Eggsquisitely Mythical #20: Stories from Thailand
- Wera Niyom
- May 1
- 10 min read
Updated: Aug 1
Hello, fellow eggs and mythology lovers!
For our next Eggsquisitely Mythical issue, we are covering more folkloric stories from Thailand. If you missed our first post, check it out here.
As mentioned in the previous article, the following stories aim to teach everyone an important lesson in how they should view and approach the world. Although some of these stories may have dark endings, life is full of challenges and naturally doesn't always have happy endings. It is also important to consider that although some stories may end in death, reincarnation is a common motif.
THE SEVEN STAR SISTERS | ดาวลูกไก่
The Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades, is a star cluster within the Taurus constellation. It is one of the star clusters closest to earth, and one of the most famous. It contains nine of the brightest stars, each named after the Pleiades from Greek mythology: Asterope, Merope, Electra, Maia, Taygete, Celaeno, and Alcyone.
In Thailand, the story of the Seven Sisters begins with an elderly couple who have a mother hen and seven chicks that they took great care of. A wandering monk passed by, so the couple stop to pay their respects and discussed future offerings. The vegetables they grew had already been sold, so they decide to kill the mother hen to make curry. The mother hen overhears this conversation and hurries back to say goodbye to her children.
The next morning, the elderly couple kill the mother hen to prepare the curry to offer to the monks. The seven chicks discuss how to live after their mother's death and begin questioning if they should also die. And so, they jumped into the fire and perished. Because of the mother's care and the seven chicks' gratitude to their mother, they were reborn into the star cluster of Pleiades.
The purpose of this story is to teach us that goodness can be measured by one's gratitude.
PHRA APHAI MANI | พระอภัยมณี
Phra Aphai Mani is a story and a poem created by Phra Sunthorn Wohan, a famous Thai scribe during the Rattanakosin period. It has 94 volumes, and when printed as a book, its page count extends beyond 1,200 pages. The story is divided into 64 chapters. The date of its creation is unclear, but it's believed he wrote it between 1821-1823 and finished around 1845. It is considered one of Thailand's greatest works.
The Rulers of Rattana City, King Sutat and Queen Prathumkesorn, have two sons: Phra Aphai Mani and Srisuwan. Ordered to study, Phra Aphai Mani studied how to play the flute, while Srisuwan studied weaponry like the sword and the staff. After mastering these practices, they returned home. However, the king was furious to discover his sons studied low-level skills, and considered them unworthy of being king, so he sent them out of the capital.
After arriving at the sea, they befriend three Brahmins known as Mora, Sanont, and Wichian. Phra Aphai Mani plays the flute to entertain and everyone falls asleep. Within the sea, an ogress Nang Phisuea Samut overhears the music and follows the sound. After seeing Phra Aphai Mani, she falls in love with him and kidnaps him. She transforms into a beautiful woman, but he knows she's an ogress. Unable to escape, they live together until she gives birth to Sinsamut.
Meanwhile, Srisuwan and the Brahmins awaken to discover Phra Aphai Mani has disappeared. They searched until reaching another city where there is a battle. They help defend the city and meet the daughter of the city's leader, Nang Kesara. Srisuwan ends up marrying her and they have a daughter, Nang Arunratmi.
One day, Sinsamut goes out to play and meets mermaid parents. He captures them and brings them back to Phra Aphai Mani. The mermaids beg to be released in exchange for freeing Phra Aphai Mani. He accepts the offer and sets up a trick for Nang Phisuea by planning to have them go to the mountains for three days. He takes Sinsamut with him, but Nang Phisuea discovers his treachery in time and follows. She captures the mermaid couple and kills them. Phra Aphai Mani and Sinsamut are taken to Kaew Phisadan Island by a young mermaid, where there is a hermit with powers so great, it renders Nang Phisuea powerless. Phra Aphai Mani, Sinsamut, and the young mermaid live on the island together and Phra Aphai Mani marries the mermaid.
In Muang Phalik, King Silarat and Queen Montha have a daughter, Suwannamali who is engaged to Usaren, a Lanka prince. An astrologer predicts she would go to sea and be blessed with good fortune, so she sets sail. The ship is blown towards the island and King Silarat leads a fleet to save his daughter. Instead, he meets Phra Aphai Mani and ends up taking him and Sinsamut home. As soon as the ship leaves the island, Nang Phisuea Samut wrecks the ship, killing King Silarat and most of his fleet. Sinsamut takes Suwannamali and escapes while Phra Aphai Mani plays the flute to kill Nang Phisuea Samut.
They all become separated and during this time, Phra Aphai Mani receives help from Suwannamali's fiance, Utsaren. Sinsamut and Suwannamali are saved by pirates who wish to harm them. Sinsamut kills the pirates and declares himself captain. While sailing, he reunited with Srisuwan who had been traveling in search of Phra Aphai Mani. Eventually, they reunite with Phra Aphai Mani and Utsaren. Suwannamali returns to become the ruler of the city and Utsaren returns to Lanka to attack after fighting with Sinsamut who loved Nang Suwannamali. He was tricked by Nang Vali and died. Utsaren's sister, Lawengwanla, seeks revenge and casts a spell to attack the city.
Sutsakorn, the son of a mermaid, is taught by the hermit with great powers. He learns of Phra Aphai Mani and decides to seek him out. On the way, he is tricked by a woman who steals his cane and horse. The hermit helps him get them back.
The king of Karavek love Sutsakorn and decide to raise him as an adopted son until he's fully grown, but Sutsakorn never stopped thinking about finding his father. The king of Karavek organizes a search party and sail to Phalik as the city is sieged. Phra Aphai Mani, Srisuwan, Sinsamut, and Sutsakorn help defend the city until they defeat all the enemies. Phra Aphai Mani falls under Lawengwanla's spell and leads an army to attack Lanka. But he could not win. He rides into the palace, but when given a chance to kill Lawengwanla, he couldn't. He falls in love with her and they marry. Her other attendants also spell Srisuwan, Sinsamut, and Sutsakorn. They refuse to return to Phalik. Suwannamali, Arunrat, Saowkon try to follow but fail. They ask Hatchai, the daughter of the king of Karavek, to lift the spell. As a result, all the kings commit to peace between their kingdoms. Once the spell is lifted, Saowakon flees to Wahulom out of anger and Sutsakorn is forced to follow her until she forgives him and agrees to marry.
King Sutat of Rattana City dies. Phra Aphai Mani and the kings attend the funeral. Mangala, the son of Phra Aphai Mani and Lawengwanla, becomes king of Lanka but was angry with the kings. He captures Suwannamali and imprisons her with her relatives. Hatchai and Sutsakorn lead an army to free them but fail. Not even Lawengwanla could persuade them to stop. Phra Aphai Mani and Srisuwan lead an army to follow and end up claiming victory. After the battle, Phra Aphai Mani declares his son rulers of various cities, then becomes monks.
There are many literary interpretations of this story. Some focus on Phra Aphai Mani's use of the flute in how problems should be solved peacefully and with careful thought. Others consider the story to be a physical opposition to western colonization happening at the time.
CHANTHAKROP | จันทโครพ
In the city of Varanasi, there is a prince known as Chanthakrop. When he reaches adulthood, he seeks out a teacher to learn how to dance. Along the way, he meets a sage who gives him a glass box. He tells him not to open it until he reaches his hometown, but Chanthakrop breaks his promise. Inside the box, Nang Mora appears. They continue their journey until a bandit sees Nang Mora and wants to kidnap her. Chanthakrop is killed by the bandit. Nang Mora leaves with the bandit after seeing his corpse and realizes she won't become Queen Consort.
But Chanthakrop was not dead.
Indra, the god who rules over heaven and earth, heals Chanthakrop and informs him of his true soulmate's presence in the north. Indra curses Nang Mora to become a gibbon. The bandit had already abandoned her because he thought if she met someone better, she would abandon him as she did with Chanthakrop. Nang Mora searches for the bandit, while Chanthakrop enters a cave with a giant guarding the entrance. Chanthakrop assumes his soulmate is inside so he kills the giant. He meets a woman named Nang Mucalina and they live together until she becomes pregnant with his child.
Chanthakrop misses his parents so they decide to travel, but they come across a giantess known as Kausiki (she lives in the river). Chanthakrop accidentally falls asleep due to fatigue and Kausiki falls in love with Chanthakrop. She conspires to get rid of Nang Mucalina so she threw her against the tree and took Nang Mucalina's place with a disguising spell. She also placed a spell on Chanthakrop so he wouldn't become suspicious of her.
They arrive in the city and while Chanthakrop sleeps, Kausiki eats the villagers' cows, unaware that the farmer saw her. The farmer tells the king, who is Chanthakrop's father, but it was too late at night. The next morning, Chanthakrop wakes up to talk to Kausiki, but she hadn't slept at all that night so she pretends to be ill. Chanthakrop goes out and comes across an astrologer. The astrologer asks him to bring Nang Mucalinda with him next time. When she meets the astrologer the next day, she is unable to provide the date of birth and gives an incorrect date. The astrologer reveals the truth that she isn't a human, but an ogress. Chanthakrop kills her and searches for the real Nang Mucalinda. He finds her and their son, Chanthawong. They live together happily.
SONGKRAN | เทศกาลสงกรานต์
There are many New Year celebrations around the world. Have you heard of Songkran? This is known as Thai New Year! Songkran is a national holiday in Thailand that happens on April 13th annually, but it is extended to April 15th, so it lasts from April 13th to April 15th. The word “Songkran” means “astrological passage” which alludes to change. It coincides with the change from Pisces to Aries on the astrological chart. Originally, Songkran was the official new year, but this changed in 1888 and in 1940. In 2018 and 2019, Songkran was moved to April 12th to April 16th, and in 2019. April 13th is known as Maha Songkran – the day that the sun moves into Aries; April 14th is known as Wan Nao – the day between the old and new year; and April 15th is known as Wan Thaloeng Sok – New Year’s Day.
The origins of Songkran date back to the death of Kapila Brahma, a sage. There once was a wealthy man and his drunk neighbor. This drunkard had two songs who would belittle the rich man for not having any children. The wealthy man reached out to the gods of the Sun and the Moon, asking them to grant him a son. His prayers failed until he offered cooked rice to a tree god, who lived in a banyan tree. The child was born and named Thammabal.
This child was quite clever because he was able to learn the three vedas, the language of the birds, and also able to teach people how to avoid sin. When Kapila Brahma discovered the child, he wanted to test him.
He asks, “Where is the glory (referred to as sri) of men located in the morning, during the day, and in the evening?” If he guessed improperly, his head would be chopped off.
The boy toiled for six days, unable to find the solution to Kapila Brahma’s riddle. One day, he decided to lay by a sugar palm tree, where he overheard a pair of eagles talking about eating him when he loses the bet. The female eagle asks her mate if he knows the answer to the riddle.
The male eagle responds, “In the morning, the sri appears on the face, so people wash their faces every morning. At noon, the sri is at the chest where people spray perfume every noon. In the evening, the sri goes to the feet, so people wash their feet every evening.”
Thammabal memorizes this answer and gives it to Kapila Brahma the next day. He wins the bet and Kapila Brahma summons his seven daughters to cut his head off. If his head fell to the earth, it would create a great fire that would swallow the world whole. If his head was thrown into the air, the rain would cease. If his head dropped into the ocean, it would dry the waters. So, in order to avoid calamity, he instructed his daughters to place his head on a pedestal, and his head was stored in the cave of Mount Kailash.
Every year when the Sun enters Aries, one of Kapila Brahma’s children (known as Lady Songkran) and angels form a procession. They take the pedestal with his head during this time. Lady Songkran would stand on the back of the animal from dawn to midday, sit from midday to sunset, lie down with her eyes open from sunset to midnight, and sleeps after midnight. This procession would last for 60 minutes around Mount Meru.
Traditions include visiting local temples and offering food to the monks. They may also pour water on Buddha statues and the young/elderly to purify and wash away their sins and bad luck. Major streets are closed off because they are used as arenas for water fights. They splash water on each other and in some areas, there may be a Lady Songkran, or a Miss Songkran crowned.
In the central region of Thailand, the people clean their houses and dress up in colorful clothing/traditional Thai dress. They offer food to monks and appease their ancestors. They may also give sand to temples for construction or repair. And finally, they may release birds and fish.
In the southern region of Thailand, they work as little as possible, avoid spending money, avoid hurting other people or animals, and avoid telling lies.
In the northern region of Thailand, there will be an Elephant Procession Ordination in Si Satchanalai District, in which men are dressed in colorful traditional clothing and guided to the temples. Gunfire and firecrackers are used to dispel bad luck. On April 14th, they’ll prepare food and submit offerings to the monks at the temple. Finally, they bathe Buddha’s statue in water and pour water into the hands of their elders to ask for blessings.
In the eastern region of Thailand, they always visit the temples throughout the days of the Songkran Festival and create sand pagodas. Some may also prepare food to give to the elder members of their family.
In Bangkok, the capital, Khao San Road and Silom Road are closed for water fights and the party runs throughout the day and night.
We hope you enjoyed learning about these Thai stories!
Check out these other articles written by former team members:
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