Ten True Thai Ghost Stories

Some stories are too close to home to leave behind.

A wife waits for her husband beside a Bangkok canal. A pale light moves beyond the last houses. A sleeper lies awake, unable to call for help.

In Ten True Thai Ghost Stories, Thomas Piunti explores the fears and feelings behind ten enduring ghost stories and spirit traditions. Meet Nang Nak, the wife whose love outlasts death; Phi Krasue, the unsettling light beyond the village; and the spirits associated with banana plants, great trees, hunger, and troubled sleep.

Drawing on historical records and credited sources, these chapters distinguish traditional legends, secondhand reports, and recorded personal experiences. An introduction explores Thai spirit beliefs, their history, and their connections with Buddhist ideas about merit, remembrance, and the dead.

Inside you will find:
• Ten numbered chapters with a color, AI-generated illustration opening each one.
• Accounts from several historical writers, with context about what they did-and did not-witness.
• The story of Nang Nak's enduring presence in cinema, including the acclaimed 1999 film.
• Detailed source notes for readers who want to explore further.

Written with attention to grief, tenderness, fear, and belonging, this collection looks beyond the shock of an apparition to the people who tell its story.

A note on the title: "True" refers to recorded accounts and genuine folklore traditions. The book does not claim that supernatural causes have been proved. Illustrations are imaginative interpretations, not documentary photographs.