Ghosts who died by violent death, unnatural causes and or accidents. According to Thai legend, this type of ghost is the most fearful, because of violent death, unnatural causes, accidents and lack of preparation have made them restless. They become destructive and dangerous spirit. The most powerful of all is "PHI TAI HONG TONG KLOM" (ผีตายโหงทองกลม), spirit of a pregnant woman. This ghost is more powerful because it has the power of two people.

Mae Nak is a female spirit who died during childbirth while her husband was away at war. Her love for him was so strong that even after her death, her spirit stayed behind to wait for his return. According to legend, Mae Nak was a beautiful young woman who was deeply in love with her husband, Mak. When Mak was drafted to fight in a war, Nak was pregnant and left alone. During childbirth, both she and her baby tragically died.

Thai people tell each other that once upon a time a married couple lived in the rural fields of Phra Khanong. The husband was named Mak, and the wife was named Nak. One day, Mak received a conscription notice to be a soldier in Bangkok, while Nak was in early pregnancy and had to stay alone. When she went into labor, the midwife came to deliver the baby, but the baby did not turn and could not be born naturally. Nak suffered great pain and in the end she died together with the child in her womb. Ancient Thais called this type of death ‘tai thang klom’ (death while still pregnant), which, according to Thai sorcerers’ manuals, produces a ghost more fierce and powerful than others.

According to the fable, Nak’s husband Mak was conscripted and sent to war while she was pregnant. Nak died during child birth, making her a “Pee tai tang klom” (ghost of a woman who died during childbirth with the baby still inside her). Her body was buried in the cemetery at Wat Mahabut.

In the folklore of Thailand, there exists a haunting presence known as Phi Tai Hong. These are the restless spirits of individuals who met their end in a sudden and violent manner, often without the comfort of proper funeral rites. The name “Tai Hong” signifies the abruptness and unexpectedness of their demise, reflecting the profound tragedy of lives cut short by violence. There is a particular manifestation of Phi Tai Hong known as Tai Thang Klom or Tai Thong Klom. These are the ghosts of pregnant women who tragically perished along with their unborn children, typically due to complications during childbirth. The loss of two lives amplifies the malevolence of these spirits, making them even more formidable and fearsome.

Phi tai hong are mostly the spirits of those killed in road accidents and small, simple shrines are usually set up at locations where accidents often claim lives to appease the unhappy spirits. Phi tai thang klom is a subcategory of phi tai hong and is a woman who died during childbirth with the baby still inside her. Even though the baby had not been delivered when she passed away, a phi tai thang klom often makes an appearance with a baby in her arms and humming a chilling lullaby. One phi tai thang klom made it into the hall of ghostly fame and became an urban legend. Mae Nak from Phra Khanong district lived during the reign of King Rama IV the Great. She shared a simple life with her husband, Mak, a farmer until he was suddenly drafted, leaving her alone while heavily pregnant. She died in childbirth, but the devotion to her husband was so strong she manifested herself with human flesh and continued to live with him after he returned home as a war hero.

Phi Tai Hong (Thai: ผีตายโหง) is a special kind of ghost from Thai folklore. It is believed to be the restless spirit of someone who died in a very sudden or unfair way. In Thai culture, a Phi Tai Hong is a ghost that comes from a person who died a violent or cruel death. The word "Tai Hong" itself means "to die an unnatural or violent death." According to old Thai stories, Phi Tai Hong are often very angry or sad, and their sudden death can make them into a vengeful spirit.

Mak leaves behind a pregnant Nak. Unfortunately, while Mak is away in battle, Nak goes into labour alone and due to complications during childbirth both the mother and infant die. However, due to her extreme love and devotion to her husband, Nak’s ghost remains in the house, waiting for his return. The locals in Phrakanong discover that Nak has died, but are scared away from her house because they can hear her ghost crying and occasionally see her image along the canal, waiting for her husband.

Mae Nak Phra Khanong is a young woman who loves her husband deeply but loses her life from giving birth while her beloved husband has been conscripted as a soldier. From this arose the legend, passed down mouth to mouth up to the present, about the terrifying ghost of Mae Nak Phra Khanong.

Phi Tai Thang Klom (ผีตายทั้งกลม), the vengeful ghost of pregnant women who died during childbirth. Mae Nak (แม่นาก), a female ghost who died at childbirth and that can extend her arms. Over time, the Mae Nak spirit has evolved into a sacred figure/deity within Thai culture, with a large shrine to the spirit being built in Mae Nak's hometown, and with many Mae Nak followers throughout Thailand.

Thailand’s most popular ghost story tells the gruesome tale of a woman who dies in childbirth but returns to her unsuspecting husband. According to Thai folklore, this tragic tale took place in the village of Phra Khanong during the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV). A beautiful young woman named Nang Nak was pregnant, when her husband, Nai Maak, was summoned to battle. Due to complications during labor, Nang Nak and her unborn child both perished.

Mae Nak Phra Khanong (Thai: แม่นากพระโขนง, lit. "Lady Nak of Phra Khanong"), or simply Mae Nak (แม่นาก, "Lady Nak") or Nang Nak (นางนาก, "Miss Nak"), is a well-known Thai ghost.[1] According to local folklore the story is based on events that took place during the reign of King Rama IV.[1] In most versions of the legend, Nak dies during childbirth while her husband Mak is away, and her spirit remains bound to the house and to her love for Mak, haunting the Phra Khanong area.[1]

Mak goes off to war and is injured, keeping him from returning home for a long time. In that time, his wife, Nak, dies in childbirth. When Mak finally makes his return, he finds Nak and their baby waiting at home and is unaware of their deaths, living with them as if nothing had happened.

The caption to the promotional reel states: “Nak suffers labor pains giving birth while Phi Mak has had to leave home to go to war” (translated from Thai). This frames the TV adaptation ‘Nang Nak Phra Khanong’ as following the traditional story where Nak gives birth and dies while her husband is away fighting.

This legend speaks of a pregnant woman named Nak who was deeply in love with her husband Mak.[4] He was sent away to war, and while away she and their child died during labour.[4] Enraged, Nak haunted the region of Phra Khanong, until eventually being captured by an exorcist, her spirit put in a bottle and tossed into the river.[4]

Phi Tai Hong comes from Thai mythology. It is a restless vengeful spirit from a person who suffered a violent or cruel death; this person could be either a man or a woman, but what has to happen is a sudden death, usually violent, often where someone didn't have the proper funerary rites and rituals done to the corpse before burial. In the worst category, supposedly the most fearful, one of the Phi Tai Hong goes by one of two names, Tai Thong Klom or Tai Thang Klom. These are instances where the violent death or sudden death has occurred to a woman who was pregnant and so she died with her unborn child, often due to childbirth complications. Because two spirits were lost in a tragedy versus just one, these are deemed some of the most malevolent and fearsome Phi Tai Hong.

While her husband, Mak, was away at war, Mae Nak tragically died during childbirth. But when Mak returned home, he found her and their baby waiting for him, unaware that they were ghosts. The villagers eventually revealed the truth to Mak, and when he realised her spectral nature he fled, leading to Mae Nak’s haunting of the community.

The episode synopsis reads in part: “Synopsis Nang Nak Phra Khanong EP9 – dies ‘both mother and child in the womb’ (tai thang klom). Mak has to part from Nak and go far away to fight at Chiang Tung. Later Nak suffers labor pains and is about to give birth, so the midwife starts to deliver the baby…”. This dramatized version repeats the core motif that Nak dies in childbirth while Mak is away at war.

People in Thailand have long passed on the tale that Nak, pregnant and living alone in the hut by the field, died with her child still inside her while her husband Mak was serving in the military. This type of death is known as ‘tai thang klom’, literally ‘death while still round (pregnant)’, and according to Thai occult belief creates an especially dangerous female ghost called a ‘phi tai hong thang klom’.

One day, Tid Mak is conscripted and sent to war, while she's pregnant, and he is seriously wounded.[5] While he is nursed back to health in Central Bangkok, Mae Nak and their child die during childbirth.[5] When he returns home, he sees his wife and child waiting for him. The neighbors warn him that they're ghosts.[5] There is a shrine dedicated to her at Wat Mahabut.[5]

The legend is heartbreaking: Nak died in childbirth while her husband Mak was away at war during the reign of King Rama III.[9] Her spirit – refusing to be separated from the man she loved – haunted the Phra Khanong district until she was eventually subdued by a powerful monk.[9] Mae Nak is not technically a deity. She is a ghost – Thailand's most famous ghost – and this is her shrine, housed inside the large Wat Mahabut temple complex in On Nut.[9]

The Phi Tai Hong is a ghost of Thai folklore. It is the vengeful and restless spirit of a person that suffered a violent or cruel death which cut their life short unexpectedly. The most powerful of all is "PHI TAI HONG TONG KLOM" (ผีตายโหงทองกลม), spirit of a pregnant woman. This ghost is more powerful because it has the power of two people.

Mae Nak and her husband, Mak, lived in a hut on the Phra Khanong Canal. While Mae Nak was pregnant, Mak was sent to war and was seriously wounded. Mae Nak died in childbirth while waiting for Mak to return. Her spirit was unable to move on, and she returned to her home to perform daily chores, appearing to live as if she were still alive.

While Nak was pregnant, Mak was conscripted into the Thai Army and sent to war where he was seriously wounded. While he was away, Nak died during childbirth, and in many retellings her spirit became a powerful ghost associated with the house and the Phra Khanong area. Some versions specify her as a dangerous female spirit whose death in childbirth gave her particular supernatural status.

A discussion of whether the Mae Nak Phra Khanong story is real or fictional notes that according to popular belief Nak died in childbirth, described as ‘tai thang klom’, while her husband (sometimes named Mak in the legend) was away. This is contrasted with another version that identifies a historical woman named Amdaeng Nak whose husband was named Chum, showing there are multiple traditions about the figures behind the legend.

"PHI TAI HONG" (ผีตายโหง) are the most fearful ghost in Thailand. These spirits died of violent death (murder, car crash and so on). The velocity of their death surprised them. The most powerful of all is "PHI TAI HONG TONG KLOM" (ผีตายโหงทองกลม), spirit of a pregnant woman. This ghost is more powerful because it has the power of two people.

After a while her husband was called off to war. Alas she was already pregnant. While her husband was away, she died in childbirth, and when he came back he unknowingly lived with her ghost. The tale describes her as a terrifying female spirit whose death during childbirth made her haunting especially feared among villagers.

Mae Nak from Phra Khanong district lived during the reign of King Rama IV. She shared a simple life with her husband, Mak, a farmer, until he was suddenly drafted, leaving her alone while heavily pregnant. She died in childbirth, but her devotion to her husband was so strong that she manifested herself with human flesh and continued to live with him after he returned home as a war hero. In Thai folklore, Mae Nak is often associated with the category of Phi Tai Thang Klom, the spirit of a woman who died during childbirth with the baby still inside her.

The synopsis for the series ‘Nang Nak Saphai Phra Khanong’ on Workpoint Channel 23 states: “During the time Phi Mak goes to war, Mae Muean seizes the opportunity to bully Nang Nak again until Nak gives birth and dies ‘tai thang klom’ (dies with the child in her womb). This leads to a story of vengeance…”. This modern TV retelling preserves the elements that Nak dies in childbirth and that Mak is away fighting.

Thai PBS’s program material on ‘Mae Nak Phra Khanong’ presents old documentary evidence and recounts the legend of ‘Mae Nak who died giving birth while her husband was conscripted as a soldier’. It frames the story as both a folklore narrative and a subject of historical investigation, but repeats the core motif of death in childbirth during the husband’s military service.

In 1860s Bangkok, a young pregnant wife named Nak waited faithfully for her husband Mak to return from war.[8] But when tragedy struck during a brutal monsoon, both mother and child died in childbirth, and Nak's love refused to let death end her promise.[8] When Mak returned home months later, he found his wife and baby waiting for him, seemingly alive. But the neighbours knew the truth: Nak had become a vengeful spirit.[8] Mae Nak's shrine at Wat Mahabut temple remains one of Thailand's most visited sites, where devotees bring makeup, dresses, and offerings, asking for lottery numbers and protection from military conscription.[8]