KRUANG RUANG

Descendants of an ancient civilisation, modern Thais have inherited beliefs in supernatural forces with power to distribute among humans both favours and afflictions. Animistic in nature, these beliefs lie outside the realm of modern science, though they are not necessarily divorced from mainstream religion. The vast majority of Thais, of course, are Buddhist. More than nine tenths of the population not only profess but also practice the faith.

Yet the national religion overlays rather than supplants much older beliefs in unseen forces inhabiting a potent spirit world. Buddhism in Thailand is a genuine faith, an essential element in the cultural fabric and integral to the strength of the society. The religion, nonetheless, is concerned primarily with man’s ultimate release from suffering, from the cycle of death and re-birth. As such, it does not address mundane problems. At the same time, it is a tolerant faith, not necessarily negating additional beliefs which may be deemed relevant and beneficial to daily well-being.

Accordingly, the Thais have inherited from their animistic ancestors a host of beliefs in supernatural powers which interact with ordinary life. Rather than contradict Buddhism, these convictions are held in such a close and complex relationship with the national religion that an outsider can scarcely differentiate the dual elements.

Many of these beliefs and superstitions can be seen performed by the Nak Muay prior to a bout. In ancient times as has already been indicated, Siamese people believed in the power of incantations and protective amulets. They thought that everywhere was ruled or inhabited by unseen spirits, and that places were either cursed or blessed. Because of these beliefs, it was necessary to perform special rites before a fighter entered the ring, asking the spirits’ permission to do so, propitiating them, and destroying any evil which may be lurking there. The rituals were also thought to protect the fighter and lead him to victory. Even today, the rites involve a strong element of psychology as the fighters psyche themselves in readiness for the imminent bout.

In the days where fights were staged on the bare ground, fighters used to pay homage to the goddess of the earth, Mae Torranee, by picking up some soil when they were kneeling down and raising it to their forehead. Even in these days of concrete stadiums, some fighters can still be observed pressing their thumb on the floor and then onto their head or forehead. This, like everything else in this particular ritual, is very much a matter of individual preference these days, with no prescribed rules.

The practice of marking the skin to a greater or lesser extent with tattoos has been widespread among the Thais for centuries.

Its beginnings are obscure, though it is possible that the custom reached Thailand via the ancient Khmer, who were a powerful presence in the region prior to the 13th Century birth of the Thai nation.

Widespread in the past, tattooing remains common today. Although the practice has acquired a certain stigma in the modern age, tattoos are typically still popular among young male labourers and other manual workers, or amongst people, those such as boxers, soldiers and policemen, who see themselves more than usually exposed to physical risk.

Unlike the Western male’s preference for naked women, dagger-pierced hearts, eagles and other standard patterns from the tattooist’s catalogue, the Thais opt for more arcane symbols – Mythical creatures, figures from classical mythology, and esoteric texts written in ancient Khmer script (Khom).

The difference is not one of aesthetic taste; it is indicative rather of a fundamental distinction. Tattoos in Thailand are magical, in that they serve the express purpose of providing supernatural protection.

The majority of people who are tattooed believe they acquire two types of strength:

Kwam yu yong kong kraphan and Metta mahaniyom. The first is physical invulnerability from weapons, with tattoos supposedly preventing the skin from being punctured by knives or bullets. The second is the power to attract admiration and love, the tattooed being able to exert a positive influence over others.

Steady hands are essential, as traditional Thai tattooists shun modern needles and use instead a simple pointed steel or brass rod about 18 inches long and hollow at the tip. Holding the rod in one hand and using the other as a rest for the point, the tattooist rhythmically jabs at the skin pricking out the pattern.

The markings are often done freehand, although a pre-drawn outline may be followed – any mistake in the tattoo is considered very unlucky.

Nowadays the ink, usually dark blue, very occasionally red, is of a commercial type. In the past, however, tattooists would make their own ink according to recipes akin to a witch’s brew – the fat from the chin of a corpse, best taken from several bodies on the night of a full moon, was one ingredient considered especially potent.

One type of ink is noteworthy, and that is an “invisible” ink made from sesame oil. This might seem to defeat the object of having a tattoo, and it would if the motivation were merely vanity, but invisible tattooing enables modern Thais to receive the protective power of a tattoo without bearing the stigma which today surrounds a custom perceived officially as implicitly anti-social, evidence of a rough or aggressive character.

Worn as a means of assuring protection, amulets are closely akin to magical tattoos; indeed, the tattoo may be seen as the ultimate amulet, as it can never be lost. In modern Thai life, however, amulets tend to be far more socially acceptable and are untainted by that stigma which often attaches to tattoos.

Amulets have always been an essential part of a Muay Thai fighter’s accoutrements. Sacred and highly respected items, when not in use amulets must be kept in a suitably venerated position: if they are put in an inappropriate place, for example a low shelf or somewhere that people are liable to step over them, it is believed that they will lose their mystical powers. Bodily functions are similarly seen as possibly inferring disrespect, and when washing or using the toilet, the wearer should place the charms behind his back or in his mouth so as not to give offence. Amulets should also be removed during sexual activities. Among other ways in which offence may be given is letting the amulet come into contact with female nether garments. Woman wearing amulets should remove her sarong by lowering it not pulling it over her head. By the same token, anyone wearing amulets should not walk beneath any female clothing that may be hung up.

An amusing anecdote illustrates the sort of unfortunate repercussions that may ensue from such transgression. A folk tale from Phetchaburi relates how a boy’s mother had washed her sarong and hung it up to dry before going off to work in the fields. It then began to rain and the little boy, wearing an amulet around his neck, saw the sarong and went to unhook it from the line with a pole. To do so, obviously, he had to step under the garment; and, as he did so, the pole he was carrying jerked up of its own accord and whacked the lad on the forehead in rebuke.

The moral of the story is that the protective power of amulets, as with virtually all supernatural objects, is reciprocal – the object must be treated with respect if its power is to be beneficial.

Beliefs in amulets in the present day are very much a private matter. Fighters not giving credence to them may not even use them at all. However all Nak Muay must use the MONGKON and the PRATCHIA.

The Mongkon is a circlet worn on the head as a charm to bring prosperity and to protect the wearer from danger.

The Nak Muay must wear it until the completion of the Wai Kru and Ram Muay then ceremoniously removed by the fighters Kru and hanged in a high place (usually a high point on the corner post). The Mongkon is normally the property of the Kru and is either kept in a high place at the Kru’s home or at the Muay camp. In ancient times, Siamese soldiers tied a type of bandanna around their foreheads before going into battle. It is believed that from this custom arose the tradition of the Kru giving a mongkon to his student.

Some Muay training camps or individual teachers developed their own unique methods of making a mongkon in order to endow it with miraculous powers, including, legend has it, using a live snake – preferably a poisonous one – to enhance the effect even more.

Supposedly, when the selected snake opened its mouth, its tail was rammed down its own throat, forming it into a circle, in which state it was placed in the sun to die and dry for seven days and nights. The Mongkon was then woven around this shape.

There was one major difference in the use of the mongkon in the past: it was not removed from the fighter’s head throughout the contest. If the mongkon fell off during a bout, the opponent stopped his offensive to allow the fighter to replace it: he never used the opportunity to take advantage of his vulnerability.

The Pratchia is a band of cloth, traditionally red and white, worn around the upper arm during a contest to induce toughness and help the fighter avoid danger.

In practice a fighter can incorporate anything in which he believes and which he venerates into his Pratchia or mongkon: a strand of his father’s hair or even a thread from his mother’s paa-tung (sarong) used at the time of his birth, it is then called a Kruang Ruang Quite often the Kru will place an amulet and a secret prayer hidden and sealed inside the Kruang ruang and sometimes both the Mongkon and Pratchiac are blessed by Buddhist monks.