Spirit mediums in Thailand

Considerable research has been conducted regarding the creation of historical memory and its social uses in spirit mediumship practices in different parts of the world,Footnote ⁷ including in various countries in mainland Southeast Asia.Footnote ⁸ A large number of studies have been conducted on spirit mediums and spirit possession in Thailand, especially in northern Thailand,Footnote ⁹ but also in other parts of the country.Footnote ¹⁰ This research has variously examined the local practices and beliefs associated with spirit mediumship, and its varying sociocultural, economic, and political causes and implications.

Marlane Guelden recognises spirit possession as a complex phenomenon related to identity, class, religion, gender, and resistance.Footnote ¹¹ Gender issues is crucial, and Guelden believes that in Thailand about 80 per cent of spirit mediums and about the same proportion of their customers are women. Shigeharu Tanabe believes that women have turned to spirit mediums because they are not allowed in the highest order of the dominant religion, Theravada Buddhism.Footnote ¹² Guelden, however, suggests that many Thai women turn to mediumship to resist male domination, as well as to help resolve marital problems. As she put it, ‘[s]pirit possession is an important aspect of power relations, local cultures and how people communicate with each other.’Footnote ¹³ Rosalind Morris is of the opinion that mediumship in Thailand is a way of ‘accessing power’; power which she argues can be appropriated by both men and women.Footnote ¹⁴

The mediums I discuss are all involved in spirit possession. In Thai, they are typically known as khon song or rang song (lang song, ‘medium person’), and in Laos they are often referred to as nang thiem (‘false woman’) — a term also used in parts of northeastern Thailand — which demonstrates that most spirit mediums are women who are predominantly possessed by male spirits. Indeed, ethnic Lao society was historically matrilineal: females own property and men move in with their brides' families, at least initially, with the youngest daughter and her family ideally looking after parents in their old age.Footnote ¹⁵

Becoming a spirit medium in Thailand typically begins with a long incurable chronic illness. Once a spirit identifies a body to enter, it frequently takes months or even years to settle into a comfortable relationship with the person being possessed. During the time the potential spirit medium is ill, established spirit mediums who cure people often ask their patients to become mediums for curative reasons. Spirits are believed to enter the bodies of those descended from previous spirit mediums and also those who have accumulated a lot of good karma.Footnote ¹⁶

Spirit mediumship is generally perceived as an unsavoury profession, especially when it comes to ‘professional’ spirit mediums in urban areas, where mediums are often suspected of cheating the public.Footnote ¹⁷ Spirit mediums frequently accuse others of lacking authenticity. No wonder many spirit mediums initially resist becoming possessed, before eventually succumbing to pressure from spirits and peers. It is also, however, true that nonprofessional elderly spirit mediums — those less likely to make much money from chanelling spirits — often have strong community support and respect. Most of the spirit mediums I interviewed in Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima fall into this latter category. Other than the spirit medium for Luang Banthao,Footnote ¹⁸ who lives in nearby Kok, the capital of Chatturat (Fig. 2), none appear to have benefited financially in a significant way from their practice. Some do, however, help cure people from spirit-caused illnesses, as well as provide advice about the future. They more closely resemble what the literature has tended to view as rural spirit mediums, even if they actually occupy a more intermediate space.

Most spirit mediums in Thailand identify themselves as good Thai citizens and loyal subjects of the King and Queen.Footnote ¹⁹ They also commonly claim that they have been possessed by kings and famous monks. Guelden believes that overall, spirit mediums tend to be quite patriotic, and many claim to be protectors of the nation. In line with this, Irvine reported that many spirit mediums in the late 1970s and early 1980s in northern Thailand joined anticommunist movements to show their loyalty.Footnote ²⁰ In the case presented here, however, I demonstrate that spirit mediums also sometimes support less dominant narratives.

There is generally considerable tolerance in the relationships between spirit mediums and organised Buddhism in Thailand.Footnote ²¹ Theravada Buddhist monks are often ideologically imagined as separate from spirit mediums,Footnote ²² but in reality the boundaries between the two are frequently blurred. Indeed, spirit mediums who inhabit positions somewhere between Buddhism and local religion often do not conduct their rituals in temples, and with the exception of certain ‘magical Buddhist monks’, do not typically participate in local rituals involving spirit mediums.Footnote ²³ Guelden also observed,Footnote ²⁴ as I have in Chaiyaphum, that spirit possession does not occur on ‘monk days’, or Buddhist days (wan phra), which occur every 15 days according to the lunar calendar; thus there is both a spatial and temporal division between Buddhism and spirit possession, albeit a blurred one at times.

Several scholars have pointed out that spirit medium possession has grown astonishingly in Thailand over the last few decades, especially in urban areas.Footnote ²⁵ A Thai newspaper estimated that there are as many as 100,000 spirit mediums in the country.Footnote ²⁶ Both Shigeharu Tanabe and Walter Irvine suggested in the 1980s that there were several hundred times as many spirit mediums in Thailand then as compared to the 1960s.Footnote ²⁷ Although Max Weber believed that the development of capitalism would eventually lead to the end of religion,Footnote ²⁸ the dramatic increase in the number of spirit mediums in Thailand has occurred simultaneously with rising capitalism.Footnote ²⁹ People I interviewed in Chaiyaphum clearly associate the rise of capitalism with the popularity of spirit mediumship in their communities, a point also made by others.Footnote ³⁰ Irvine believed that spirit mediums in northern Thailand were proliferating because of the widening gap between rich and poor, and increasing landlessness.Footnote ³¹ The increase in popularity of spirit mediums in Thailand certainly does appear to be seen by spirit mediums themselves as linked to increased material prosperity, and capitalism. As one spirit medium in Chaiyaphum put it, ‘Before it was hard to find money, but now it is easy. People now have enough money to have fun during spirit medium rituals.’ Alexandra Denes has cautioned, however, that while capitalism is an important influence, other factors need to be carefully considered, as the advent of capitalism is insufficient to explain for all that is occurring.Footnote ³²

Chao Anou and Phaya Narin Songkhram: Rebelling against Khorat/Siam

To understand the context in which sociocultural boundary-making involving spirit mediums has occurred in Chatturat, it is useful to summarise the history of Phaya Narin Songkhram, especially since important parts have not been published in English before.

One of the most important figures of mainland Southeast Asia during the nineteenth century was Chao Anou (frequently referred to as Chao Anouvong),Footnote ³³ the Lao king of Vientiane from 1804–28. Vientiane was an independent kingdom for much of the eighteenth century, until it was forced to become a Siamese vassal in 1778. Luang Prabang and Champassak also came under the yoke of Siam during the same year (Fig. 1).Footnote ³⁴

Chao Anou is best known for rebelling against the Kingdom of Siam, beginning in 1826, apparently with the goal of uniting the ‘Lao’ of present-day northeastern Thailand, and those who had been forced to migrate into Siamese territory closer to Bangkok, with their kin in Laos, creating an independent kingdom under his leadership.Footnote ³⁵ Although some claim that Chao Anou planned to attack Bangkok from Khorat (now officially known as Nakhon Ratchasima),Footnote ³⁶ Thawat Phunnothok suggests otherwise, based on local documentation.Footnote ³⁷ Although this article is not intended to definitively determine which version of this story is correct, it is important for readers to recognise that some versions appear to be more plausible than others, even if many facts remain disputed.

As some of Chao Anou's rebel troops were forcibly removing part of the population of Khorat to Vientiane, they were defeated by a Siamese force at Thung Samrit, 50 kilometres from Khorat in present-day Phimai district.Footnote ³⁸ Another 3,000 of Chao Anou's troops joined Phaya Narin Songkhram, and on Chao Anou's orders moved to Muang (city–state of) Nong Bua Lamphu, the main Lao defence line.Footnote ³⁹ There they were defeated in early May 1827, allegedly after a fierce three-day battle,Footnote ⁴⁰ although Phaya Narin Songkhram himself testified during his interrogation by the Siamese that the battle only occurred from one evening until the next morning.Footnote ⁴¹ Phaya Narin Songkhram apparently caused heavy Siamese casualties, including personally stabbing and killing a commander named Kiet. His troops were, however, badly outnumbered and the Siamese were well reinforced. Eventually Narin's forces were overwhelmed.Footnote ⁴²

When Chao Anou heard of Phaya Narin Songkhram's defeat, he fled to Vientiane and then Xieng Khouang (Muang Phuan) in northeastern Laos, where he was captured on 21 November 1827. He was executed in Bangkok on 15 January 1828.Footnote ⁴³ Vientiane was depopulated, looted, and razed, as collective punishment for Chao Anou's disloyalty to Siam.Footnote ⁴⁴ As Mayoury and Pheuiphan Ngaosyvathn wrote, the war ‘left lasting, vivid scars on the soul and spirit of the people in the region.’Footnote ⁴⁵ Indeed, the historical events associated with the Chao Anou rebellion remain highly politicised and disputed, both within Thailand and LaosFootnote ⁴⁶ as well as amongst the Lao diaspora.Footnote ⁴⁷

Chao Anou was reputed to have had excellent relations with King Rama II of Siam.Footnote ⁴⁸ However, after Rama II died in 1824, Chao Anou's relations with his successor deteriorated rapidly; when Chao Anou came to Bangkok in 1825 for the funeral of Rama II, he was asked by Rama III to send his men to cut sugar palms in Suphanburi and transport them to Samutprakarn after the funeral.Footnote ⁴⁹ The new Siamese king also refused to allow Chao Anou to repatriate a large number of ‘Lao’ people from Saraburi to Vientiane.Footnote ⁵⁰ Many of these people had probably been relocated from Laos in 1778Footnote ⁵¹ (see Fig. 1).

Reflecting the focus of the spirit mediums I discuss, my concern is with the leader of Chao Anou's main rebel army, the ethnic Lao named Thong Kham (or possibly Thong Dam), who had been given the distinguished name ‘Phaya Narin Songkhram’ by the King of Siam.Footnote ⁵²

There are various accounts of this period. According to one, Kham, the father of the Phaya Narin Songkhram mentioned earlier, who joined Chao Anou's rebellion, was originally from Vientiane, or at least his parents were. This version relates that Achan Footnote ⁵³ Kham, as he came to be known, was the first to hold the title Phaya Narin Songkhram. Another version claims that Achan Kham was an important military leader for Siam during the late Thonburi period and a key Siamese military leader when Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champassak were attacked by King Rama I's army in 1778.Footnote ⁵⁴ Udom Bunyanuson claims, however, that Achan Kham gained the title ‘Phaya Narin Songkhram’ due to his important role in defeating Ay Sa Kiet Ngong in Champassak.Footnote ⁵⁵ One anonymous publication suggests that Achan Kham received his title from King Rama I because of his support in gaining control over Chao Phimai, the chao muang of Muang Phimai, in 1770.Footnote ⁵⁶

According to Manit Opma,Footnote ⁵⁷ Achan Kham lived in Narai village, which is within present-day Cho Ho subdistrict, Muang district, Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat). Later, he was allowed to establish Muang Simoom, a city–state directly under the tutelage of Khorat. Towards the end of King Rama II's reign, in the 1820s, the first Phaya Narin Songkhram's son, Thong Kham, relocated the city–state to the vicinity of a large natural wetland that became known as Nong Bua Yai (‘large lotus pond’), near the eponymous present-day villageFootnote ⁵⁸ (Fig. 2). The second Phaya Narin Songkhram (Thong Kham) probably decided to join forces with Chao Anou due to his Lao ethno-nationalism.Footnote ⁵⁹ The other well-known leader of Chaiyaphum, Phaya Lae (discussed later in this article), was not as willing a participant, and was eventually captured and killed by Chao Anou's followers for his disloyalty.Footnote ⁶⁰ Phaya Narin Songkhram, however, appeared to have been loyal to Chao Anou. Ryan Ford described Phaya Narin Songkhram as ‘heroic’, pointing out that he ‘fought valiantly, killed the enemy commander and refused to surrender, preferring death to subservience’.Footnote ⁶¹ According to Udom, he battled at Nong Bua Lamphu until all but five or six of his soldiers were killed,Footnote ⁶² while Phaya Narin Songkhram testified after his defeat that he was captured with his nephew and ten soldiers after his forces were scattered by the Siamese forces.Footnote ⁶³ When all was lost, Phaya Narin Songkhram reportedly tried to retreat up a hill on horseback, but was surrounded by Siamese soldiers. His horse lost its footing, Phaya Narin Songkhram fell off his mount backwards, and was then captured. Udom reports that even then, the Siamese recognised Phaya Narin Songkhram's past good deeds for Siam, and were so impressed with his battlefield skills that they offered him a chance to continue on in his capacity as chao muang of Muang Simoom, provided he pledge allegiance to the King of Siam.Footnote ⁶⁴ Legend has it that he refused, stating that he had already given his oath to Chao Anou and could therefore not give it to another. Thus, he was executed after being tied to a large resin tree (ton yang; Dipterocarpus alatus).Footnote ⁶⁵

Udom claims that Thong Kham's successor was Duang, whose official names were Luang Pheng or Luang Phornhomphakdi,Footnote ⁶⁶ and was not related to the rebel Phaya Narin Songkhram,Footnote ⁶⁷ but was the oldest son of Phaya Narin Songkhram's deputy, or upahat, Luang Aphay (Achan Ma). All the direct descendants of the rebel Phaya Narin Songkhram were, according to Udom, made into slaves.Footnote ⁶⁸ According to Udom, Duang became the new Phaya Narin Songkhram because he had not participated in the rebellion, instead fleeing to the forest with the population, thus maintaining order.Footnote ⁶⁹ Udom suspects that the name Muang Simoom was changed to Muang Chatturat when Duang took over from Thong Kham, possibly to extinguish the memory of the rebel.Footnote ⁷⁰

Many years later, in 1849, it was reported that Duang's son, Sao, briefly took over the position of Phaya Narin Songkhram when his father unexpectedly died, apparently due to a massive cholera epidemic.Footnote ⁷¹ Boonhao, Sao's brother, became the next Phaya Narin Songkhram. Finally Thongdee was the last Phaya Narin Songkhram. When the French explorer, Etienne Aymonier met Thongdee in early 1884, he observed that he was a staunch Buddhist, had nine weaving looms in his house, and owned fifty slaves, two elephants, and a number of cows and water buffaloes. Aymonier also visited Nong Bua Yai.Footnote ⁷²

All in all, there were five or six Phaya Narin Songkhrams until the time when the position was dissolved around 1897–98, when the amphur (district of) Chatturat was established as part of Bangkok's introduction of the centralised thesaban political system.Footnote ⁷³ When the government administrative system changed, the last Phaya Narin Songkhram, Thongdee, was appointed as the first nai amphur (chief district officer) of Chatturat.Footnote ⁷⁴ He continued in that position for another decade until retiring at the age of 90, in 1906. He passed away at the age of 104 in 1920.Footnote ⁷⁵

Nong Bua Yai and the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult

Phaya Narin Songkhram was the founder of Nong Bua Yai, which became known as ‘Nakhon Nong Bua Yai’, the centre of Muang Simoom (later amphur Chatturat).Footnote ⁷⁷ According to Savat Hayarop,

Some claim that during the period of Chief Boonhao, the Muang designation — but not the entire population — was transferred from Nong Bua Yai to Kok,Footnote ⁷⁹ possibly due to the cholera epidemic at the former, which at its height was said to have killed 700 people in a single day. Another alleged reason for the move was the frequent flooding of the site.Footnote ⁸⁰ Finally, Boonhao also married a woman from Kok, which was the main reason for the move.Footnote ⁸¹

Many of the ancestors developed a new cult around the spirit of Phaya Narin Songkhram. For my research, I largely interacted with members of this group in the villages of Nong Bua Yai and neighbouring Nong Bua Rong, as well as some spirit mediums from Kok, the capital of Chatturat. Mae Footnote ⁸² Wat Khemwiset is presently the spirit medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram in Nong Bua Yai and is the fourth in her family line to play this role.Footnote ⁸³ There are about a half dozen other spirit mediums in the area directly linked to Mae Wat's group, including Mae Keo,Footnote ⁸⁴ Mae Sian,Footnote ⁸⁵ Mae San,Footnote ⁸⁶ Mae Mun,Footnote ⁸⁷ and Mae Samlan.Footnote ⁸⁸ All are older women, aged from their early 50s to over 70, and most were encouraged by Mae Wat to become spirit mediums after experiencing illness. They gather together, led by Mae Wat, and become possessed so as to support each other during their respective rituals, which are conducted at specific times of the year and generally involve much eating, drinking, and dancing.Footnote ⁸⁹ I interviewed them all.

Reflexivity has become increasingly valued by those conducting ethnographic research. I did not specifically search out Nong Bua Yai in order to conduct this research. Instead, my connection to this community of a few hundred households is accidental and personal and unrelated to Phaya Narin Songkhram and the history of the community. My wife of 24 years was born and raised here and my mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law still live in the village. The families of both my wife's parents have deep roots in the community. Furthermore, my wife's maternal grandmother was a spirit medium from the spirit cult led by the medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram, and my wife's maternal aunt's husband considered himself to be a direct descendant of Phaya Narin Songkhram.

My field research began when I visited Nong Bua Yai with my wife and our two children in July and August 2011, and continued in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) during June 2012. I did additional research in southern Chaiyaphum Province and northern Nakhon Ratchasima in July 2013. Most of my interviews were conducted in the presence of my wife, who has known most of those interviewed since she was a child. My wife's presence and credibility as an ‘insider’ whose family history is known to most long-time residents of the village made it easy for me to quickly gain the trust of our informants. All the interviews, however, were conducted by me in Lao and Thai.

Politics and boundary-making

Denes has pointed out that ‘spirit mediums were instrumental actors who reproduced the ideological and social structure of the muang, inasmuch as they gave voice to the spirit of the founder in annual rites of propitiation to the phi muang, thereby sanctifying the authority of the chao muang's lineage.’Footnote ⁹⁰ Turton, Wijewardene, Morris, and Irvine have similarly illustrated the political importance of spirit mediums in Chiang Mai, where they are considered bearers of prophecies about the future of the kingdom and protectors of the population.Footnote ⁹¹ When Chiang Mai royalty ruled, spirit mediums were also central political figures.

Thus, the original spirit cult that developed sometime after the last Phaya Narin Songkhram's death should be recognised as having had a political role in maintaining the memory, and, perhaps at least initially, the vision of an ethnic Lao leader who had fought bravely against the Siamese. Memories embodied by history are always political;Footnote ⁹² thus maintaining the history of Phaya Narin Songkhram as the founder of the village and hero of Chao Anou's attempted rebellion presents a strong counter-discourse to the Siamese ethno-nationalist narrative of Chao Anou's defeat due to the heroism of the brave ‘Thai’ woman of Khorat, Thao Suranari (also known as Ya Mo), a history that has become important in Khorat but also more generally in Thailand.Footnote ⁹³ Although the exact role of Ya Mo in Chao Anou's defeat remains contested, she has nonetheless been elevated by many as an important Thai national heroine.Footnote ⁹⁴

Among other mechanisms of memory production and maintenance, the role of spirit mediums has been significant. Applying a well-known Lao idiom, one can say man bo lao man leum (if you don't speak of something, it becomes forgotten), spirit mediums maintained politically important history through oral narratives. Bourin Wungkeeree's argument that the transmission of folk literature maintains the ethnic identity of descendants of those who migrated from Luang Prabang to Thailand resonates with the story of spirit mediums in my study area,Footnote ⁹⁵ as does Nittaya Wannakit's and Siraporn Nathalang's account of the role of spirit mediums in Chiang Dao, in northern Thailand, in the persistence of the history of Chao Luang Kham Daeng.Footnote ⁹⁶

Particular sociocultural boundaries were created within this political and historical context. Laden with ethnic politics dependent on which side of the Chao Anou rebellion one was on, spirit mediums are integrally linked to boundary-making, as boundary-making relates to identification, and thus difference, from Others. On the one hand, most of the subdistricts of Chatturat are predominantly Lao-speaking, and thus the spirit mediums there are largely focused on being possessed by Phaya Narin Songkhram, his soldiers, and members of his political entourage, all of whom are assumed to have supported the fight against Siam. On the other hand, those in the Thai-speaking parts of southern Chatturat and Nakhon Ratchasima do not identify themselves as Lao as do most of the population of Chaiyaphum. They are ‘Thai Khorat’. As Charles Keyes observed, ‘In the Khorat area, while there are mediums for a variety of spirits, there is little question but that of Grandmother Mo [Ying/Ya Mo] holds by far the most prominent place.’Footnote ⁹⁷ In fact, these spirit mediums, and the mediums of other Thai spirits found in these ‘borderlands’, not only play roles producing and reproducing a historical narrative crucial for defining the differences necessary for boundary-making, they themselves become, in certain ways, markers of these boundaries, indicators of whether a community was or is historically sympathetic to one side of the conflict or the other. The boundaries are undoubtedly inconsistent and fuzzy at points, but they have had and continue to have symbolic and material meaning for many people. Boundaries are essential for constructing certain spaces, for place-making. They create meaning; such an understanding affects one's sense of belonging, and all that goes along with such a sense.

Crucially, the population was socially organised in ‘villages’ (ban), and each village self-identified based on language, culture, politics, and history. Moreover, each village had a spatial imaginary, including core and frontier areas, and also, as indicated below, space was imagined as needing to be guarded. This structure gave spatial meaning to situations where different spirit cults were associated with particular villages and thus various spaces. Villagers would certainly have known which village spaces they were in, and which side of the boundaries they were on; even now this is generally well known to locals. They recognise which villages are populated by ‘Lao’ speakers and which ones are ‘Thai’. Aymonier commented on his crossing of these ethnic boundaries between the Thai and the Lao when he travelled through the area in 1884, even if he did not refer to them as boundaries.Footnote ⁹⁸ He did, however, identify which villages were ‘Lao’ and which were ‘Thai’. At the time such differences were already quite prominent. Nong Bua Yai was, of course, Lao.

The boundaries between these two peoples, materialised through villages, and the two ethnicities of spirit mediums found in ‘Lao’ and ‘Thai’ villages, both manifest and symbolise political difference. They are also reproduced through performative ritual practice (related to spirit medium rituals) and a powerful narrative discourse (related to being Lao or Thai) designed to maintain memories crucial to either a Lao or Thai ethno-nationalist project and its associated boundaries. Although the boundaries between the ‘Thai’ and the ‘Lao’ are not physically marked or recognised by the state, they nevertheless continue to socially divide two groups of people who politically and ethnically identify with different sides of the Chao Anou conflict, even if the boundaries are generally ineffective in stopping people from crossing them, at least nowadays.

The links between spirit mediums and boundaries can be observed travelling south from the ‘Lao’ Nong Bua Yai to ‘Thai Khorat’-speaking areas, such as Nong Bua Khok and Ban Kham subdistricts (both are in Chatturat). While the Phaya Narin Songkhram spirit cult area is located not far to the north of these areas,Footnote ⁹⁹ the key spirit at Nong Bua Khok is Ta Poo Luang Khong, who is believed to be a ‘Thai’ speaker. People from other nearby Thai-speaking villages, including those in Ban Kham subdistrict (Fig. 2), also revere the same spirit. People in all these places confirmed that inhabitants of the area speak ‘Thai Khorat’, and that Ta Poo Luang Khong spoke the same language.Footnote ¹⁰⁰

The geography of spirit mediums is not, however, always obvious. Overall, the boundaries between spirit cults appear to be clear at their cores, but fuzzy at their edges, and generally complex. For example, the people of Samhong Thung village, about one kilometre from Nong Bua Yai, do not respect only the spirit of Phaya Narin Songkhram, but also another Lao-speaking spirit, Khun Phileuk. In addition, in Sompoi village, to the north of Nong Bua Yai, Phaya Borom Anouvong Chaichana, another Lao-speaking spirit with a provocative name, is dominant. On the Thai-speaking side, another Thai-speaking spirit, Ta Poo Luang Khan, holds sway in the area immediately south of Ta Poo Luang Khong's sphere. According to a woman interviewed at Nong Bua Khok, ‘People respect Ya Mo's spirit in villages south of Ta Poo Luang Khong and Ta Poo Luang Khan.’ To the south of Chatturat district, in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, there are both Lao and Thai-speaking areas.

Older place names in the area sometimes indicate ethnicity, but there have been some deceptive changes as well. For example, the name ‘Non Thai district’ came into existence only in 1941 (BE 2484) during the Plaek Phibulsongkhram government period of strong Thai nationalism; its name was changed from ‘Non Lao’.Footnote ¹⁰¹ Other Lao places were reverted to being called ‘Thai’ as a result of Prince Damrong Rajanubhab's efforts. Damrong wrote in the mid-1930s that ‘people in Bangkok have long called [the peoples of Northern Siam] Lao. Today, however, we know they are Thai, not Lao.’Footnote ¹⁰² Certainly these efforts to change names have made the boundaries much less visible. But over time the boundaries are being at least partially maintained through spirit mediumship, which has — along with serving other purposes — engaged with past memories through ritual practice. However, the growth of spirit mediumship in this region, as in other parts of Thailand, does not appear to have occurred due to a greater interest amongst the population in remembering the past and its associated ethnic politics, although political circumstances in Thailand today suggest that this could become the case in the future. For now there appears to be much more demand for opportunities to have ‘fun’, as in the music, dancing, eating, and drinking associated with spirit medium rituals. As one spirit medium in Nong Bua Yai put it, ‘People have more money to spend on having fun than they did before.’ This fits well with reports about the expansion of spirit mediumship being linked to processes of capitalist development.

The efflorescence of spirit mediumship has, however, probably tended to decrease the emphasis on the maintenance of past boundaries between the Lao and the Thai, compared to what they probably meant when the Phaya Narin Songkhram spirit cult first began, as people we have spoken with have reported a general decline in Lao identity in the area in recent decades. This has led to some contradictory outcomes worth elaborating on through recounting some ethnographic interactions with Mae Wat Khemwiset, the present spirit medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram and leader of the spirit cult, as well as some of her subordinate followers. They indicate how the boundary maintenance work occurred in the past and continues today.

Mae Wat, Achan Suthi, and spirit medium politics

Mae Wat was eager to demonstrate her knowledge of the history of Phaya Narin Songkhram from the time I first met her. She was active, spoke forcefully and volubly, and clearly had a gift of the gab. It was immediately evident that historical knowledge remains a crucial part of her role as a spirit medium in Nong Bua Yai, and our discussions with other spirit mediums in her group reinforced this impression, but it also became clear that Mae Wat's actual understanding of historical events was much more limited than she would have us believe. For example, she has internalised the story of Ya Mo leading the Vientiane soldiers to become drunk before rising up and defeating them, an account that seems likely to be based more on political manoeuvring than reality.Footnote ¹⁰³ Keyes also made similar observations when he interviewed a spirit medium for Ya Mo in Khorat. But still, Mae Wat's role in transmitting history is significant, and when I visited her in July 2013, she demonstrated this when she stated, ‘If I say something wrong, please correct me. Write it down correctly.’

Later I learned that Mae Wat and other spirit mediums in the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult also serve the community by conducting rituals to cure people from afflictions believed to be caused by malevolent spirits, something that is fairly typical for such mediums in the region. As one spirit medium put it, ‘People mostly come to see me to cure illnesses.’

When I first met her, Mae Wat usefully clarified two points included in the official biography of Phaya Narin Songkhram inscribed on a recently erected stone slab at the shrine or San Chao Por Footnote ¹⁰⁴ of Phaya Narin Songkhram, located adjacent to the Nong Bua Yai temple, Wat Pathummachat, and the former and much more modest shrine for Phaya Narin Songkhram. The first related to the method used to execute Phaya Narin Songkhram. The official biography inscribed on his shrine claims that because his skin was impenetrable, the only way he could be killed was by having an elephant step on him. Mae Wat claimed that the story was altered because the new version sounded more polite than the old one, which states that Thong Kham was killed by impalement.

More crucial, however, was Mae Wat's second clarification. When I asked if Phaya Narin Songkhram had been forced to join the Chao Anou rebellion, as written in the official biography at the shrine and in other Thai-language historical accounts,Footnote ¹⁰⁵ she emphatically assured me that Phaya Narin Songkhram had been a willing ally of Chao Anou. She wanted me to clearly understand that Phaya Narin Songkhram was a Lao rebel. In July 2013, she reiterated this idea, ‘Chao Por Narin and Ya Mo were enemies in the past, during the war.’ Other members of her entourage interviewed separately at their houses made similar claims.

Mae Wat, during another interview, told me about an exchange she had with the former nai amphur, or district chief, of Chatturat, Kasem Chaiyanong, in the mid-1980s. She asked him, when possessed, to arrange for a memorial statue to be built in Phaya Narin Songkhram's honour and he apparently verbally agreed. However, according to her, Kasem never fulfilled his promise, as he was transferred in 1988. She then revealed that there had been a fire at the Kok village market shortly after he left, with three stalls burnt. She implied that this was linked with the nai amphur not following through with his promise and the inadequate recognition given to Phaya Narin Songkhram's spirit by the State. Even before she was possessed, her words were harsh and political, even rebellious, much as one might imagine from a resistant political spirit medium. She was advocating for her spirit, the purported Lao ethno-nationalist Phaya Narin Songkhram.

Later, however, I learned that the situation was much more complicated. We made yet another appointment with Mae Wat so that I could interview the spirit of Phaya Narin Songkhram. Once she was possessed and we started to converse, I was immediately struck by her attempt to speak central Thai rather than the Lao language that one would expect a Lao to converse in. Her central Thai was far from perfect, but it is interesting that Phaya Narin Songkhram speaks central Thai. Later, when Mae Wat was no longer possessed, I asked her why Phaya Narin Songkhram spoke in Thai when he entered her body. She responded, ‘He has been in Thailand a long time now, so he has adjusted to speaking in Thai.’ This answer demonstrates the political shift from representing the spirit of the military leader opposed to Siam, to becoming socialised to be less explicitly political, and instead, someone who is no longer as opposed to Siam as portrayed by the spirit mediums who came before her. She clearly indicated that the spirit of Phaya Narin Songkhram had even adapted to the circumstances by adopting the Thai language, although the body he possessed was of someone who always speaks in the local Lao dialect! This episode demonstrates changing social and political circumstances and how conjoined ethnic boundaries are blurring. However, Mae Wat also gave a general indicator about space and boundaries between the Thai and the Lao, telling me that, ‘Those who respect Ya Mo live south of here.’

During our efforts to learn more about the history of Phaya Narin Songkhram and Chaiyaphum generally, my wife and I managed to meet Achan Suthi Laolith, a native of Chaiyaphum who was previously the principal of a school in the provincial capital and is presently a senior government official, even though he is 74 years old.Footnote ¹⁰⁶ He is recognised as a key historian of Chaiyaphum, having written a book in Thai about the history of the province.Footnote ¹⁰⁷ We visited him at his office in the provincial capital of Chaiyaphum. He willingly provided information and leads about the history of Phaya Narin Songkhram. He was clearly sympathetic to the Lao view of history. He also gave us a copy of his book, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum, now out of print.Footnote ¹⁰⁸ He explained that because Phaya Narin Songkhram was the original founder of Muang Simoom, the first Muang of Chaiyaphum, he should be recognised as the chao por, or founding father, of Chatturat district. This displaces Luang Banthao, of Kok village, whom Achan Suthi claimed was historically insignificant, and thus not deserving to be recognised as the chao por. He claimed that the district centre was moved to Kok village and Luang Banthao was made the chao por, around 1933 [BE 2476], during the ‘nationalist period’ following Phlaek Phibulsongkhram's dismantling of the absolute monarchy in Siam.Footnote ¹⁰⁹ Even if the district centre might actually have been relocated earlier, Achan Suthi's claim that the change of chao por and the movement of the district centre from Nong Bua Yai to Kok as part of an attempt to erase the memory of Phaya Narin Songkhram, and, particularly, his heroic role in Chao Anou's rebellion, was itself quite a political statement. He suggested that it was probably part of the same plan that elevated Ya Mo's heroism.Footnote ¹¹⁰ In any case, one can understand Achan Suthi's interpretation as demonstrating that there was an attempt to obscure the sociocultural boundaries that divided the Lao from the Thai nation. The Thai government was not entirely successful, however, partly due to the prevalence of spirit mediums whose existence has tended to maintain boundaries through the perpetuation of folk history.

After considerable discussion, Achan Suthi asked us to arrange a meeting between him and the spirit medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram, Mae Wat. We agreed, and a few weeks later we visited Mae Wat's house at Nong Bua Yai village together. She became possessed so that Achan Suthi could ask Phaya Narin some specific historical questions. He asked about an alleged gold mine from Phaya Narin Songkhram's period. Achan Suthi wanted to find it in order to fund the construction of a spirit house in honour of Phaya Lae. After the possession was over, we were surprised to learn that Achan Suthi is himself a renowned spirit medium for none other than the hero of Chaiyaphum, Phaya Lae, whose execution on the grounds of disloyalty was ordered by Chao Anou after being summoned to meet in 1826;Footnote ¹¹¹ thus Phaya Lae became a martyr for Siam and is commemorated by a monument in front of Chaiyaphum's provincial headquarters.Footnote ¹¹²

The interaction between the two spirit mediums was quite amicable, however, especially considering the fact that Phaya Narin Songkhram had been involved in the execution of Phaya Lae in the past. Part of their conversation went as follows: Achan Suthi explained to Mae Wat — as he had to me earlier — that he felt that Phaya Narin Songkhram should be promoted to become the official chao por of Chatturat; Mae Wat (when not possessed) responded rather unexpectedly, considering my earlier interactions with her. Rather than exhibiting confidence and political advocacy as she had with me, she appealed to Achan Suthi to not promote the idea of Phaya Narin Songkhram becoming the official chao por of the district. She even went as far as begging him not to pursue it. I believe she did this because she feared the anger of high-level government officials or politicians. Eventually, Achan Suthi backed off and stopped trying to convince her. Her response to Achan Suthi, a high-level official himself, was quite different from her response to me a few days earlier, indicating the varied ways that Mae Wat positions herself. Clearly, the expression of identities and the boundaries associated with them vary depending on context.

In July 2013 I heard, however, that Achan Suthi had convinced the local government in Chatturat to make a drama film depicting Phaya Narin Songkhram rather than Luang Banthao. But still, Mae Wat was not interested in elevating the conflict. As she put it, ‘The Chinese [Thais] in Chatturat did not agree to make a statue for Chao Por Narin at Kok village. I don't want to compete with people there. I do not want there to be a conflict.’ She then continued, ‘Chao Por Narin left the district centre (amphur), so it is fine for Luang Banthao to be chao por amphur.’

The Phaya Narin Songkhram spirit cult, Khun Dan, and Khun Sulivong

Probably the most striking example of how local space is produced and reproduced through the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult relates to symbolism and practices associated with the roles of Khun Dan and Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai, two ‘soldier spirits’ in the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult. The spirits possess Mae Keo and Mae Samlan respectively, but they are particularly important because both have important roles protecting the boundaries of the territory of the spirit cult's home community.

Khun Dan's name can be translated literally as ‘Sir Border’, dan meaning boundary or border.Footnote ¹¹³ According to Mae Keo, the medium of Khun Dan and a long-time resident of Nong Bua Yai village, ‘Phaya Narin Songkhram told Khun Dan to guard the area at different places.’ In particular, Khun Dan was ordered to guard the important southern flank, facing Khorat. An ancient sacred tree and a concrete spirit house nearby mark the location where Khun Dan is supposed to vigilantly guard the border. A forest in the vicinity had previously marked the frontier, but it was cut down some decades ago, and the spirit house was put up in its place to serve as a material reminder of the village boundary. Each year a ritual takes place at the spirit house and ancient tree. Others in the cult attend. Thus, the boundary is reproduced each year, both materially and ritually.

Similarly, Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai is a member of the group responsible for protecting the northern flank of the territory, located in Nong Bua Rong village (previously part of Nong Bua Yai village) (Fig. 2). He was also assigned to protect the boundary of the community. In line with the comments made above by Mae Keo, Mae Samlan, the medium for Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai, told me that, ‘Khun Sulivong's job is to protect the village [space].’ The spirit house for Khun Sulivong is located at the historical northern edge of the village. Thus, both these members of the Phaya Narin Songkhram spirit cult see their roles as protecting the inner space of the spirit cult, and thus are involved in the production of space, and the maintenance of boundaries.

Individual rituals conducted by spirit mediums, as well as those that bring all the members of the spirit cult together, led by Mae Wat, are all crucial for variously producing the community space represented by the ‘Laoness’ of Phaya Narin Songkhram.