People in a shabby town on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, have long been telling each other the story of "haunted house under the shade of trees".

It is not difficult to find the haunted house that people talk about because it is located next to a small stream of dense black due to sewage and close to the big concrete road. The wooden house has deteriorated due to the weather looming behind the aluminum fence, giving off a mysterious look.

Made of planks, the modest rectangular two-story house has pairs of flat, horizontal windows on the front and back of the upper floor. They were like evil eyes narrowing in intimidation.

The house is shaded by two big trees with bunches of roots intertwined like a thick curtain falling from the air, making the scene even more gloomy. The si trees are said to be the home of wandering souls. Next to a tree is a small temple carved by hand, lined with votive papers.

"It's deserted and looks scary," said Suwanna Sukwiboon, 75, who lives near a haunted house with her husband, Mr. Tanapon, a retired auto salesman. "I'm scared of ghosts. Just seeing the shadow makes me run my feet to my neck."

The elderly couple strengthened their homes against the forces of evil with a collection of religious objects. Images of respectable Buddhist monks hung on their walls. On the wall shelves are lined with porcelain statues of Chinese gods and effigies of Hindu gods.

"When it gets dark, children won't go near the house," Suwanna said. "Me too".

Legend has it that the abandoned house was possessed by the kuman. These are baby spirits from broken or dying fetuses called upon by wizards. Or it could be the abode of a ghost, a female devil who paralyzes people in sleep by squatting on them.

"The other night, I woke up and saw the figure holding me down," recalls Robiyan Mongpra, the owner of a clothing store. "I tried to push it away but I couldn't move. I cried out and then it left."

Sleep paralysis, which involves being unable to move or speak during sleep, is a proven natural phenomenon. However, for Thai people, where the fear of evil spirits is ingrained, it is said to have supernatural causes.

The haunted house even affects the renting price in Thonburi old town on the outskirts of Bangkok.

"I found a cheap place because there was a haunted house on the street," teacher Rattapoom Kotchapong said. Uninhabited buildings or homes with dead people in unusual ways have always been the object of fear in Thailand.

"The notion of ghosts always creeps into degraded or abandoned houses," says Andrew Alan Johnson, a professor of anthropology at Cornell University in the United States, who studies Thai notions of ghosts and haunted houses. renders, said. "Part of the reason stems from the psychological anxiety of people in such places. The supernatural world has a special role in Thailand because it allows people to think about another world from everything. daily".

But not everyone believes the old house under the shade of a haunted tree. Namon Kimawong, a middle-aged woman who sells food to passers-by, has lived by the house for decades. According to her, it belonged to an old man without a wife and children but he had to leave after falling seriously ill.

"I've never seen a ghost there," she assured. "You can stay here overnight and see for yourself."

Cinnamon ghost spirits are becoming less and less common in Thonburi than before, some locals said. The residential area is surrounded by beautiful canals, motor boats are connected. Some parts of the area still bring a rustic, rural feel with the shade of coconut and the cool shade. However, many places today have sprung up a series of massive concrete buildings.

A few years ago, one of Bangkok's two light elevated rail lines extended into the area, making travel to the city faster and more convenient. The population began to increase.

"In the past, there were many ghosts here but few people," said Tanapon Sukwiboon, 75, who has spent his life in Thonburi. "There are so many people right now so there are fewer ghosts. Ma doesn't like places that are crowded."

In the surrounding forests at night, someone said they saw pret, a giant, spindly skeleton, with a long tongue. The trees were then cut down and no one could see the pretense anymore.

"The railroad is coming, the ghosts are leaving," said taxi driver Napporn Ruangjaroonwattana.

Mongkhon Tekket, a funeral service provider at the crematorium of a local hundred-year-old temple, said he had been exposed to many corpses but had never seen ghosts. "The dead lay in peace and never said a word. None of them came back to haunt me," he said. Mongkhon believes in ghosts, but he thinks that only people with sixth sense can see them.

Anong Sukjam insists she has a sixth sense to help see ghosts. She was a fortune teller with orange-brown hair and jewelry in her hands.

"I have seen ghosts many times. They have never done anything to harm me," Anong said as he stroked the pet dog. "I keep kuman thong indoors. Sometimes I hear them playing."

Anong read fortune-telling at Mae Nak temple in another old residential area east of Bangkok. The temple is famous for the ghost story of a pregnant young woman going to the battlefield.

The girl died while giving birth but the husband was away. Her soul remains faithful to her husband. The story goes that when he returned home, the husband met his wife again but soon realized that she was not a flesh-and-blood woman but a human-shaped soul. The husband ran away in fear.

Distraught, Mae Nak began to torture the locals until an exorcist came to cover her with magical rituals.

"We have never seen Mae Nak's soul but we know she is here," said Phra Somkiet Chantaseelo, a monk living at Maha But Temple, the site of the Mae Nak temple.

The temple is adorned with doll mannequins, oil paintings and countless small Mae Nak statues. All day, people flock to the temple, asking her to give her luck, health or fortune.

According to locals, like Thonburi, this place is also being rapidly urbanized. The process of urbanization has pushed ghost away. But according to Suphab Chanjaroen, 70, who sells food, beverage and souvenirs at the entrance to the temple, Mae Nak does not disappear completely.

Suphab has lived near Mae Nak temple since childhood. A few years ago, Suphab said she was sitting outside her home when a young woman in an outdated dress approached. "She stood there, silent," she recalled.

"She is so beautiful," Suphab added. "I immediately knew it was Mae Nak. She came to see me. She smiled gently and turned away and disappeared."