Thailand's Most Famous Ghost Is A Classic Tale Of Love And Murder

A lady known as Mae Nak, or Nang Nak, is the best-known ghost and ghost story in Thailand. It's a great tale.

Mae Nak is a classic tale of love, loss, and a rampaging murderous spirit. It has been made into a score of movies in a surprising variety of genres, including horror, gothic romance, comedy, animation, opera and even, apparently, porn. A recent film version called Phi Mak Phra Khanongthat came out in 2013 became, at the time of release, the highest-grossing Thai movie of all time. It is very unlikely to be the last.

The tale of Mae Nak and all that follows is allegedly based on true events.

The Story of Mae Nak

The story begins in the latter half of the 19th Century with an idyllic young couple: a lady called Nak and her husband Mak. They lived in a stilted house on the shores of a river in a village in the area of Phra Khanong. A district that is now very much inside Bangkok but was then remote and peaceful.

Everything was going great for the young newlyweds, and they were soon blessed when Nak discovered she was pregnant. Unfortunatel…