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Thai Wife

It mainly for the best of luck. The belief is that north and east are auspicious points. The word for north is Nua in Thai, and means above. The east is where the sun comes up, so that is the begining of light and pretty much explain itself. The west represents the darkness, the sun setting at that point, and is considered the time for evil. The word for south is Dtai in Thai, and means under. The conclusion is that if you would place anything holy or sacred, the best choice ranges between north and east.

As far as going to suffer in hell, it probably will happen anyway, but not from facing your baby Buddha to the southwest.

What I wrote is from what I was taught, and also from reference books, but I don't think they are that critical. If you are around older people that still maintain the ancient traditions, the stories will be worse. There is a lot more of do and don't, and I didn't really get to that part.


I'm sorry to say I missed seeing that thread. Sometimes there are too many things to look at on this Forum, and I often run out of time. (By the way, the food shown on GoW's post looks pretty good.)

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Thai Wife

I gave some information above, but as I said, there are many do and don't stories.

I just thought of an interesting direction story. Again, north and east are good because of representing above, and the bringing of light. The west and south are bad because of representing the dark, and under.

My grandparents always warned us about laying down in the wrong direction. In old Thai tradition when laying down, you should position yourself so your head is to the north or east. This means anytime laying, not just sleeping.

When a Thai dies, and they are laid down, the head should be at the west. This is where all the ghosts are.

kingwilly

i agree, pagan english man that he is!

stroller

The North is where no light shines, sorry, I cannot agree on this.

"The Amithaba Buddha is the principal representative of the blissful pure land of the West"

Whiteshiva

Do you care to elaborate?

Thai Wife

Placing Buddha has nothing to do with Mahayana, Theravada or any other variation of Buddhism in Thailand. The fate dealing with direction was one of the biggest concerns in Thailand. This Tradition has been passed on from many generations. The traditional Thai even has a list of lucky directions to travel for the day, and each day is different.

Let me clear something now. The information comes from me, using a single Thai reference book, the Thai community and their religious leaders. I lived this my whole life, and listened to my relatives, people in my village and Monks from the surrounding Thai Temples. On record, I have written a Thai history research paper, from which I was awarded an honour from Nakhon Ratchasima Province. Believe me, I need to be thought of as an authority!

The history and culture of Thailand (Siam) have been documented by other than Thai. People like the French, Dutch and British wrote a lot about Siam and its culture and beliefs. I do not want to say bad about someone, but many of these writings are not correct. They are interpretations of what they saw, and have wrong ideas about it, because they were not born into it. Most Thai culture and traditions are passed on by stories from elders, and is not written. That is why I am bothering to help tell the story I know.

kingwilly

and we appreciate it, keep going !

stroller

Absolutely!
This is well appreciated, lots more questions coming...

stroller

In a physical sense, the sun never shines from the North, so I find it an odd direction to choose.

Is this a Thai thing, or the teachings of Theravada Buddhism, how has this come about?

Whiteshiva

Well as Thailand is located south of the Tropic of Cancer, the sun can shine from any direction, including north.

Thai Wife

Maybe part of the year at the South Pole.


I thought this was clear.
1. North = Above
2. East = Light
3. West = Dark
4. South = Under


I apologize for my English. Because the direction was before explained, I thought this sentence was OK. Maybe I should say in order, or something.

stroller

I haven't noticed that, but never mind.

Our local temple is build in an East-West direction, and the Buddha statues face East.

Sorry this has nothing to do with spirit houses, I'm just being curious about some background info, which is hard to come by.

stroller

Well, yes, but where does this come from? It is quite a simplistic assertion, if I may say so.
There is a lot more to it, according to Mahayana, see - the 5 Dhyani-Buddahs.

Anonymous Coward

Indeed. Keep posting.

Although Ms. AC was born in Thailand, all four of her grandparents were born in China. As a result, Ms. AC just doesn't have much in the way of this traditional knowledge. She was fascinated by your spirit house explanation.

El Gibbon

TW
Excuse me for a post not exactly along thread lines. Your "Thai history research paper," comment has opened another potential door for me.

I have looked, somewhat shoddily I assume, for a version of Thai history that is NOT written by a foreign source.

My question is where do I look for an true (in your opinion) history by a Thai that has been translated.

E. G.

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Marmite the Dog

Again, a wonderful thread. But, us farangs have to question everything; I hope you understand that TW.

ChiangMai noon

why??

hillbilly

Because the longer I live in Thailand the less I know. Great info Thai wife and a personal thanks for the effort!

Anonymous Coward

Same here. You can read, listen and observe but there always seem to be more questions than answers.

Thanks again for a great thread.

Thai Wife

Thank you guys for all your support. I may not know everything, but I normally try to get information from experts, plus read any books available. I totally understand that there always will be questions, even a Thai (like me) has a very hard time understanding our own culture and belief.

Sorry to say that I have not found any history book written by Thai translated to English. All of my Thai history resources are from Thai versions. I have read a few foreign written ones, and while the stories are close, they are not correct.

I do have a link for a true Thai history listed below:
Thai Heritage Treasury
Thanks to the Internet world, I don't have to run to the library as often. This Web Site is all in Thai, but it is loaded with information of the nation, religion and monarchy. It even contains information of some of the wars in which Thai were involved. Maybe your Thai partner could help to translate it, and it may not be a bad thing for you two to do together. If you need more help, I will be here if needed.

I also own a book called "PhromMaChart". This 680 page book contains information of astrology and how it affects our lives. Half of this book also lists the do and don't for many Thai ceremonies. This is the main book I used for this thread. My book is for the average person, but there is a full version that is used by Buddhist Monks and Brahman priests. Not only is that a lot bigger book, but it is more complicated to follow.