Krasue

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The Krasue (

In the Philippines there is a similar ghost, manananggal, a local spirit that haunts pregnant women.^[12][13][14]

Legends

Origin

Belief in the existence of the Krasue is shared across Southeast Asia, and its origin is difficult to verify. However, it likely originates from folklore. In Thailand, the Krasue is believed to be a cursed individual (usually a female) who engaged in various sins and fraudulent conducts during her previous life. After she dies, her sins cause her to be reborn as a phut (Thai: ภูต) that has to live off wasted, uncooked or rotten food. In recent time, the Thai entertainment industry has fictionalized the origin of Krasue as cursed from an Ancient Khmer princess, as in Demonic Beauty (2002). The kidnapped princess of the Khmer kingdom cheated on her husband (the general), with a soldier. The soldier was decapitated while the Khmer princess was burned to death. However, before she died, she chanted a spell to protect her mortal body but was only able to save her head and her organs. This depiction, however, merely is just an attempt to put a royal touch or to reinvent a mythical beginning to a well-known story of an essentially folk origin, strictly for entertainment and commercial purpose.

There are other oral traditions that say that this spirit was formerly a rich lady that had a length of black gauze or ribbon tied around the head and neck as protection from the sunlight. This woman was then possessed by an evil spirit and was cursed to become a Krasue. Other popular legends claim that the origin of the spirit may have been a woman trying to learn

Ahp are witches who failed practicing powerful black magic, causing it to backfired cursing themselves. Others believe that Ahp are black magic practitioners, borrowing a demon(evil spirit)'s power by letting them possess their body at night, as an exchanged. "Ahp" have to pass their curse onto another woman to be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation; it could be their daughter, granddaughter, relatives or any other women that is in their womanhood also practicing witchcraft but some believe it could just be passed through the exchanged of bodily fluid to any women, usually tricked. Witches in khmer are called, "mae thmob" ម៉ែធ្មប់ (mother witch) "yeay thmob" យាយធ្មប់ (grandmother witch).^[18]

In order to protect pregnant women and their child from becoming victims, their relatives place thorny branches around the house as a barrier. This improvised thorny fence discourages the Ahp from coming to suck the blood and causing other suffering to the pregnant woman. After delivery, the woman's relatives must take the cut placenta far away for burial to hide it from the Ahp. If the placenta is buried deep enough the spirit would not be able to find it. It is believed that it would bring great calamities to the child and its family if an Ahp ate the mother's placenta.^[19]

Thai folklore

The Krasue is under a curse that makes it ever hungry and always active in the night when it goes out hunting to satisfy its gluttony, seeking blood to drink or raw flesh to devour. It may attack cattle or chickens in the darkness, drinking their blood and eating their internal organs.^[20] It may also prey on pieces of cattle, such as water buffalo that have died of other causes during the night. If blood is not available the Krasue may eat feces or carrion.^[21] Clothes left outside would be found soiled with blood and excrement in the morning, allegedly after she had wiped her mouth. Therefore, villagers would not leave clothes hanging to dry outside during the night hours.

The Krasue hides the headless body from which it originates in a quiet place because it needs to join it before daybreak,^[22] living like a normal person during the day, although having a sleepy look.^[23] To crush the still headless body of the krasue is fatal to the spirit. The flying head will return after hunting but rejoin with the wrong body which will lead it to suffer torment until death. If the top part of the body fails to find the lower half before daybreak it will die in terrible pain. The Krasue will also die if its intestines get cut off or if its body disappears or gets hidden by someone. Some folk beliefs hold that the creature can be destroyed by burning it. The main foes of the Krasue are mobs of angry villagers carrying torches and machetes. They may catch the Krasue and kill it or watch where she goes before dawn and destroy her body.

There is a legend said that the people who are wounded should be aware of the Krasue because it can smell the blood and will come to eat the blood at night when people fall asleep. However, there are ways to prevent the Krasue from coming inside the house. House-owners usually build spiky fences or grow spiky bamboo to protect themselves from the Krasue. Krasue is scared of spiky things because its intestine might get stuck and it could not escape.^[24]

21st-century sightings

• Strange red lights floating up the paddy fields in the area of
  Ayutthaya Province, near Wat Tako were sighted in mid-June 2014 and was believed to be from a Krasue. Soon after, hundreds of teenagers (in some nights ranging to thousands) flocked in the area reportedly to prove the truth. This has caused damage to this field. The landlord insists that there are no Krasue here and the lights seen were actually a floating lantern bird chaser.^[25][26]
• In September 2015, one image was shared on online social networks allegedly shot at Ban Phai village, in the area of
  Lampang Province, depicting a Krasue that has guts and internal organs trapped with thorny branches. However, the villagers denied the report and clarified that there was no village named Ban Phai at the area.^[27]
• The death of a great number of chickens from mysterious circumstances at a farm in
  Ayutthaya Province, on the night of October 4, 2015 was blamed by local villagers on the activity of the Krasue.^[28][29]
• In February 2016, at Ban Don Pho Thong,
  Suphan Buri Province, some villagers found strange lights floating at night which they believed to be a Krasue. This news has caused many people to panic.^[30]
• In May 2016, villagers at Ban Khok Ta Kerd,
  Surin Province saw strange green and red lights rising up and down the paddy fields at night.^[31]
• In early August 2016 at
  Amnat Charoen Province, video clips from smartphone cameras shot by individuals in the area showed red lights floating at night, believed to be a Krasue.^[32]
• By the end of 2016, one image has been shared on online social networks in Thailand. The image was shot in
  Buachet District, Surin Province, and shows an entity that looks like a human's face on a tree at night nearby a light. The image is believed to be depicting a Krasue.^[33]
• In early 2017, at Ban Lao Luang,
  Yang Talat District, he would frequent the woods at night and while at the woods he looked at the sky and saw a Krasue. According to him, he cannot see the Krasue's face because it was covered by long hair, but he can make out the long fangs and the bright lights. It was reportedly able to escape when he drew his gun to shoot it.^[34]
• In mid-July 2017, a video clip was shared on online social networks, showing an alleged entity floating in the air at the same level as a tree in the area at night. The entity was being witnessed by either a security guard or a police officer standing and looking with suspicion. There is no information as to where the video came from, and no additional details were available. However, it was found out that the entity was actually a drone, decorated as a man's face as a hoax.^[35]
• In mid-May 2023, teenagers at
  irrigation canal. Suddenly, the youngest one noticed a strange red light floating in the direction of them. The other one shouted "Krasue!" and they all hurried away on a motorbike. In which this event was recorded by a teenager and posted the clip on TikTok. An elderly local man said the area used to be rampant with Krasue in the past. This Krasue is named "I Kueam" and believed that it floats across the river from the opposite side.^[36][37]
• In mid-October 2023, there were at least three eyewitness sightings of a Krasue in
  Mueang Lopburi. These three had never known each other before. In the case of an elderly farmer in Tha Wung, this was rejected by the local government. Claiming that the Krasue he encountered was actually a masked thief who had come to steal his ducks and chickens. But both he and the young woman who saw Krasue completely denied it, they confirmed what they encountered was definitely not human.^[38][39]
• In late January 2024, a 16 year old girl in
  Surin Province used her mobile phone to take pictures of the stars at night. In one of the images, something that looked like a Krasue appeared floating above a padauk tree. Later, a local facebook user posted this photo along with a message warning them to beware of its rampage. Many residents confirmed that they had seen Krasue in the area before.^[40]

There is information from The Royal Academy which provides examples of how belief in the Krasue has been reflected in Thai culture for centuries, for example:

1. An abnormally tiny banana (caused by a mutation) is said to be eaten by a Krasue.
2. A gluttonous person who eats too fast is usually said to "eat like a Krasue" or to be "as gluttonous as Krasue".
3. Glowing mushroom in Khonkaen province is called "Krasue Mushroom".^[41]
4. In Chonburi province, there is a village named "Nong Krasue" (Krasue marsh). Now, the name has been changed to "Nong Krasaem" (Happiness marsh) to make it less scary.^[42]

Scientific explanation

A possible scientific explanation is that Krasue sightings are caused by blazing flames from methane gas particles emitted from rotten organic matters such as found in farms and fields, where Krasue sightings are commonly reported. However, according to Associate Professor Dr. Sirintornthep Towprayoon, an energy researcher from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, the hypothesis that the Krasue is actually burning methane gas particles is impossible because not enough methane is emitted from rotten organic matter to be able to cause an ignition and that even if the methane gas particles did ignite, the burning would be confined to the surface of the organic, flammable matter and will not lead to floating flames that allegedly give the illusion of the Krasue. An anatomical interpretation is that when the head is pulled off from the human body, other organs such as the intestines, heart, and lungs will not come together with the head.^[43]

In media

Film and television

Countries where the Krasue tale is popular have adapted it to film.

The American anthology streaming television series Creepshow features a Krasue in the season three episode "Drug Traffic".^[a]

Others

Representations of Krasue, often humorous,^[73] are very common in Thai comic books.^[74][75][76]

Since the Krasue is a popular subject in some places of Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, there are even costumes,^[77] dolls,^[78] keyholders^[79] and lamps^[80] sold and worn in Krasue form.

A Krasue features as the main antagonist of the 2013 horror game Eyes: The Horror Game. This interpretation shows the Krasue as a woman who was abused by her husband to the point of death, being reincarnated as a ghost to enact revenge. The Krasue lurks around an abandoned mansion, where the player acts as the role of a thief, where they must retrieve an allocated amount of money bags (depends on difficulty), before being able to leave. The game's story-line, has some reference to the original folktale story, as the story talks of a "curse", and "flames", which is supposedly trapped in a photo.^[81]

See also

• Dullahan
• Onryō
• Hungry ghost
• Leyak
• Langsuyar
• Nukekubi
• Manananggal (Philippine mythology)
• Penanggalan (Malay culture)
• Thai folklore
• Vengeful ghost

Notes