A real Final Destination in Bangkok, and other interesting true ghost stories

As a journalist in Bangkok, I’ve covered many topics—but none as eerie or fascinating as Thailand’s ghosts and spirits.

Many moons ago, my editor asked me to write about some of the more common ghosts and spirits that lurked in the more mysterious corners of Thailand. I say ‘lurked,’ but some of them are pretty in your face and differ from many of their Western counterparts, who are frequently glimpsed and then disappear.

In Thailand, some ghosts can kill. The spirits are so ubiquitous that every building has a shrine with offerings for spirits, and monks do a roaring trade in exorcisms and quieting troublesome ghosts.

My research led to more quirky ghosts, myths, demons, folklore and some older local beliefs. I found so many amazing stories that I turned them into a book called Haunted Thailand: Ghosts and Spirits in the Land of Smiles.

Enough preamble, here are some real ghost stories from the Thai capital. (‘Real’ is very subjective, but this is what is believed by many in Thailand.)

First up is a haunted house, which resulted in a scenario that may seem familiar.

Real-life Final Destination — The abandoned house at Thawi Watthana, Bangkok

This story is genuinely creepy, and if made into a movie, it would probably be criticised as being too similar to Final Destination. But it is allegedly real.

In 2015, seven bored teenagers decided to check out an abandoned house in a district of Bangkok. The house was rumoured to be haunted, and the teens were curious. When they arrived at their destination, they drove down the road, and at the end, there were two abandoned buildings, one of which had its front lights on. As they arrived, the lights mysteriously turned off. 

This was already enough to scare off the would-be ghostbusters, and deciding they weren’t cut out for exploring haunted houses after all, they fled. But their desire for cheap thrills at the haunted house apparently annoyed the entity living there.

Three months later, two of the teens died in a motorcycle accident. Sadly, this is not uncommon in Thailand, except for the fact that witnesses said there was a lady with long hair in a white dress who was also on the bike. Her body was nowhere to be found. A year later, another of the gang also died in a motorbike accident, and again, there were reports of a long-haired woman in white who again disappeared.

The following year, another two died in a house fire. According to a neighbour, a woman in white was seen entering the building just before the fire.

A local medium declared that the teenagers were being pursued by an angry and vengeful spirit. The remaining two members of the group are still alive (at the time of writing) but are presumably anxious and probably freaked out by any ladies they come across who are dressed in white. 

To make the story even spookier, the haunted and abandoned house the teens had been looking for was at the start of the street. At the end, where they had seen two houses, was actually just empty land.

Next up is a well-known spot in central Bangkok that many have walked past, but few know the full story.

Erawan Shrine and Ratchaprasong Intersection

Ratchaprasong Intersection is a major junction in downtown Bangkok that is now surrounded by upmarket shopping malls and hotels. But it used to be the former royal palace for Prince Chudadhuj Dharadilok. It is now rumoured to be cursed and, as a result, is now the home to eight Hindu shrines, to try and keep the spirits happy. The most famous of which is the Erawan Shrine.

A bit of backstory is needed. In the 1950s, the construction of the luxury government-owned Erawan Hotel was beset by problems, apparently caused by the foundations being laid on the wrong date. (Auspicious dates are important in Thailand for everything from marriage days to buying and building houses and more.) There were numerous labourer injuries, cost overruns, and the loss of a shipment of expensive Italian marble. 

To fix this, a well-known astrologer said the situation and bad karma could be sorted out by building a shrine. In 1956, the shrine was completed with a statue of Phra Phom, the Thai version of the Hindu god of creation Brahma, as the centrepiece. The hotel was completed without further issues until it was destroyed in 1987.

The spirits are still believed to be a bit unhappy, however, with numerous bad things continuing to occur at the Shrine. 

In 2006, a man with mental issues attacked a statue there with a hammer and was consequently beaten to death by passers-by. 

In 2015, a bomb was detonated in the Shrine, killing 20 people, and in 2016, a passing motorist had a stroke and reversed into the crowd, injuring half a dozen more.

Bangkok is frequently listed as the world’s most visited city. If you’ve been there, it is likely you flew into Suvarnabhumi Airport. See anything suspicious?

Strange hauntings at Suvarnabhumi Airport 

If you want to say you have been to a haunted place in Thailand, all you have to do is land at the main airport, Suvarnabhumi. 

The airport is on the outskirts of east Bangkok and was built on some delightful marshlands known as the ‘Cobra Swamp’. It opened in 2006. What they didn’t know when building it was that part of it was built on an ancient cemetery. As anyone who has ever built on an ancient burial site knows, it is a bad idea. There are thousands of films and books to back this up.

During the construction, numerous strange occurrences were reported, and it got so bad that some labourers refused to continue work. There were also several fatal accidents, and a lot of people claimed to have heard a number of flat-out creepy noises, such as eerie wailing, moaning and unsettling chanting. 

When the airport was near completion, there were stories that it was haunted by a blue-faced old man called Poo Ming. Other workers heard footsteps and traditional Thai music, all with no apparent source.

Enough was enough, and come opening time for the airport, the powers that be got 99 Thai Buddhist monks to visit the site as part of a huge ceremony to appease and placate the upset spirits. The monks prayed and chanted and did their thing for nine weeks straight. 

Just as they were wrapping up, a young luggage operator stepped out of the crowd, claiming that he was Poo Ming. The possessed man said he was a guardian of the cemetery and needed cleansing. Happy to oblige, the monks blessed him with holy water, said some prayers to exorcise the spirit, and the handler returned to his previous self.

It seems the blessing didn’t fully appease the ghost, however, as tales of Poo Ming sightings still occur today. People have reported seeing a spectral old man, shimmering blue, walking around with a walking stick. Sometimes, he even speaks in a weak and frail voice before disappearing.

Poo Ming is not alone at the airport and surrounding area. There have been numerous stories of a pale woman with a baby who has caused several car accidents. Once, a security guard fell into a trance and demanded a shrine to be built. Poltergeists have also been known to roam sections of the airport, and the ghostly footsteps and traditional music noted during construction can still occasionally be heard.

Final thoughts…

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, stories about them are fun, interesting, and potentially pretty chilling. Thailand is riddled with ghosts, spirits (good and bad), demons, magic, and more.

If you enjoyed these tales and want to dive deeper into Thailand’s haunted legends, it’s time for a shameless plug: check out my book, Haunted Thailand: Ghosts and Spirits in the Land of Smiles. [You can check it out here].