Villagers gang up to cast out Phi Pop
Frightened of evil spirits known as Phi Pop - a demon believed to posses a person to eat his intestine while also forcing him to seek and consume raw animal organs and meat at night-time - villagers at Kalasin's Sam Chai sub-district raised Bt35,000 to exorcise the ghosts allegedly dwelled in two female villagers.
The Nation arrived at the ceremony at the Ban Nong Kung Noi community hall yesterday morning while spirit doctor Paithoon Sommitr, 63, was chanting magic words and spilling water over the absent-minded Thong who laid down on the floor, screaming and crying. Village headman Suwit Phaitecha, 53, said that, following four mysterious and sudden deaths of villagers late last month feared to cause by the evil spirits, some 1,000 residents raised about Bt35,000 - each of the 760 households contributing Bt50 - for an exorcism of Phi Pop allegedly possessed Thong and Pai (not their real names), both in their 40s. Local health official Juthamas Wilasri who rushed to the ceremony and later conducted a physical check-up on Thong found that the woman was weaken from fasting, absent-minded, had occasional seizures thus submitted her to Khammuang Hospital. Juthamas said she had checked about the four "mysterious deaths" and initially found that they were all elderly persons aged around 65 to 80 and some were said to die of heart disease, heart failure and strokes.
Yutthana Kietdamnoenngam The Nation KALASIN
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