Mae Nak

In Thai folklore, a beautiful young woman from the Phrakhanong district who married a man called Tid Mak. While she was pregnant of their first child, he was called to join the army in the north of Thailand. During his absence, mother and baby died but when he returned he found them waiting for him.

When they embraced he was shocked to feel her unusually cold and thin body but thought nothing of it. She prepared food for him and they sat down for dinner. A sudden gust of cold wind made him drop his spoon and Mae Nak lengthened her hand to catch it. Tid Mak wondered about that and his wife cried out and told him that she had died, and only then did he realize that his wife and child were ghosts. Mae Nak refused to leave him so he called for an exorcist (mhor phi) who put the ghosts in a pot and threw it into the water.

Mae Nak has featured in many Thai horror movies, the latest among which is the Ghost of Mae Nak (2005).