The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXXI, Part 1-2, 1983 - Khamkoo

"THE SPIRITS AREN'T SO POWERFUL ANY MORE"
SPIRIT BELIEF AND IRRIGATION ORGANIZATION
IN NORTH THAILAND
RICHARD P. LANDO*
Introduction
. Theravada or Mahayana Buddhism is seldom the· exclusive ·religion of its lay
devotees, and is usually accompanied by a belief in supernatural beings or spirits. The
religious system encompassing this secondary belief system is usually called 'animism'
(Spiro 1967: 3). Spirits of every kind in 'Thailand are propitiated aild venerated to
gain their supernatural protection, the granting of favors, and i~ the past were invoked
for national protection. Householders make offering to the spirit known as the 'lord
....
of the place, (caw thii; LOJ1'r1) who resides in the small spirit house on their property to
ward off evil influences in the household compound, and people will make offerings to
the powerfullak ·myang ('VIim~a~). or city spirits, and other powerful supernaturals
for protection on ajourney, protection from hariJI, while on military duty, or other
favors. The great King Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai proclaimed that he made
offerings to a powerful spirit near the capitol city and that if offerings were made to
this spirit in the proper way the kingdom would prosper (Griswold and Prasert na
Nagara 1971 : 214). In this article I would like to describe and analyze the relationships
between the cults of five 'lordly spirits' (caw phii; Li'1N) and traditional irrigation
systems .(myang faaj; L'VIU£1-:Jt:hu) in the pr~vince of Phrae, North Thailand.
There is a well-established, limited veneration of spirits in connection with the
traditional irrigation systems of North Thailand. When the impermanent, wooden
irrigation dam of the system is reconstructed each year by the farmers whose fields are
irrigated by the system, offerings of pig heads and pther foods are made to the spirits
that guard the dam (phii faaj; Nt:hu) to ask their protection of the dam in the coming
year (see Potter 1976). The invocation of supernatural protectl.on in irrigation affairs
has gone far beyond offerings to the spirits of the dam in the case of these irrigation
systems in Phrae province. Five 'lordly spirits' i.D. the area have been constituted as a
kind of supernatural irrigation committee. Each spirit has specific responsibilities for
the protection of the watersht:d of the rivers that feed the irrigation systems, protection
of the canals and dams, and communication with the higher Buddhist deities, the .
thewadaa (L'r11fl1), concerning the provision of rain, especially in drought years.
* Rockefeller Foundation, Bangkok.
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