KRABI — One by one, they started fainting. Young and old. Men and women. Ever since July, members of the Baan Tai village in Krabi province suddenly started fainting. Some later died.
Unsure of the cause of their mysterious malady, it didn’t take long for locals to determine the most likely cause: ghosts. Now, armed with ancient knowledge to ward off the malevolent spirits, residents are pushing back to protect their very souls.
Homeowner Rayong Boonroong, 70, said Sunday that she herself fainted last month and became fearful for her life, especially after a relative dreamed the God of the Underground was out harvesting fresh souls from the living.
To discourage the wraiths from entering their homes, residents have started hanging red T-shirts and signs to scare off the gullible ghosts.
“This household has no faint-hearted people!” reads one of the signs. “Only strong persons live here!”
The ghosts are believed to be targeting residents born on Wednesdays – just like Rayong.
“This helps me feel more relieved,” she said of the spirit-repelling shirt.
This boy seems a little skeptical as he points to a scarecrow erected by Darunee Wangsop to scare the ghosts away on Sunday.
Darunee Wangsop, 26, went one better. She erected a scarecrow wearing a red T-shirt atop a motorcycle in front of her home.
“It looks like someone is guarding us all the time,” she explained.
It’s not the first time in recent memory that the T-shirt solution has been deployed to guard a community’s immortal souls.
Villagers in Buriram province last year used the same strategy to protect themselves from a tall, headless man who claimed several souls while the slept.
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