The Spirit Cults and Superstition in Thai Habitation: a Case Study in the Northern Region.

Abstract

This study is intended to contribute to solving some problems of Thai architectural identity by contributing historical information concerning living architecture. It should enhance appreciation for those who are interested in accepting the spirit, the virtue, or the practical part of the past into their designs in the future. The essence of this study is the combination of architecture, and anthropology and history. Metrical work, self participant technique, and use of historic documents, are the major methods used to obtain necessary and sufficient information. The study reveals the involvement of spirit cults and superstition in many aspects of northern Thai habitation. The first major instance is when King Mengrai built the city of Chiang Mai in the last decade of the thirteenth century. Space for the northern Thai is divided hierarchically; at least one defined spirit represents and is supposed to take care of the space in each level. Every proper house is always designed to have a master bedroom toward the east, or more favorably the northeast. The position of each functional space is oriented according to its directional significance. These functional spaces are not equally elevated, more important ones are always higher. East or west, and high or low, associate strictly with each space. Specific shapes and elements of a house have meanings that bares its identity. Particular structural uniqueness exists in the house-building rituals as well. Good timing and proper offerings serve to propitiate the many spirits in order to create an auspicious living environment. Although the northern region has been modernized since the last quarter of the nineteenth century, many rituals are still practised among many elites. Those rituals include: planting a male principal post, Thao Thang S(')i, and suat thon khut. Thus spirit cults and superstition still play a significant role in shaping the pattern of northern Thai habitation.