, especially one that  is unpleasant
interference (n): interruption of a radio signal by another signal on a similar wavelength, causing extra noise that is not wanted
balcony (n): a platform that is built on the upstairs outside wall of a building, with a wall or rail around it
Ouija board (n): a board with letters of alphabet inscribed on it. Users ask the board a question and together move the pointer until a letter is �selected�
possessed (adj): (of a person or their mind) controlled by an evil spirit
amulet (n): a piece of jewellery that some people wear because they think it protects them from bad luck, illness, etc.
exorcist (n): a person who makes evil spirits leave a place or a person�s body by prayers or magic
cemetery (n): an area of land used for burying dead people