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| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand calls in ghostbuster monks |
| 2005-01-17 |
| SPECIAL cleansing ceremonies will start along Thailand's battered western coastline today to convince superstitious locals their beaches and homes are free from bad spirits. About 100 monks and their followers will conduct a week-long series of ceremonies in a bid to restore confidence the spirits have moved on and Thais can return to their beaches and sea. Ghost stories of foreigners calling out at night for lost children or standing on roadsides have thrown fear into many Phuket locals. Health experts say the phenomenon is most likely an outpouring of delayed mass trauma. But many Thais are very superstitious. Not far from where the ceremonies will take place, a Buddhist monk is spiritually protecting the bodies of dozens of foreigners — including Australians — awaiting repatriation home. Suntorn Yasotharo lives alone in a Buddhist retreat north of Phuket airport, which yesterday officially opened as the transition point for the return of foreign nationals killed in the Boxing Day tsunami. Families of lost loved ones from around the world are now gathering at his usually quiet and serene retreat to arrange the return of their relatives. Some come on their own, while others are accompanied by a priest from their country or their embassy official. At least two Australian victims have been issued with death certificates by Thai authorities and are at the retreat before repatriation or cremation. "Before, this was my garden," the 50-year-old monk said. "But now it is different and I'm happy to help because I like to take care of the dead. "I normally live a quiet life but now many people visit me to talk, including Australian doctors and police." Elsewhere along Thailand's battered coastline, the sale of tsunami souvenirs continues in earnest. It might be tacky and in poor taste, but for some shop sellers in Phuket's Patong Beach it's now their only source of income until their businesses can be rebuilt and tourists return. There's Tsunami: The Movie, a video CD featuring a collection of shaky home videos of the waves washing ashore. That sells for $5. Poster-sized photographs of buildings being washed away and T-shirts featuring giant waves also are on offer. A jeweller who lost his shop on Patong Beach now sells his damaged stock — salt-encrusted watches and a clock with the time frozen at 10.10am by the tsunami — for $2 apiece. |
| Posted by:tipper |