NAKHON RATCHASIMA: Villagers in tambon Dong Yai in Phimai district of this northeastern province have hung a red shirt in front of their houses, believing that it can drive away the ghost of a widow. A local medium said the ghost is responsible for the deaths of two men in the village.
Lamom Sermphimai, 62, a female resident of Ban Sala, said the villagers have hung a red shirt in front of their houses to ward off the ghost after two male villagers died mysteriously in their sleep over the past week.
The villagers went to see a medium, who then held a rite at a village shrine to invite spirits to explain the causes, Mrs Lamom said.
Through the medium, the spirits said it was the ghost of a widow who wanted to take the lives of four men in the village, Mrs Lanom continued. Since two died already, two more would soon follow.
Fearing that the widow's ghost would take the life of their family members, the villagers have hung a red shirt in front of their houses in hopes that it would drive away the ghost.
Some of the villages have even attached a note to the red shirt, read: "There are no men in this house, but only cats and dogs."
According to Mrs Lamom, no other men in the village have died in their sleep since the red shirts were hung in front of the houses - apparently proving that they had worked.