Krahang

Krahang (Thai: กระหัง), also known as Phi Krahang (ผีกระหัง) or Phi Krahaang (ผีกระหาง)^[1], is a male spirit of the Thai folklore. It manifests itself as a shirtless man, wearing a traditional loincloth,^[2] who flies in the night.^[1]

Krahang uses two large Kradong (กระด้ง), round rice winnowing baskets,^[3] to fly in the night in rural areas of Thailand.^[4] It also often rides a Sak Tam Khao (สากตำข้าว), the long wooden pestle of a traditional manual rice pounder.^[5]

Legends & sightings

Krahang is a type of nocturnal ghost that is said to haunt the same areas as Krasue, a female spirit of the Thai village folklore, thus these two spirits are often mentioned or represented together.^[6] Legends of the Thai oral tradition say that this is an evil spirit that may harm people walking at night in out of the way areas. Like Krasue it lives the life of a normal villager during the day.^[7]

But from the research in "Three Seals Law" (กฎหมายตราสามดวง; first Thai enacted law) from Ayutthaya period. Rongroj Piromanukul, an anthropologist of Ramkhamhaeng University found that the Krahang don't appear in the list of ghosts, so they believe that the names are recorded later.^[8]

In August 2012 villagers at Lat Bua Khao, Sikhio District, in the western part of Nakhon Ratchasima Province, blamed Krahang for some nightly attacks on local women.^{[9] [10]}But finally caught up. As a matter of fact, it is only a man who is drug addicted.^[11]

In July 2017 18-year-old girl at Nong Plong, Chamni District, Buriram Province, claimed that while she was in the restroom within her house at night before going to bed, she saw a Krahang through a gap near the ceiling, it appearance is a large winged man on the back. She panicked and ran out of the restroom, when this story spread as a result, the villagers of the two villages were terrified.^[12] One elder villager said she saw it for ten years. It flies in pairs with glowing eyes like the thunderbolt, she said she saw it last Sunday at the beginning of the year at 02:00 am she saw for a half hour, and she tried to get her son to shoot the video clip with his cell phone but don't succeed.^[13]

She blames an one house nearby. This was the house of her family living in the past. But now, it has become an abandoned house. In 2010, her old sister and her mother died at this house just three months later. Then she saw strange lights floating out of the house at the night. Which she believed to be Krasue and Krahang and she still dreamed of Krahang. She has been fighting it in her dream for more than ten years before she actually saw it in early this year. She has hired a sorcerer to the exorcisms at this house with over a hundred thousand baht but not successful.^{[13] [14]}

Modern adaptations

Krahang is a popular folk spirit that has been featured in the 1991 Thai film Kahang (กะหัง)^[15] and film Krahang (กระหัง),^[16] and was adapted as a funny character in Thep Sarm Rudoo (เทพสามฤดู) a folk-style television series that was made in 1987, 2003 and 2017^[8], as well as in a Sylvania light bulb commercial for Thai audiences.^[17]

Representations of Krahang, mostly humorous,^[18] are very common in Thai comic books.^[19] A benevolent Krahang has a role as well in the Nak animated movie.

Similar creatures

• Owlman
• Orang-bati
• Ahool

See also

• Krasue
• Phraya Anuman Rajadhon

References

External links

• Thai popular spirits
• Thai famous ghosts
• Thailand, Types of Thai Ghosts and Spirits
• Krahang Movie poster
• Thai horror movies
• Ghosts and mysteries