[jinnamys]

Hello, I am writing a novel set in Thailand and I am including some information about ghosts and spirits.

I was told that many Thais would not visit a Wat at night because of the presence of spirts and ghosts, and that it is similar to walking through a church graveyard at midnight.

However temple fairs, Ngan Wat, usually continue until late at night, is that right?

In that case, is there anything special that people at the fair do to protect themselves from these ghosts....or do ghosts avoid temple fairs?

Thanks for your info!

I stay at a Wat in BKK quite often. There are no spirits there. However, I have been asked numerous times whether I have encountered them so I think you might be right about many Thai people believing spirits frequent Wats at night.

Usually the gates are closed (either literally or metaphorically) by about 8pm and the monks and laypeople staying there are in their kutis going to bed/ meditating/ watching TV etc. Anyone wandering into the Wat after this time will probably also get an unfriendly reception from the temple dogs.

Temple fairs and funerals will often run quite late but on these occasions people who are afraid of spirits probably think there is safety in numbers.

BTW: I'm Farang not Thai so you might want to give more weight to replies from Thai members.