Is it okay to publicly show off a “giant male genitalia”? Thailand’s “Ghost Festival” kicks off in July

Tourism Center / Taipei Reporting

Following the Songkran Water Festival, Thailand’s “Ghost Festival” will take place from July 10 to 12. During this time, visitors to Thailand can witness both adults and children wearing ghost masks and parading through the streets in a “ghost parade,” putting on a unique and wild show of demons dancing together. Not only that, but during the Ghost Festival, men are also allowed to publicly display their “giant genitalia” to women.


▲ Thailand Ghost Festival. (Photo / Provided by Tourism Authority of Thailand)

The origins of the Ghost Festival include a tragic and poignant love story. A devoted young couple in love, where the woman was the daughter of an official and the man was merely a serf—due to their stark difference in social status, they were forced to elope. However, while being chased, the pair hid in a cave within a Buddhist stupa. Unexpectedly, villagers later sealed the cave entrance, and the star-crossed lovers died of starvation inside, eventually turning into vengeful spirits that guard the treasures beneath the stupa.

Due to vivid and eerie descriptions, people portrayed the ghosts as having hideous, green-faced and fang-toothed appearances. Not only did this cause widespread fear among the populace, but even the local lesser spirits were intimidated by the mighty presence of these ghostly figures and came to pledge their allegiance. As a result, the superstitious locals began to refer to the male ghost as “Chao Pha Khong” and the female ghost as “Chao Mae Naang Thian,” depicting them as giant spectral beings, much like Zhong Kui in Chinese mythology, who specializes in capturing and devouring ghosts.

However, the gathering of these spirits to pay homage disturbed the local residents, causing fear among nearby villagers. Eventually, the villagers could only pray for the ghosts not to emerge and terrorize them. A ritual festival was established in their honor, thus giving rise to the Ghost Festival tradition in the Mueang Phai region. In the Northeast, the festival is called “Pee Ta Khon” (Peetakone), meaning “ghastly ghost faces.”

Every year during the festival, people of all ages, both adults and children, wear ghost masks made from coconut leaves and bamboo strips, which are terrifying and grotesque. They dress in vibrant, multicolored cloth garments that flutter as they move, and carry iron cans and metal scraps that jingle and clank with every step. The procession of these costumed “ghosts” is naturally an awe-inspiring spectacle. The ghosts also wield wooden swords and knives, and more bizarrely, each one carries a hand-carved wooden phallus of varying sizes, yet all exquisitely crafted.

The most amusing part is that the tips of these phalluses are painted bright red, making them especially eye-catching. Some of the ghost impersonators playfully present their giant male organs to girls as if offering a treasure, often startling the girls into shrieks. Normally, such mischief would be met with scolding or even a punch, but during the Ghost Festival, such pranks are tolerated.

A crowd of ghosts swarming the streets would normally be a terrifying sight. But the Ghost Festival has incorporated a lot of fun, creating a lively atmosphere akin to a massive carnival, full of laughter and chaos, with no sense of fear at all. At the front of the ghost parade, leading the way, are often two particularly tall and frighteningly ugly male and female ghost figures—they are the Ghost King and Ghost Queen, appearing most majestic as they are surrounded by the other ghosts.