KALASIN: Although many people of Ban Na Bong continue to believe evil spirits known as <i>phi pob</i> killed two men there recently, doctors say the causes were the very earthly rat-born disease Leptospirosis and ill health.
Phairat Songkhram, a preventive medicine specialist with the Kalasin provincial public health office, said on Tuesday the proven causes of death for the two residents of Ban Na Bong were in fact Leptospirosis, or rok chee noo, and high blood pressure.
Even so, the medics and psychological counsellors sent to visit the families of the dead men, and their superstitious neighbours, had been strongly advised to be very cautious when touching on their beliefs, Dr Phairat said.
The team were told to avoid contradicting the people's beliefs and instead try to softly pass on information about the two men's health problems in their conversations.
The team were instructed to gently divert the villagers’ attention to the importance of taking good care of their health during this cold season.
The psychologists would report back on their assessment of the psychological state of the people in the village.
Kamthon Wichetthaphong, chief of Nong Kung Si district, said the presence of the team to purportedly investigate the cause of the disease should help calm fears about the haunting spirits, especially after the people also hired exorcists to get rid of what they believe killed the two men.
Phi pob is the name given to a ghost which, according to superstition, eats raw meat. Rural villagers believe human beings and animals can be possessed by phi pob which eat their internal organs, leaving them dead.
At Ban Na Bong, two men and a number of cats, dogs and buffaloes have died suddenly since Oct 29. Rumours had it that a phi pob was the killer.
The mystery deaths and spreading rumours caused fear among the villagers, and they decided to act in unison to seek help.
The people of Ban Na Bong turned up en mass at the village hall for a ghostbusting ritual on Sunday.
People from 370 households paid 124 baht per house to hire a famous ghostbuster from Chiang Yuen district in Maha Sarakham and Phra Apirak from Wat Chaiwan in Nong Kung Si to catch the malevolent spirits.
The rite took more than two hours. The ghostbuster and the monk, who brought 20 assistants with them, were able to catch at least 30 phi pob, forcing them into bamboo tubes they brought with them and then burning them all, according to the villagers.
Police and district officials were there to make sure the event went smoothly.
But the next day, a man was found dead in the village.
Nong Kung Si police were told of the death of Boworn Sinthudet, Pol Lt Col Somparn Saenkham, the deputy station chief said there was no trace of an assault on his body.
A doctor on duty at Nong Krung Si Hospital diagnosed heart failure as the cause of death.