The Real Goumonthong – Part I

This is a translated article from Koosang Koosom Magazine, written by Goumonngen in Thai Language, translated by Ginger.

This part of the story is from my previous translation of Thai (Lao) Baby Ghost Spirit (Lok Grok-Goumonthong) – Part III:

Goumonthong (golden boy or baby ghost) was a powerful being, and the most well known one was from the Thai legend of ‘Koun Changh Koun Panh’….as the story goes, after Koun Panh (aka, Prie Keo) and Nang Boukrey, the daughter of Mernharn, became husband and wife, and shortly after that, she became pregnant. One day, Mernharn got upset with Koun Panh, his son in-law; therefore plotted to kill him by letting Nang Boukrey to put poison substance in his food. Luckily that Koun Panh has Hoong Pri (ghost spirit), and it warned him that his wife was trying to poison him, and not for him to eat her food, therefore saved his life. This outraged Koun Panh, he then seek revenged by plotting to kill his wife for her baby so he could make it into Goumonthong (golden boy or ghost baby.) Read the rest of the story of how he killed his wife and made his unborn son into Goumonthong here.

…But the story of “The Adventure of Koun Panh”, one of the famous Lakorn (Thai drama) of the decades, it started out when Goumonthong as a little boy with a round ball hairdo up top, until he became a teenager, as tall as his father Koun Panh, his voice started to change, and his shadowy mustache started to be visible, and then this series came to a closing, as some of the viewers were getting too old to watch, some drop dead before the series ended, you can say that this was a Lakorn (drama) marathone, one of the longest Thai Lakorn (drama) of the century.

Regardless, ‘Goumonthong’ is well known amongst the locals, whether at the market, restaurants, beauty salons, etc. most would worship Nang Kwak (Thai goddess with right hand raised in a calling position, which is used to attract wealth to a place of business), and Goumonthong, which is a small doll of a little boy with a round ball hairdo, and a smiley face to attract customers into the store.

Some heard that Goumonthong likes to drink red drink, so they worship him with ultra-sweet red Fanta, but back in the olden days when Fanta didn’t exist, I wonder what did Goumonthong like to drink?

It is well known that in the ‘Kone Songk Jour’ business (Trance Mediumship) there is always a Goumonthong as a helper (Kone songk Jour is a person that has a special power, which s/he’d give up his/her body, then the ghost would take control of that person’s body, you then can ask any question that you want to know because the ghost sees it all, sort of like ‘see all evils, know all evils’. Thai Issan would go to ‘Kone Songk Jour’ for their everyday problems.

In normal term, this is called Trance Mediumship which is one of the oldest forms of spirit communication, trance itself refers to the altered state of consciousness the medium enters, and allowing the spirit being to merge with their physical and subtle body, mind and spirit.)  Goumonthong would tell him/her everything, as if s/he has Bluetooth on his/her ear at all times.  Some Kone Songk Jour Somnak (Trance Mediumship Center) would command Goumonthong to get various items, you can say that he plays the role of a messenger, or better yet  as “Google” that you can search for anything on the world wide web.

There was once a young novice monk that ‘roasted dead baby as Goumonthong’, extremely famous at the time, then he got arrested.  Then after that, there are many Ajarns (masters), making Goumonthong, some are real and some are fake but you can’t really prove anything, lets just say that the belief of different dimensions has been around for a long, long time amongst Thai people (including many nationalities as well), and there is a saying that you often hear amongst Thai people, “If you don’t believe, don’t mock.”

The story of Goumonthong from my memory goes back to the time when I was about 12-13 years old, I can’t say that I was still a kid, but yet not quiet an adult, and I lived in between the two Somnak (Trance Mediumship Center) at the time, each competing for business, sometimes fighting with garden tools, it was a sight to see.

Later on, one of the Kone songk Jour (Trance Medium) got shot and killed, and rumor has it that the competitor Kone songk did it, so many customers lost respect and went to worship at another Somnak (Trance Mediumship Center) leaving this one to look like a ghost town, so Kone Songk (Trance Medium) which was a lady had to go back to farming to make a living.

Then one day, rumor has it that this Somnak (center) received a new Goumonthong from Pratudong (monk that travels in the forest) and this new Goumonthong was very powerful, and can tell you exactly what has happened and will happen to you as if he could see it with his two eyes.  He can reverse any black magic spell, what ever problems that you might have can be fixed.  From the very few visitors at the beginning, and word of mouth, more people heard, and this Somnak (center) was once again very busy, business as usual.

Continued at: The Real Goumonthong – Part II