This is still about the life of Aon , one of Thailand's most famous DJs, and those horror stories from the guests he had interviewed in his program and sometimes from himself as an interviewee on TV and online variety shows.
It was so inscrutable that as the days went by , the Thai society with a large population of those energetic Generation Y and Z , still looked like several decades ago. The progress of social media did not enlighten the netizens much like expected but never failed to feed them with preposterous fake news , gossips and superstitions leaving them with perpetual brainrots. I , DJ Aon, now in my late 30s , married with a daughter, was still the idol of those new generations who were obsessed with the manifestations of supernatural beings although we were in the era of AI and the devastating war between the US and Iran plunging the world into the energy and economic crisis. By the way , I sometimes wondered when thousands of Iranians had perished from the US 2- month attacks , why had their ghosts not rushed to the White House and strangled President Donald Trump to death as a revenge ?
By and large, my program was still popular even though my online rivals who were mostly younger had strived to beat me. I however found that although their AI , both animations and artificial voices , made their programs grotesque and comical , it had been enormously improved days in, days out and perhaps it would soon reach the point where the boundary between the AI's and the humans' creations did not exist at all and I would probably become the loser like all of us. But I could not wait to face such a formidable contender unless I found another job or a solace in the peaceful life of retirement.
After all , I was still a great liar who exploited human fears and excitements for money and fame in spite of knowing that the stories by those enthusiastic guests were all brazen lies just like straight from the mouths of politicians. The difference between supernatural and political discourses appeared to vanish nowadays. When I reminisced that Prime Minister Anuthin, whose intellect was on the same level as Trump's, had been ruling this country with mendacity and no sense of accountability , I felt much less guilty.
Here were the selected stories which I considered either very impressive or blood-curdling although their number of viewers in YouTube was not exceptionally high.
Hunting the Ghosts
The male guest with the name 'Preera' , aged 24, claimed that his education was only Prathom 4 (ป.4) and was currently working as a mechanic of a small garage in Thon Buri. He had then unashamedly ranted about his wretched life for 10 straight minutes until I bluntly told him to cut to the chase. Peera's voice showed a little agitation but he later seamlessly changed its tone and obviously sucked up to me since he wanted terribly his story to be known nationwide. It was about his experience as a member of a gang of youngsters descending on a haunted house to see the ghosts and became the victims of their ferociousness. Tonight I was working alone as Wit and his family were on vacation in Krabi and Tonya was preparing her wedding ceremony.
Peera : Sir, my youth had been tragically corrupted by wildness and self-abuses. Our ignorance abysmally shielded us from absorbing the value of education. School was always like the sacred place where the depraved like us were banished from. Much to our parents' chagrins, our days and nights had been squandered on our motorbikes which were in our minds like noble steeds rushing forward in a dignified manner. But our life indeed was aimless and worthless like of those vagrants in the wilderness. Drinking and brawling also were our unforgivable vices but sightseeing the haunted houses turned out to be our new passion as if it had fulfilled our ultimate longings.
I : And did you see those ghosts even once ?
Peera : No , sir. Despite how much we had endeavoured , those spectres seemingly taunted us with their absences. We had persevered to draw their presences with utmost profanities and vandalism only to see the houses standing still , furtively sneering at us in the dark. We thought this was like the absurdity of the world we're living in - cold and frustrating.
I : I really appreciate how profound your philosophy is. What humans fear most is nothingness of the world which gradually engulfs our souls like a greedy gigantic boa. And what about your destination in this story ?
Peera : Thank you for your admiration, sir. A deserted house mildly far from our village caused brouhahas and sensational talks between the netizens . It once belonged to a decent family : the parents and their 2 children. But a horrific car crash one night deprived them of their precious life. The house henceforth had been gloomily left there , untouched by time and humans. The rumours swirled on the internet that the sounds of its deceased owners had been heard like they were still alive. Some witnesses claimed that they even saw the lights in its rooms without human presence , hence the beginning of the ghost adventures in that house by the reckless youths like us.
I : I'm afraid that kind of hoax might have fooled you. How were you so certain that nobody was there?
Peera : Haha. No wonder we had to investigate it with our own eyes. But another rumour sprang up , unsettling the netizens most when a group of teenagers : 4 or 5 had incurred a horrible death one by one after boldly defying the ghosts in that house.
I : Still , you and your friends had a determination to go there ?
Peera : You bet ! Such a ludicrous story didn't convince us at all. Those teenagers probably lived the reckless life like us and had a fair chance to die almost simultaneously. But even if it was true, we were ready to accept its consequence. Mr. Aon, too peaceful life was so boring whereas it was a desired blessing for others ! That's why we always relished the motorbike racing on superhighways at night. Even though it was so daredevil as we could have perished or arrested by the police , we were still mighty glad to do so. A death wish in our subconsciousness , perhaps.
I : Yes , The same one that has driven mankind to elect the stupid ,megalomaniac leaders who aim to make wars until the whole world is shattered by nuclear weapons. But here our audience have sent the unanimous comment that the way you disturbed people with the loud motorbikes was despicable , Mr. Peera. As you're an adult and there are more or less a million of youngsters listening to my program right now, do you have any lesson for them ?
Peera : As your wish , sir. (His voice became more solemn while he was talking to the audience). Motorbike racing is tragically reckless as it certainly shortens your lifespan , disturbs public and puts innocent people in jeopardy. I thereby suggest you , youngsters, to follow the Nepal or Bangladesh Model : spending your abundant energy on overthrowing the corrupt government instead. That's far more useful ! Viva la revolución ! (He imitated the voice of Che Guevara).
We both burst out laughing. I interrupted my program with the hourly news and a series of commercial ads as usual and it was ironic that one of them was about a make of motorcycle which boasted that it would take its riders anywhere in the blink of an eye. DJ Wan ,my boss, called me urgently , ordering me to stay away from politics as plenty of our audience might have been the huge fans of Bhumjaitai and assumed that we were the ‘Domsoms’ (ด้อมส้ม) or the proponents of the People’s Party. I seriously wondered what kind of new generation had still been cheering for Bhumjaitai.
Peera was on the phone again and his voice was still vibrant although it was already 1 AM. The audience seemed to like him tremendously with many praises for his frankness.
Peera : That night was so vivid in my memory. Turning off the headlights of our motorbikes , we found the place around us so otherworldly. The 2- storey house in European style loomed over its tiny garden overgrown with worthless weeds and the nearby forest was so thick like a mysterious jungle. This night was not totally quiet as the cicadas were singing in chorus and the howls of the dogs were faintly heard and so was a country song [เพลงลูกทุ่ง] on the radio from somewhere , probably a factory nearby. Ah, I forget to introduce the members of our group. There were 5 of us : I , Danai, Ping , Mark and his girlfriend , Paeng, who was not so enthusiastic about venturing in this cursed house. She became more and more restless and grumbled that we should have never been here , so it was Mark’s duty to calm her down by hugging and kissing her which became successful but still awkward for us. Our group feared that we might meet other teenagers which would pitifully ruin our adventurous mood but when there was no sign of them , we breathed a sigh of relief.
(I had just watched the great but bland biographical movie ‘Michael’ several days ago and could not help recreating their situation like Michael Jackson’s famous MV. A horde of ghouls appeared out of nowhere and menacingly surrounded those teenagers who were shuddering. Paeng later screamed at the top of her lungs when 4 of her male fellows turned into the ghouls too before watching all of them sing and dance along to the song ‘Thriller’. I quietly chuckled.)
Peera : We suddenly saw a mysterious large bird soar from the sprawling Peacock Flower tree and disappear in the dark with its squawk. Ping quipped that it might have been the Barn Owl believed to be a faithful vehicle of the Lord of Hell in the Thai traditional belief and it was frightened to see the tough guys like us. But he was scolded by Paeng who kept visibly quivering and was ready to leave this place at any minute. Her fellows laughed aloud but their laughter was ended by a loud thud not far from here. After a brief silence, Danai said that it was a large coconut falling to the ground and derided that if they easily chickened out like this , they should go back to their mommies to suckle. I felt vexed and urged my friends not to waste our time with such a silly chatter but nobody dared go first. I thus showed my leadership by starting to walk toward the house even though I was trembling a bit too. The flashes from our mobile phones helped us gradually walk through the remnants of the wooden fence and the thick bushes. Danai yelled out after almost stepping on something he had assumed was a snake but it was just an old rope. Seeing his pale face and shaking body , we all laughed at him. Ha ha !
(Peera coughed a little and went on.)
" We then suddenly froze to see a large graffiti on the wall of the house : Death is awaiting ! Everyone , except Paeng, smiled wryly. I dauntlessly said that it was an imitation from the movie ‘The Grave Encounter’ and only the morons would believe that the ghost had conjured up that graffiti with spray instead of blood which would have scared us more. Ping seemed to remember something and started recording the wall and our adventure with his mobile phone , hoping that it would capture the ghosts in the house before the clips would be uploaded on TikTok and YouTube. I, however, thought this would never catapult us into the national limelight as those social media were already awash with this kind of clip and even if we stumbled upon the real ghosts , the public would still say they were generated by the AI.
I : I agree with you. It’s almost impossible nowadays to prove the existence of the ghosts on social media. Now not only humans are the AI’s victims but also ghosts. Haha.
Peera (laughed too) : Sir , that's true , that’s true ! We kept walking and the house's door before us was so ramshackle that we doubted someone might have stolen the original and replaced it with the low-quality one. It had the sign ‘ The private property. Don’t trespass ! ’ but who cared anyway ?
I : I want to warn everyone right here that this is a crime that no one should imitate : breaking and entering. Although it was then merely the deserted house , its owner might have lived somewhere else but had the right to notify the police to drag your asses to jail.
Peera (chuckled) : Guilty as charged , sir ! At that time, I was still young and imprudent. And now I on behalf of my gang would like to offer a heartfelt apology to the law and the house owner via this program. No hard feelings !
And he was in silence for a while to show his deep repentance which looked quite weird and silly but I said nothing , trying to hold back my laughter.
Peera : We spent barely 3 minutes opening the door but were astounded that it was loosely bounded by the holy white threads and several torn red Yantras. I guessed after the house had been downtrodden by innumerable strangers , its owner found the brilliant way to scare them away : the religion. But I thought it yielded nothing when the new generation deemed it antiquated. In the house there was not even a single piece of furniture and the darkness seemed to forever prevail over the house when all the light bulbs were long gone. We suddenly saw a body lying near the stairs and screamed in unison. Before we would run away like hell , I could muster the courage to check on it and felt relieved that it was just a mannequin which was severed like it had been mauled by a dog. These could not at last deter us from going deeper in the house but I felt that our morale was greatly diminished. Mark tried so hard to pull his girlfriend who began to wail insanely to walk with him which looked like he was trying to kidnap her. It was hilarious but if the police had showed up , we would have been in deep shit when Paeng was only 16 : the minor and this would have been much scarier than the ghosts we were expecting to see.
Suddenly, Ping yelled out.
2
A middle-aged woman was sitting at the top of the stairs , piercing our souls with her fierce gaze. We at first assumed that she was just a random homeless auntie who had used this house as her temporary sanctuary but shockingly, her eyes were all white and the corner of her mouth was dripping with blood. We screamed at the top of our lungs and began to run away to the door but what the (censored) was happening ? The decrepit door miraculously turned into the new one which was so well-built. We were thunderstruck and tried to bash in that door but to no avail before darting to the windows but all of them had the iron bars. I used to watch a clip on TikTok that even the frames of the windows in this house had been stolen ages ago , or the house owner had just installed those bars lately ? Ping delightfully said that mysterious woman was gone and we breathed a sigh of relief but still couldn't figure out how to get out of here. Paeng collapsed on the floor and cried like crazy until she fainted in the arms of her boyfriend.
I : I think your gang shouldn’t have forced her to join this adventure as she was not ready at all.
Peera: Sir, it was Mark who adamantly insisted that he and Paeng had to go anywhere together even through the fire. That was the young passionate love ! How could we do anything ? While we were reviving Paeng , Danai said that we should call our friends for help , but there was no signal in our mobile phones even though just now Mark had briefly called his mother (and lied that he was working overtime – what a good son !) . I suggested that we go upstairs to search for it. The howls and the barks from dogs seemed to be incredibly loud. I had goosebumps when staring outside and finding that a dozen of fierce stray dogs was gathering in front of the house and glaring at us like we were prepared as their delicious hors d'oeuvre. I then despaired that even if we managed to get out of this house , we still couldn’t survive their savage attacks. We walked upstairs with difficulty , carrying Paeng who was still dizzy. Even though we were not certain whether that autie would show up again and suck our blood with her hidden fangs ,we had no choice. On the second floor it was empty too but we could see the old pictures of a family on the wall. Danai dissolved into tears while humbly saluting to them to ask for their forgiveness and have mercy on us but this even discomforted us. In the pictures the parents and their children looked happy together and their radiant smiles made them seem like the nicest people on earth. We suspected that auntie must have been a wandering spirit who happened to live in this house and had finished off those youngsters one after another like the rumour and now it was our turn. It was then so disappointing that our desired signal was not found in anyone’s mobile phone. The windows upstairs also had the bars and the door to the balcony was made of steel and shut tightly - we were totally trapped ! I urged my friends to huddle in a corner of the house to wait for the break of dawn and everything would blow over. But I kept my wild imagination to myself that this would be like ' Grave Encounters' as the ghost's spells would still hold us captive here in the endless night until everyone met a gruesome end. But at least we should brace ourselves for the attacks from that naughty auntie at any moment. Fate still smiled upon us when there were several wood sticks left on the floor. Ping still had the guts to record everything and quip that it would be such a weird feeling to take on the ghost and wondered if those sticks could not harm her, had we better resort to Karate or Muay Thai ?
I (laughed) : Haha. I believe even the ghost would be scared shitless when being hit by the strong fists and feet from 4 of you guys. But what a shame that it’s now a break for the hourly news and the commercials ! Mr. Peera can have a rest and sip a can of the cold (a brand of refreshment) which will rejuvenate you even in the dead of the night like this. Stay tuned, my dear audience !
Peera : It was already late - 2 or 3 AM , we all felt exhausted and frightened. But when nothing still happened , we felt relaxed enough to share the cigarettes and talk about many things we would do after surviving this adventure-turned- peril. Paeng was the only one who was silently sitting and wrapping arms around legs and her melancholy ensured us that after this, her love for the handsome Mark would be forever gone. So sorry that they hadn’t gone through the fire yet. I told everyone to act bravely like a man even though our life would end tonight before we would shout “Yes !” in unison and raise the sticks above our heads like the soldiers of ancient Roman. But the sudden sound of someone stomping repeatedly on the second floor startled us and we stood up to surround Paeng while looking around anxiously. An avalanche of unpleasant sounds then had stricken us incessantly. The sounds of the big bird- perhaps that barn owl- attacking the house’s roof , the howls of the dogs and the repeated jarring squeals of the auntie on the second floor had driven us on the verge of madness. Ping finally snapped and ran upstairs quickly which was hilarious since he was carrying both the stick and the mobile phone to record his heroism. But we then heard him screaming and everything was in silence.
Suddenly , Mark shouted , “ Paeng ! What’s happening to Paeng ?”
Paeng shook violently and looked around us with the scowling face while her eyes became all black . She folded down her neck and began to slowly walk toward us who were scattering in horror. Paeng was possessed ! It was like a double whammy when we also found that auntie slowly descending the stairs towards us in the same manner as Paeng. Both of them laughed maniacally ensuring that we would never survive this terrifying night. Danai and I decided to attack the auntie with the sticks but they were easily broken and she grabbed Danai’s neck while he was desperately swinging his arms. I rushed to help him but my legs were pulled down by someone from behind. Paeng was crawling behind me and her boyfriend was lying still on the floor showing that she had already assaulted him viciously. I hopelessly lay on the floor and saw the auntie who had thrown away my unconscious (or dead ?) friend like a piece of old rag walking triumphantly before bending down to strangle me while Paeng was grabbing my left arm – what a horrible night ! I said a prayer but it was so confusing like I was mumbling and unexpectedly thought about my parents. Even though I was fed up with their reprimands every time I asked for their money , I could feel their unconditional love. I wished that after my death I would be reborn as their son again and study hard enough to obtain the PhD degree before entering politics and make them proud by becoming the better prime minister than Sia Nhu Anuthin. But I remembered out of the blue that I left the little scissors in my pocket and pulled them out with my right hand to stab the auntie’s flank. She yowled in pain and flinched.
I : Aha ! The ghost could feel the pain ! Were your scissors blessed by a venerable monk ?
Peera : No , sir, let me finish it. The auntie then talked furiously to someone behind her whom I couldn’t see and her voice was so masculine : how the hell does this guy have the scissors ? It’s not in the plot ! I was utterly flabbergasted but before I could do anything , I was injected by a syringe and became unconscious. Opening my eyes, I found myself lying on a stretcher surrounded by my friends , except Paeng, who were in the same condition but with the ventilators. We were in the room replete with the modern equipment like a laboratory in films but I felt that we were still in that house. A guy in white gown rushed toward me with his eyes glinting with delight. He introduced himself as Dr. No (like the great villain in James Bond). And I would from now on tell you about our conversation verbatim.
Dr. No : I’m glad that our anaesthesia seemingly doesn’t take a severe toll on your body like your friends. Are you OK ? Do you still feel nauseous or dizzy ?
I shook my head and agitatedly asked him what the (censored) has happened to me and my friends. That man smirked while offering me a cigarette but I refused.
Dr. No : A cut and dried answer : all of you were used as the test subjects of our experiments.
I (Peera) : What the (censored) ? Are you (censored) kidding me ?
Dr. No : No no , do I look like I’m telling you a joke ? I’m a psychiatrist and last year the Thai government assigned us as a group of scientists conducting the experiments to enhance the ability of our army in the hybrid war against our neighbour (guess what country ?) which was the psychological operations mainly about the manipulations of human fears. We had deliberately spread the rumours online about the paranormal activities in this house which were secretly rented and embellished by us until it was like a haunted house. Numerous unsuspecting teenagers became our test subjects (or guinea pigs) but the results were not satisfactory at all. We had actually kept an eye on your gang for months by sending a mole in your group and don’t be so surprised that it was Paeng who seduced your friend , Mark , first until they became the lovers. And unbeknownst to all of you , she asked Mark to persuade your group to have an adventure in this house not his idea like you thought. She had acted so well like the scaredy- cat and the possessed girl , hadn't she ? She graduated from a school of acting with the top grades. It was interesting that the more she pretended to resent your activity , the more you were drawn to enter this house. Aroused by woman weakness, you became the chauvinist pigs which made you proud but foolhardy. And before your gang stepped into the house, we had unleased the newly invented gas to make you hallucinate and weak. Had you yourself seen many things ? Yes, you saw the dogs. People's brains always relate dogs with ghostly atmospheres. Ah , I would like to applaud a film studio for its great light and sound , realistic makeups and props like the sticks which were made of special plastic. The middle-aged woman ghost was played by a sergeant : a member of the military special forces. Did he really strangle your and your friend’s necks ? No , he just let that gas muddle your minds. He will certainly get the extra pay for being stabbed by your scissors but still doesn't stop grumbling until now. Ha ha.
I was drenched in sweat and shouted furiously,
: Why the (censored) have you done this ? You’ve treated us like the rubbish ! We had to go through this unbearable ordeal just for the sake of your (censored) experiments. It's illegal and most of all , violating our human rights !”
The other scientists in white gown rushed to us and looked derisive to my outburst. An old man snickered and said,
“ Human rights ? You and your friends have kept annoying and endangering the public with your (censored) motorbikes for years and you’re now concerned with this exalted idea ? Your friend, Ping, used to run over the young boy scouts while they were walking on the zebra crossing to their school and they were seriously injured. Don’t you remember ? Ping’s father bribed a police officer who was also his friend to help him out of the jail. All of you deserve this night as a karma especially Ping who was agonizingly rendered unconscious by our tasers . But don’t worry. Our latest experiment now would never end with success without all of you , so you will all receive your handsome pay but still be under our surveillance. You and your gang must henceforth behave well otherwise we will come and kick your asses !
I : I don’t care about your (censored) pay. Aren’t you afraid that we will report this to the police or expose it via social media ?
Everyone burst into laughter. A man said,
“ We’re the agents of the government and our experiments are extremely legit , so what is the use of telling the police about this ? Moreover, the social media is fraught with hoaxes and conspiracy theories , so will the enlightened netizens in this country believe you who are nobody but the worthless punks ? Ultimately, all of your mobile phones will be confiscated for good but we will give you the new ones , so show us your gratitude.”
I (DJ Aon) : Wow ! The plot of your story is incredibly twisted : seamlessly changing from hunting ghosts to the scientific experiment like the conspiracy theories , Khun Peera. And what did you do next ?
Peera (chuckled) : We all begrudgingly received our pay and those darn cheap mobile phones before being sent back home. Like those scientists’ contempt , we had tried so hard to blow the whistle on their inhuman experiments but nobody believed us. Worst still , we also returned to that house several weeks later but it had already been demolished. Our traumas would never be cured and this was the thing we deserved. We thus became the good citizens ever since.
I : Kudos to such a marvellous story ! Don’t try to read the comments in our YouTube as some of them accuse you of longing for fame and concocting this story. Someone bluntly says that your story is only …a bullshit. Don’t get upset when those are just their opinions or satisfactions of snubbing my guests which has happened a lot. And what about Mark ?
Peera : I know , I know the reactions from the audience will be like this ! But that’s OK as I just want my story to be heard. Ah …Mark was painfully heartbroken when Paeng was not the same girl he used to love and was later forever gone from his life. Even though he has a new girlfriend now , he’s still trying to find her until one day … ouchhh !
I : Hello , Khun Peera. What’s happening ? Hello !
I had attempted to call him back over and over again but his line was still busy like someone had just hit his head or kidnapped him to work at a scam centre in Cambodia. Some comment from my audience said that he might have tried to orchestrate a set-up to make us believe that the government harmed or assassinated him. Some even said that he did not believe that Peera was just the element school dropout since he was so well-read and had an ulterior motive for joining my program. I mostly agreed with him. This guy might have been the government's agent ordered to play pranks on my program which recently had increasingly been critical of the government. His tongue-in- cheek remarks on the government were probably a trick to make my program look more radical , exposed to censorship or legal problems.
I played the romantic song 'You Are Not Alone' of Michael Jackson at the end of my program as if to show my realization that I was not alone all along : the government or the deep state was always with me and ready to take me down if I crossed the line too much. I just sat there in exhaustion and drank (a brand of refreshment).
The Spook Radio
The Pregnant Ghost
One of the most notable guests tonight was Krisada , aged 53. His story tonight was about the ferocious pregnant ghost who had terrorized his neighbourhood around the 1980s and that was when he was still a teenager .But it later somehow turned out he was attempting to exploit my program as a way to relish his nostalgic reminiscence. I nonetheless really enjoyed it and so was my sharp-tongued audience. I thus let him rant without interruption. Firstly, Krisada claimed that all his life he used to pass the various menial jobs before his retirement which started when his sons vowed to support him since he had won a series of lotteries. On the list of his jobs were a construction worker, a dish cleaner , an employee of the food stores and so on. Krisada's education background was even more abysmal than Peera's when he barely finished Prathom 2 from the school near the local temple. He however loved his hometown tremendously.
Krisada : My village in the North [the name of his province was withheld] 4 decades ago was so picturesque, indelible on my mind until today. I really loved its whereabouts - not far from a big mountain with the panoramic view looming over the rice fields around those wooden houses. It was so breathtaking when the rice was ripe and its gold colour tinged with a greenery of its leaves made those fields look like a colourful tapestries from the ancient kingdoms. I always sat there in the afternoon , totally captivated by its superb serenity. O , when the rice field was shaken by a gentle breeze, it became like the passionate dancers moving their bodies along to the mellifluous songs by those birds. Despite being the nemeses of the farmers, the cute little creatures with wings kept chirping and hovering above those fields as if they had been entertaining this theatre of nature for all eternity.
I : Wow ! Kudos to your poetic ability to describe such a mesmerizing nature around you. So , who was the woman later becoming the pregnant ghost ?
Krisada : Pim , a woman in the prime of her youth and beauty whom the husband devoted his life to with heart and soul. They were the most enviable couple in our village as their affection for one another was genuine and unparalleled. Sir , don't expect a plot twist like in countess obnoxious stories of mankind that either of them stumbled upon their spouse' s infidelity on their bed. It was however heaven's cruelty that after tying the knot for a few year , she pitifully left this world while delivering a baby. Much to our community's overwhelming grief, her funeral had been attended by the incessant crowds each day , the largest in our village's history surpassing even the funeral of the powerful Kamnan 's father [Kamnan is chief of district]. But barely a day before the cremation , the folks in the hall were struck with horror when the undertaker opened the coffin at the vexing requests of her relatives from another town and found her eyes wide open. He and several men had tried so much to close them but to no avail. The village's most respected old man hysterically shouted that they had forgotten something so important : her dead baby should have been taken away from her womb in the first place to have a separate funeral from her otherwise her spectre would be so vicious. I was also standing among the crowd in the hall and feeling amused even though I was not a child any longer and realized its severity well. Everybody's face became ashen while they began to panic and prattle like insane but a monk who always proclaimed himself as a philosopher clapped his hands loudly.
" I wonder how come you're fearing such a baseless , ludicrous existence like her disembodied ghost. Humans cease to exist after their demise as all their atoms burst asunder and become one with the capricious winds and sunlight around us. Her eyes are opened merely by a malfunction of the dead body, sir !"
A villager who was much older than him argued,
" Brother , don't be so condescending ! Our ancestors have confirmed existence of those spirits for centuries via their trustworthy words and ancient sacred textbooks. I know you're the new generation who looks at our superstition with contempt. But you're also a great hypocrite when you've delightfully received pays and privileges from leading funerals. Doesn't your adroit chanting in Pali and Sanskrit mean anything to you more than parroting for money?"
The monk chuckled and then laughed increasingly louder.
" Consider me as your hired therapist who comforts your short wretched life , old fool ! Like Karl Marx said , religion is the opium of the people , reassuring the people with the blissful heavens even though monks themselves have never been there or really witnessed real ghosts even once. Religions brazenly nurture your fantasies , allaying your doubt and anxiety about the inscrutable afterlife which is not different from directors who have made films for your entertainment. Don't monks provide such marvellous services that you never once hesitate to pay for ? I don’t think I deserve such a condemnation when I merely intend to tell you the truth!"
Suddenly , the coffin was briskly overturned from its stand before Pim's body would fall to the floor. Miraculously , it bounced off to lie on the lap of the village chief who was sitting cross-legged and smiling derisively at the boisterous folks. The tough guy in his 60s screamed at the top of his lungs especially when seeing her terrifying swollen face and hurriedly flung her body aside before running away in disgust. He later claimed to have seen her little smile which was so gut-wrenching. Plenty of folks darted out of the hall in terror and never returned, showing that the philosopher monk's theory sounded not convincing at all.
I : Kun Krisada, please accept my sincerest apology as you have to stop for a while for our hourly news and commercial break. Our audience say that they are dying to learn the reactions from the philosopher monk. Some says that he must have been the first person who ran like hell from the hall , haha.
Krisada laughed too.
(A piece of embarrassing news which should be mentioned here was Thailand's parliament barefacedly agreed not to let one of its members suspected of masterminding illegal gambling websites be prosecuted by the DSI although there was the ample evidence that he was guilty as charged. This shady MP belonged to the Klatham Party of Mr.Thammanat , the politician who was the erstwhile close confidant of PM Anutin. Thanks to Thammanat's notoriety , Anutin decided not to let his party join the coalition after the massively rigged election in 2026 but there was speculation that it could be Anutin's alliance in the future . Or Klatham would be at least a thorn in the flesh of the People's Party , the deep state's adversary, even though they were both the Opposition. It was tragic that the parliament should have respected the law instead of practicing the cronyism like this , which made them resemble the gangsters not the respectable representative of the people.)
Krisada : Kun Aon , the reaction from Luang Pi Somneuk or that philosopher monk was so priceless. He flinched while his face turned pale which meant he was intimidated too but firmly stood his ground that it was merely an outrageous prank by someone who wanted to challenge his wisdom. But everyone wanted him to admit that he was only a smartass. Well , in the final day it was our sheer luck that Pim's cremation ceremony presided over by Kamnan didn't cause any incident but several attendees adamantly claimed that they saw her arm raised from the bonfire for a while. Perhaps the fire caused this kind of naughtiness or it was like an ominous sign that her spirit was embarking on an unsavoury venture. The first victim was Eak , the assistant undertaker, who was completely contrary to his drunkard boss : he was young and prudent as he used to be a novice for a long time. This guy in his leisure loved helping the community and discussing a wide range of serious issues like politics and philosophy with Luang Pi Somnuek whom he held in esteem. He was also an ardent bookworm and one of the books he enjoyed reading the most was The Soldier and the State by the illustrious US political scientist Samuel P. Huntington. I still remember its decrepit cover until today.
I : I know Huntington ! I once was assigned a task by my university lecturer to summarize a chapter in his another book which was critically acclaimed but also contentious : The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. He was the great mind of the 20th century but passed away many years ago.
Krisada: Really ? What a pity ! I read that book too and admire his theories for their profundity but they've been constantly challenged by new generations of intellectuals ,especially the idea based on civilizations although it seems compelling after the 9/11...
I: Let go back to our story : how did Mr.Eak meet Pim's ghost ?
Krisada : Almost a month later , that night Eak immersed himself in reading The Republic , the magnum opus of Plato and kept walking around his little house to contemplate the problems raised by the renowned Greek philosopher. Ah .... I forget to tell you that his house was in the area of the temple and uncomfortably near the cemetery which he seemed not to mind at all as he praised it for its peacefulness. He suddenly saw the decaying swollen corpse of Pim walk past him and greet him cordially but in a chilling voice since they used to be the acquaintances. Instead of greeting back , the young man was scared shitless while his hair abruptly stood on end. He screamed loudly before bolting to the chapel , kicking in its door and cowering behind the large sacred Buddha image inside instead of Plato bust in his house. So sorry that the philosopher's ghost could not help him because it was in the present-day Greece. This was like a debut of K-pop singer : from now on our folks who went out at night to catch frogs and fishes in the little swamps near the rice fields would always find Pim stand on their ways and frighten them with her sinister smiles while extending her arms like she was about to strangle them. After escaping at incredible speed , they always fell ill in the next day and muttered deliriously about how terrifying Pim was.
(It was a break again and after several commercials, I asked Krisada whose song in the 80s he wanted me to play to show gratitude for his contribution to my program : Jae Danuphon Kaewkarn , Bird Thongchai McIntyre , Micro , Nuvo or Mai Charoenpura. But Krisada asked for Kenny G and it was the first time in my program to play the Jazz music like the song 'Moonlight' -slow and romantic. My audience were bedazzled saying that it was even more surprising than one night when I played a song by Metallica. Krisada said that it was for his beloved lady , aiming to remind her of those sweet nights while they were still the lovers. )
Krisada : Kenny G is such a great saxophonist but his music is not exactly jazz . It has been criticized by many as an elevator music , haha. It is a potpourri of pop , easy listening and ostentatious jazz. The snobbish prefer others whose music is more complicated like David Sanborn or Michael Breaker... but I still like him. His music was Namtan's favourite and usually played while I and she were sweetly making out.
I : Fabulous ! And what befell your community next ?
Krisada : Pim's next victims were the reckless teenagers on their motorbikes to the temple fair , the food vendors who were on the way to the market before the break of dawn or even the village chief again when he sneaked out of his house to visit his pretty mistress who lived not far from the temple. And then it was like the Red Scare [a great fear of communists] in the US during the 50s. Our folks were in a great panic and during the meeting there were several doubting her motive for showing up randomly like that as her dead baby was still with her and she had never desperately gushed about her desire to meet her beloved husband like Nang Nak even though he and her family had moved to another province a week after the cremation. Or she was holding a grudge against someone ? But they were so upset that all the monks, including the abbot, didn't practice the black magic and had no idea how to suppress Pim, not to mention the philosopher monk who felt humiliated but still tried to develop the new theory to dismiss Pim's existence. He said this was just a mass hysteria or a great illusion which only looked so real and Eak , his mentee, who was still insecure finally succumbed to this. Everybody couldn't help laughing at him although they were supposed to treat him with respect. An old man became enlightened and opined that it would be wiser to hire a veteran sorcerer to negotiate with her and tell her to go away for a reincarnation or to only mind taking care of her baby's ghost for its future. Everybody enthusiastically agreed and a day later a ritual was held on the wide lawn of the temple by a sorcerer who was hastily sent from Cambodia. He was so wizened and had many scars on his face like he was a survivor from the Khmer Rouge regime in the 70s.
I : I assume the country rampant with scam centres and corrupt politicians makes that sorcerer more intimidating than Switzerland or Canada since Cambodian black magic is always deemed by Thais mystic and awesome. But I doubt why Mr. Hun Sen , its supreme leader, hadn’t allowed such a powerful magic to destroy the Thai army during the Thai- Cambodian war - because it's a kind of bullshit !"
(Krisada burst into laughter and my audience wholeheartedly admired my joke as they despised everything about Cambodia. I thought I could have been a good demagogue who inflamed the bloody nationalism during the right-wing rallies.)
Krisada: The ritual looked so solemn but bore a resemblance to the ones in the horror and comedy films during the 80s (and the sorcerers were always played by the same comedian like Lor Tok or a guy with a big moustache). The long holy white threads were extended in the shape of big square to protect the attendees who were so thrilled. Pim at last showed up after the sorcerer had long summoned her with his eerie incantations but she was just standing there and sneering quietly despite his multiple serious threats (he could speak Thai fluently) that he would incarcerate her in a holy pot forever if she didn't surrender to him and stop rattling the community’s nerves. The sorcerer finally lost his temper and thrashed her with his holy whip and threw a handful of holy rice at her in tandem but those yielded nothing like she was just a hologram in Star Wars until he became exhausted and stopped. Pim then smilingly bended down to whisper something in the sorcerer's ear. The old codger exclaimed with a word in Cambodian which meant " Holy shit !" and packed his things into his tote bag before walking away in a big hurry followed by his faithful assistant and the crestfallen villagers , including the village chief, who felt like the fools when they heard Pim giggling from behind. We didn't the heck know at all what message Pim had delivered to him was but it was so powerful that the old Cambodian’s face grimaced.
The Spook Radio
The Pregnant Ghost
2
Krisada : Within a few days our village chief showed his leadership by making several calls to the offices of the venerable monks in Bangkok and its vicinity for helps but was bluntly declined. Their excuses were the same : their masters were too busy to come but I wondered whether they feared Pim's well- known ferociousness or just neglected our community as it was quite unknown. But it was obvious this humiliated the village chief who always boasted of his strong connections and a leak that he had tried to bribe them also played a crucial role in his impeachment much later. We always teasingly called this the Pim-Gate like the Watergate , a scandal of the US President Richard Nixon in the early 70s. It was so unbelievable that the folks later tried a solution which was far easier : to reach out to Pim's ex-husband and her family who were living in another province to return and help her come to her senses. What a shame that ChatGPT or Gemini wasn’t invented yet otherwise we would have received good advice and tried this way before hiring that disgraced sorcerer. By the way , those AIs are even much smarter than the minister of Digital Economy and Society himself who is a Nepo baby !
(I chortled while a great number of my audience had repeatedly sent an emoji of laughter or like.)
Regrettably, those people seemed like vanishing into thin air when they had already moved out of the house mentioned to us before leaving the village. Were they also the victims of Pim's ghost and escaped somewhere? We didn't really know. At that time technology wasn't cutting-edge like today : mobile phones - comically large sizes- were still available to only the wealthy and internet was not yet introduced to Thais - until the mid-90s , let alone social media which was not invented yet. Let me wistfully hark back to the late 80s : we were still in the cold war and all the world dwellers were terrified of a vision of nuclear holocaust. Thailand in the era of PM Prem Tinsulanonda was still encountering the threats by the Vietnamese army but the Communist Party of Thailand became moribund. Nobody even the US powerful intelligence like the CIA still could predict the collapse of the USSR and the end of the cold war which would happen in the next few years. It was quite weird that Putin was still the KGB' s operative , Trump was still a real estate mogul in New York and Thaksin just quit his job as a policeman and became fully involved in his family business.
I : Wow ! I wish I had grown up in that era as it must have been so fascinating ... but in our story , wasn't it quite bizarre that the ex-son-in-law still lived with his late wife's family ?
Krisada : I can't agree more , Kun Aon, and a stunning answer we learnt much later by the time they returned to our village was that Pim's husband had married her younger sister which he claimed that it was Pim's consent before she died. But how on earth did she knew that she would die ? Or she had a strong premonition like she had the ESP (Extrasensory Perceptions) or he just lied brazenly as it was an adultery before Pim was dead? But at the end of this story, I’ll reveal it all. Please rest assured that it isn’t such a big mystery like who actually assassinated JFK ? Or who was a real mastermind behind the coup d’etat that toppled Thaksin's government in 2006 ?
(I was about to say something about the second mystery but immediately practiced a self- censorship after DJ Wan's warning had popped up on my mind. This could have had landed me on a legal trouble when millions of people including the military were listening to my program.)
I : Good comparisons especially with the last one ! And what's next?
Krisada: And this was our final solution : holding a ceremony to appease Pim at her deserted house. Everybody threw themselves into it although they weren’t certain whether it would succeed as her intention was still unknown and whether she would still be irritated with that lousy sorcerer. The ceremony in broad daylight was breathtaking : the women in all ages dressed in traditional Lanna style had been gracefully dancing while a mystic old music from an ensemble near them gave us goosebumps like it was luring all the supernatural creatures into surrounding the ceremony. Its video could have been used to promote the tourism of our community via TikTok or YouTube nowadays but it still resembled those ceremonies in every part of our country. The assorted offerings on the table were a row of krathongs made from green banana leaves containing beautiful flowers and little candles , the plates of chicken and meat and the glasses of rice spirit although someone whispered to the village chief that Pim disliked them when she was still alive. A gale appeared out of nowhere like someone was conjuring it up and threw half of the offerings away ruthlessly. Everything fell silent as the crowd gasped in astonishment and the musicians were too stupefied to play. There was then a series of trilling squeals from the second floor of the house before its doors and windows would keep opening and closing forcefully. The folks were scared shitless and began to run away while several knocked over the table of remaining offerings before stomping on them. Everything from our money and perseverance was in an utter shambles before the merciless torments by Pim would continue and make our folks at their wits' end. The village chief told them to avoid venturing out of their houses at night until another solution was found but now there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It was so embarrassing that when dusk fell , our folks would cowardly scramble to close their houses' doors and windows which were always adorned by Camphor tree's branches believed to deter Pim's spectre from entering their houses. Those nights our village was like a ghost town without any movement or sound , totally different from even only a week ago -only the faint prayers from the cowering folks before their tiny lord Buddha images in their houses. I remembered well that my grandmother performed this every night and coerced me into following her amidst the light from the tiny candles. I relished watching the tiny face of Buddha's image - enlightened and serene against the darkness of our wooden house but couldn't help myself questioning my grandmother : the Buddha had already gone to nirvana more than 2,000 years ago which meant he no longer existed , so why did we still revere him as if he had been a deity or something ? And if his holy spirit still persisted, would he enjoy being incarcerated in a rough material like a statue on our cramped shelf or in the temple's old chapel ? My grandmother was livid and said bluntly that I was too young to understand this.
(I told Krisada about another break. The reactions from my audience were various : some admired his scepticism whereas some thought that he was gone too far which showed that they were boringly conservative. But many would like to see him talk with Ajarn Beer Khon Tuen-dhamma which would be so exhilarating.)
Krisada : Still , all the folks heard Pim aimlessly roam around our neighbourhood , frightening us with her endless grunts and mumbo jumbos. Many buried themselves in the thick blankets and some even used ear plugs but her voice still reverberated through their heads. A macho guy showed his guts by turning on a loud music at his house like a party and keeping hurling at Pim with unbearable expletives while wielding a sword for a duel. But funny that he had already intoxicated himself with a bottle of Saeng Som. In the dead of the night the guy screamed at the top of his lungs before being completely silent but everybody including his wife was too scared to check on him. In the morning he was found lying and wailing incessantly with delirium before being sent to the hospital. Although his head was not ripped off, some parts of his hair were gone before he would be completely bald in a few days and he henceforth became like a nutcase but nice and friendly to everyone. Pim's rampage also shattered my spiritual ecstasy at the rice fields like my introduction to you. Yes , it was in the afternoon - many hours before the unpleasant nights but I still felt her presence and the looming terror. Worse still, there was a rumour that she sometimes appeared before the working farmers in the afternoon making me want to fanatically jump and scream. This kind of feeling was like of the world about the US - Iran war which has disturbingly led the Strait of Hormuz to be blocked indefinitely making the oil and gas prices soar and everything in the world seems like plunging into eternal turmoil. And then .... like your audience's anticipation , someone became a knight in shining armour : our philosopher monk who had been restless in his dwelling declared to the village committee that he would negotiate with Pim in the hope that his name would be rehabilitated. He however loathed doing it alone (or he was too afraid) and pestered his mentee , Mr. Aek, to accompany him. Aek still tortured by a trauma initially declined but changed his mind when Luang Phi Somnuek promised that they would be joined by another fellow and that was I who was considered by them as their mentee. I was horrified but didn't hesitate to accept their invitation as I was hell-bent on doing anything even walking on water so that I would enjoy such a beautiful scene again. But if our mission failed and we all perished , it would be like Udom Taepanich's gag : it was an honour to have my neck snapped by ghost which was a unique experience ! I lied to my grandmother that I went for a tutorial at the dwelling of Luang Phi Somnuek and she begrudgingly let me go.
(Krisada coughed a bit and continued.)
That night we awaited Pim at the historical place like the temple's lawn without sending her DM (a direct message) for an appointment since internet wasn’t available in Thailand yet and she probably didn’t have her own computer or secretary. At first , the philosopher monk toyed with an idea of descending on her house but was rejected by Aek who was afraid that it was probably deemed a serious insult to her. It was a typical night like in good horror films : the full moon was so red like it was painted by blood behind the scattering clouds. The cicadas and other insects around us stopped singing like they were afraid of the supernatural power. This night was thus exceptionally quiet while we were standing patiently in the dark with a flickering light from our lamps. But the things around us were utterly dark like a bottom of well which looked like it was ready to drown our soul at any moment. We knew that we were in great fear but pretended to dauntlessly brace ourselves for meekly talking to her like the diplomats. Aek lamented that we should have found more tricks by reading Donald Trump’s book : The Art of the Deal which had been printed years ago (1987) by the New York Times. But regarding his blunders in the war with Iran today , I was glad that we didn’t . Despite our trembling voices which looked like gibberish, the philosopher monk believed we would succeed. But if our plan went awry , we could comfort ourselves with Friedrich Nietzche's famous quotation : I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible. It didn’t cheer up us at all especially with the word ‘perish” but how could we do anything else when we were ready to sacrifice everything for a greater good ? Everybody in this community was counting on us and strongly craving our victory here. We however were reassured by the village chief that they would build a big statue for the 3 of us in gratitude if Pim managed to drag us to the ghostly dimension or in simple terms , snap our necks. A sudden beginning of sensational howls from the temple dogs like an overture to her arrival put us on edge but Pim still didn’t show up. As time wore on , we didn’t want to kill it by discussing the serious topics any longer as it was quite late while we were too stressed out and exhausted. Aek wanted a big distraction badly before asking me ,
" Krisada , I heard that music is your passion. If our mission is accomplished, will you celebrate by going to a concert by Kantai music band [วงคันไถ] and Nick Niranam [นิค นิรนาม] in the nearby village next week? I really like the songs like Yai Laem [ยายแหล่ม]."
I [Krisada] said,
"It's a great song indeed as it frankly explores the Thai society : poverty , sexual exploitations and agism of desperate people during the 80s almost like Sao Ramwong [สาวรำวง] by Katon [วงกะท้อน] or Nanggarm Tukachok [นางงามตู้กระจก] by Carabao music band [วงคาราบาว]. What a pity that the audience generally fails to realize their real messages , affecting the policies of the governments ruled mostly by those old men such as the retired generals and the veteran politicians which we call the male-dominated politics and the guided democracy, hence a perpetual circle of problems .”
“ Knock it off ! I'm fed up with more analysis but want to know whether you like them or not,” said annoyingly Aek while Luang Phi Somneuk seemed to be interested in my answer too. Later , he quit his monkhood to further his study in India and obtained the PhD degree in Philosophy before becoming a university lecturer - married with 2 children.
Before I would answer him , I felt something swiftly happening : Pim appeared before us while scowling and extending her arms to us like the furious Nang Nak. We were extremely petrified and on the verge of running away but the philosopher monk could miraculously gather his wits , shout loudly and begin to teach her with some parts from Tripitaka [พระไตรปีฏก]. When that seemed not enough , Eak supported him by citing various quotations from the famous philosophers even Confucius or Mencius while closing his eyes, haha. Pim had been dumbfounded for a long time before crying so hard. She tearfully confessed that her vengeance was caused by the folks’ vicious gossips about her and her family for years but now she was repenting and would embark on a journey to the next life. She also hoped that she would be forgiven by every poor victim after we had delivered her heartfelt apology to them. We were enormously relieved while comforting her like she was one of our beloved sisters. It was exceedingly strange to do that to the ghost ! Pim smiled sadly before disappearing and we rushed to embrace one another with tremendous delight. The peace of our village was finally restored !
Eak said,
“Krisada, now we can join the concert by Kantai and Nick Niranam next week without a care in the world !”
Luang Phi Somnuek interrupted,
“That also includes me , right ?”
I said,
“ Brother , you’re the monk and according to the Buddha’s discipline , you’re forbidden to attend concerts , aren’t you ?”
The philosopher monk smirked.
“ But I think that thanks to my heroism , he would grant me an exemption from nirvana.”
We all burst into laughter.
The Spook Radio
The Pregnant Ghost
3
The Lonely Spirit
I : Is this really the end ?
Krisada (laughed) : NO ! Not at all. I've just playfully misled you [and the readers of this short story]. While we were jovially walking back to Luang Phi Somnuek's dwelling , I was suddenly thunderstruck that both my mentors and everything around us stopped moving completely like a freeze-frame , including the sounds which became muffled like I was deaf. I found myself the only one who was still the same and even though I kept calling and shaking their bodies , they were still incredibly stiff without even breathing. Before I would do anything , the temple's lawn promptly turned into another place exactly like in my longtime imagination : a dimly lit but boisterous pub. I remembered that it was a luxury one in Manhattan, New York in the 50s and this crowded opulent hall was reverberating with Take Five , one of the greatest jazz songs in history, by Paul Desmond who was vibrantly playing a saxophone on the stage along with a pianist and a bassist (a trio). A waitress led me to a table and I followed her albeit in a daze. I also found that my T- shirt and jeans turned into an expensive evening suit like in a dream and unprecedentedly spoke English fluently before ordering a glass of bourbon although I’d never even drunk it before. The people around , all the white Americans , seemed to ignore me even though I was an Asian guy from a small country in Southeast Asia and the racism was back then still strong. Those people were talking and laughing like there was no tomorrow amidst a thick smoke from cigarettes. Another song which ensued seamlessly was from a bespectacled guy with a saxophone too but with an ensemble. I gulped down the whiskey to quench my thirst , wondering what the heck was befalling me.
" Do you like 'Memories of You' ? It's so sentimental and ethereal unlike other songs in the world. Benny Goodman is playing it marvellously although he’s in his late 40s now and look how bald he is !”
A voice startled me and I found that Pim was sitting elegantly nearby. She was in a beautiful red gown - so gorgeous without exuding an unbearable terror like the last time I had seen her and the way she was sipping wine from a long glass was so alluring , making me fix my eyes on her.
Pim said,
“But he’s still your favourite like Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald , I know that. Well , do you think our story would end stupidly like just now ? Was I supposed to easily bow down to those meaningless prattles from your mentors or the 2 buffoons who assumed that their wisdom was so profound like of ancient sages? Anyhow, I was so impressed that you didn't join them."
I said in a quivering voice ,
" Pi Pim, I admire your superb skill of performance so you deserve an Oscar indeed after you successfully treated us like the fools."
She giggled.
"Sorry , young man. That was not a simple deception by a skilled fraudster. Will you believe me that the 3 of you right now are sitting in a trance in Somnuek's dwelling? Please realize that all you had witnessed on the temple's lawn was conjured up by my mind like a simulation in computer and even until now. My mind could totally dominate yours and make your adventure be like a plot from silly 3 baht pulp comics [การ์ตูนเล่มละ 3 บาท] with the one- dimensional characters and a predictable ending. But I also have to exploit a chunk of fantasies or memories from your minds as a material, so I know a lot about your group. Everybody has their own little secret : Somnuek is making a plan to quit his monkhood next year and Eak is planning to invite a girl whom he is pursuing to Kantai and Nick Niranam’s concert by using you as their companion , haha. You , you don’t like Thai music especially the songs- for -life like Aek mentions but are too reluctant to tell him, correct ? You love jazz but always fear that you would be rebuked as a snobbish who love farang not Thai stuff- a nasty nationalism and you really long to visit the place like this for a long time after you've seen it from the films outdoor."
My jaw dropped in astonishment.
"Wow ! Can't believe that the pregnant ghost like you could read every nook and cranny of our minds , Pi Pim ! "
She said,
" Brother , it’s so saddening to say that I'm not your ex-crush , Pim. I'm just a wandering spirit who has impersonated her all along. It's like a quirky twist of fate that I happened to pass by while she was dying in the operation room that night and felt amused to be her for a while."
I felt my blood running around the face and muttered,
"You're just a wandering spirit but how come you're so God-like : powerful and omniscient ? And where is Pim's ghost now ?"
Pim's face became a little saddened.
" I can't tell you. I've wandered as a lone spirit, swimming across the ocean of time which is perhaps longer than millions of years while amassing my power and in the history of mankind I've never met a single of their souls. Pim died and simply disappeared like everyone who once lived in this world , perhaps into the spiritual realms that are even beyond my intelligence. But lately , I’m inclined to believe a school in the Greek philosophy called atomism mentioned by Somnuek : humans decease and their atoms just disperse. They completely no longer exist."
I almost yelled out,
"But you're the spirit!!! What kind of metaphysics is this ?
She shrugged.
"I don't know , brother. It’s just my assumption as the universe is vast and inscrutable. There could be an only realm of spirit and that is me or I maybe consist of atoms too but in an exceptional way or this school is wrong , I don't know. I even have no idea who I was before dying but I'm certain that I am condemned to be eternally tortured by the loneliness. There’re many times I've called out to the creator of this universe or God as you can call him but the only response is a deafening silence. I've decided to do anything to kill time otherwise I would become insane like messing with people like you folks time after time to enjoy how panic and wretched they become when encountering a danger which is unfathomable to them. You can berate me that I’m so sadistic but I swear I've never killed anyone. I know it is still the atrocious acts but am not afraid as there is neither karma nor heaven and hell in this universe ! They're just a crock of shit concocted to deceive humans who are still immature like a child : fear of pains and long for pleasure. But I want you to accept my apology to show that I still have a moral integrity.
I shook my head.
"I can't do that as I'm too powerless whether to accept your apology or not. You should ask this with your victims instead or actually , you should stop those misdeeds and try to do something like stop the wars and bring those greedy politicians to justice . But I want to ask you some questions as I guess that a slice of Pim's memories is still lingering with you. What happened to Pim and her family before she died ?
She said,
" You’re absolutely right. I still get a hold of her memories. I know that despite a perfect image of her which had been displayed to the villagers for ages, Pim was actually ill-tempered and manipulative like a psychopath. She had enjoyed quietly abusing the members of her family and later her husband. That guy finally fell in love with her sister and they conspired to poison her little by little which killed her at the time of delivering their baby - a perfect murder ! They and her parents who hated her too then escaped for fear that the calculated murder would be exposed. But may years later they will come back to show that they are really out of the hook. But I appreciate them. Except for their crime , they're the decent people indeed."
I "Aw ! Why's the real world so reprehensible ? I had a crush on her for a long time but from your revelation, such an unrequited love now becomes a mixed blessing to me instead. By the way, what did you whisper to that Cambodian old sorcerer during the exorcism ?"
She laughed,
"That obnoxious old man? He's a paedophile, sexually assaulting innumerable girls. Brother, Cambodia under the occupation of Vietnamese army is so corrupt [like today], no wonder he has successfully evaded the justice by having the chief of police as one of his followers. I at that time bluntly told him that I would have tweaked his dick if he hadn't stopped bothering me and he was horrified , haha. Don't worry : after this, I will be a good vigilante by going to Phnom Penh to make him permanently impotent. He will certainly be in a living hell like the girls he has abused.
I roared with laughter.
" Thank you , thank you . This evil guy deserves it ! Hey , I’m fed up with such a vicious world now , so would you please help me go home in the real world?"
The lonely spirit grinned.
"Don't mind the viciousness much as it’s one of the true faces of the world which you can't avoid especially when growing older, so come to terms with it ! But now I will take you somewhere so enchanting that going home to your grumpy grandma now would be a grave sin.”
The place around us then turned into the rice field near our village in the afternoon. That abrupt change took a toll on my body since both places were absolutely different. I found my vision blurred and had a muffled hearing. Managing to adjust , I found Pim in a decrepit farmer outfit holding a long stick like she was going trekking and smiling to me.
She said,
"This is the reason why I'm tremendously intrigued by you although this rice field is not as beautiful as in Germany or Switzerland. You differed from your mentors who imprison themselves in the world of logic and philosophy which are the words from the foreigners from bygone eras : the Buddha , Atomism, Plato , Nietzche, Marx, Confucius, Mencius ... C'mon , they had already passed away for so long , even a thousand years ago. Those words are just the speculations from the blind like them - not seeing the truth of the universe at all , I guarantee. But they have farcically been ardently followed by the generations of people who are even blinder than them. I however believe you always witness the truth from just sitting here and watching the beauty of the nature. It's a lived experience far more worthy than meditating in temples or listening to the scholars gush about those dead thinkers. Brother, you may someday find who our creator is and what our universe is really like with your enlightenment here and I therefore hope that you will be my companion in this vast universe after you die. But I’ve got to go now , so Auf Wiedersehen (goodbye) ! "
Suddenly, I found myself all alone. I tried to look around for Pim but to no avail and then found several little birds soar from the colourful rice field and sing the ancient songs carried by a naughty wind. I could feel the sunlight caressing my arms after it had penetrated the clouds which were so white like cottons on the blue sky above. I smiled.
I (Aon) : Finally, your story’s actual ending comes. Wow ! In more than a decade of my career as a DJ , your story is truly one of a kind : complex and philosophical. Please be calm when reading the comments from the audience in my channel or TikTok. Some say that you're a novelist with such a vivid imagination who leverages my program to promote his work. But this is the softest sarcastic one among an avalanche of biting comments on your story tonight. There’re however many ,especially the teenagers, who believe that your story is true and want to be your FCs. Perhaps you can be the leader of a cult in the future.
Krisada : That's OK, Kun Aon. Like plenty of your guests said , I'm just immensely pleased to let my story known nationwide although many considered it a fiction or a bullshit from the lonely old man. If I were them , I would say the same.
I : Ultimately, I want to ask you whether you didn't really even finish Prathom 2 and had been just a worker with such lowly jobs ? It's extremely beyond my common sense !
Krisada (laughed) : Really ? And what do you think ? Does it matter whether I would finish only Prathom 1 or have the PhD degree ? Will it enhance or undermine the profundity of my story ? Or are you even sure that my name is Krisada , aged 53 and a once blue -collar worker ? Although my real identity is never revealed , I’m sure that the people will still be talking about my story for generations which is my ultimate purpose , not a fame.
I : Ugh ! I won't dare excoriate you like many of my audience that you're so annoying , so only thing that I can say right now is thank you so much for your witty style of telling this surrealistic story which makes us feel like riding a roller-coaster above raging sea. Goodbye , sir.
I later paused my program for 15 minutes so I could take a handful of medicine to relieve my headache but deep down inside I still felt amused if he would make a call to me for another story someday. I would wait for it.
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