Mae Nak

By Crusader1307

 ''Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go To Thailand.......'' comes another Ghost Story, well known and still told. It is the tale of Mae Nak, who lived many hundreds of years ago. The tale states that Mae had a Husband who She loved very much. The two were expecting a child, but Her Husband was conscripted into The King's Army to fight a rival Kingdom. During His deployment, Mae and Her child suffered a particularly hard childbirth – which resulted in both of their deaths. However, Mae's love was so strong that Her (and the child's) Ghost remained on Earth in ''human form''. Her Husband came home after The War to Her.

Local Villagers pleaded with Him to ''open His eyes'' and ''see'' that He was living with a Ghost (something seen as a serious religious taboo with The Culture). He steadfastly denied these claims, until One day. Perhaps relaxing Her ability to be ''physical'', her Husband ''saw'' Her and His Child's ''true form'' – a ''living corpse''. This so terrified Him, he ran off – straight to a Buddhist temple for protection. So angered by the Villages betrayal, Mae began to haunt. All manner of poltergeist activity and bad fortune befell the Village. Soon Priests came up with a plan. They trapped Mae's spirit inside an earthen jar and tossed it into a local river. But it goes on............

Many years later, fishermen accidentally found and opened the jar. Free again, Mae REALLY turned Her wrath loose. Again Priests needed a plan. This time, they found where Mae's physical remains were. Exhuming Mae (now skeletonized by decomposition), Priests too a piece of bone and forced Mae's Spirit (and that of Her Child) into the relic. They promised Her that if She remained inside, The Priests would ensure both She and Her Child would see Her Husband again in Heaven. She agreed. The bone was woven into a Waist Belt (Cumberbun) and given to The Royal House of Thailand. It is said to be kept in safekeeping. For, as Legend states, should Mae be released – She and Her Child will destroy all of Thailand to ''find'' Her ''scared'' Husband.....