(21 February) The Thai northeastern region is closely associated with the Redshirts movement, but three villages in the region adopt red shirts for a supernatural reason, rather than a political one.
Many residents in the three villages of Buriram province – Ban Khok Sa-ad, Ban Khok Yai, and Ban Tago – have taken to hanging red shirts in front of their houses with cardboard or text imprinted on the shirts which read "Nobody′s Home". Another variation says "Only Angels Live Here. No Humans".
They said the gesture is meant to fool bad spirit of a headless evil who has haunted the villages for weeks. Rumours in the communities claim that the headless ghost, said to be a dark tall man, will possess individuals and take away their lives.
Villagers told our correspondent that the haunting started when three people have already died from unknown causes – which they attributed to the ghost. However, the villagers said, there were also survivors who were woken up in time by their relatives as they were possessed by the ghost in their sleep.
A psychic has been brought to the villages to act as the medium to the alleged spirit, and informed the villagers that the spirit belonged to a headless ghost. The diagnosis greatly frightened the villagers, but the psychic advised the residents to hang red shirts in front of their house as a precaution.
Many residents in the three villages said they are now living in fears, they told our correspondent. Many would not venture out of their homes after early evenings to avoid the encounter with the said ghost.
Mr. Sompong Prom-Ngam, Deputy Headsman of the Khok Sa-ad Village, stated that most villagers are scared and have been restless after the occurrence of an incident. He claimed that one of the ghosts′ victims was a man in his 40s who died without pre-existing medical condition.
"Many people couldn′t sleep at night, even though they already hang the red shirts in front of their houses," Mr. Sompong said.
According to Mr. Sompong, there are also residents refuse to believe in the story about the ghosts, but they did not openly lob-loo (ridicule) the belief either, since death still stalks the communities.
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