The Krasue (, ) is a nocturnal female spirit of Southeast Asian folklore. It manifests as the floating, disembodied head of a woman, usually young and beautiful, with her internal organs still attached and trailing down from the neck.
The Krasue belongs to a constellation of similar mythological entities across different regions of Southeast Asia; these regional variations all share in common that they are characterized by a disembodied woman's head with organs and entrails hanging from its neck. Along with the Krasue, there is the Ahp () in Cambodia; the Kasu (, ) in Laos; the Kuyang, Pok-Pok, or Leyak in Indonesia, as well as the Pelasik, Pelesit, penanggalan or penanggal, the last four of which are also found in Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore; the Ma lai () in Vietnam; manananggal is the Tagalog counterpart or the Creature with its lower half body being detached, The head detaching creature for the Maranao people is called "Kalibadot" and for the Visayans they are knowns as "ok-ok, ungga-ungga or Wugwug (because of the sounds the organs make while swaying midair) all are in the Philippines respective. Japanese folklore also has yokai creatures called nukekubi and rokurokubi that are quite similar to their Southeast Asian counterparts.
According to Thai ethnographer Phraya Anuman Rajadhon, the Krasue is accompanied by a will-o'-the-wisp-like luminescent glow.Essays on Thai Folklore, Editions Duang Kamol, The explanations attempted about the origin of the glow include the presence of methane in marshy areas. The Krasue is often said to live in the same areas as Krahang, a male spirit of the Thai folklore.
This spirit moves about by hovering in the air above the ground, for it has no lower body. The throat may be represented in different ways, either as only the trachea or with the whole neck.Krasue film posters The organs below the head usually include the heart and the stomach with a length of intestine, the intestinal tract emphasizing the ghost's voracious nature. In the Thai film Krasue Valentine, this ghost is represented with more internal organs, such as lungs and liver, but much reduced in size and anatomically out of proportion with the head. The viscera are sometimes represented freshly daubed with blood, as well as glowing. In contemporary representations her teeth often include pointed fangs in yakkha () or vampire fashion. In the movie Ghosts of Guts Eater she has a halo around her head.Ghosts of Guts Eater scene
The Krasue has been the subject of a number of films in the region, including My Mother Is Arb (). Also known as Krasue Mom, this Cambodian horror film has the distinction of being the first film made in the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the absence of locally made films and the repression of local folklore in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era.Konm Eak Madia Arb film poster
In the Philippines there is a similar ghost, manananggal, a local spirit that haunts pregnant women.
Legends
Origin Belief in the existence of the Krasue is shared across Southeast Asia, and its origin is difficult to verify. However, it likely originates from folklore. In Thailand, the Krasue is believed to be a cursed individual (usually a female) who engaged in various sins and fraudulent conduct during her previous life. After she dies, her sins cause her to be reborn as a phut () that has to live off wasted, uncooked or rotten food. In recent times, the Thai entertainment industry has fictionalized the origin of Krasue as cursed from an ancient Khmer princess, as in Demonic Beauty (2002). The kidnapped princess of the Khmer kingdom cheated on her husband (the general), with a soldier. The soldier was decapitated while the Khmer princess was burned to death. However, before she died, she chanted a spell to protect her mortal body but was only able to save her head and her organs. This depiction, however, is an attempt to reinvent the beginning of a well-known story of folk origin by adding a royal touch, for entertainment and commercial purpose.
There are other oral traditions which say that this spirit was formerly a rich woman, who had a length of black gauze or ribbon tied around the head and neck as protection from the sunlight. This woman was possessed by an evil spirit and cursed to become a Krasue. Other popular legends claim that the origin of the spirit may have been a woman trying to learn black magic, who made a mistake or used the wrong spell, causing her head and body to separate. Past sins are also related to the transmission of the Krasue curse; women who aborted or killed someone in a previous life would become a Krasue as punishment. Other folk stories talk about a person being cursed to become a Krasue after consuming food and drink contaminated with a Krasue's saliva or flesh. Popular imagination also claims that the transformation into a Krasue is largely restricted to the relatives of women practicing witchcraft "Mae Mot" (แม่มด) or "Yai Mot" (ยายมด), especially their daughters or granddaughters. Often, women acting strangely in a community are suspected of becoming a Krasue at night by other members of the village.
Cambodian folklore អាប (Ahp/Aap), derived from a Sanskrit word आप्यति (āpyati, 'to cause anyone to suffer'), in Cambodian folklore is usually a woman who is half spirit and half-mortal. During the daytime, they appeared to look like normal human beings but during nighttime they ascended, leaving their mortal body with only their head and their organs, gravitating to find food. They were believed to feast on smelly things; blood, raw meats, villager's farm animals, corpses, feces, placentas, newborns, etc. Their weaknesses are thorns and guard dogs.
Ahp are witches who failed practicing powerful black magic, causing it to backfire and cursing themselves. Others believe that Ahp are black magic practitioners, borrowing a demon (evil spirit)'s power by letting them possess their body at night, as an exchange. Ahp have to pass their curse onto another woman to be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation; it could be their daughter, granddaughter, relatives or any other women that is in their womanhood also practicing witchcraft but some believe it could just be passed through the exchanged of bodily fluid to any women, usually tricked. Witches in khmer are called mae thmob (ម៉ែធ្មប់ 'mother witch') or yeay thmob (យាយធ្មប់ 'grandmother witch').
In order to protect pregnant women and their children from becoming victims, their relatives place thorny branches around the house as a barrier. This improvised thorny fence discourages the Ahp from coming to suck the blood and causing other suffering to the pregnant woman. After delivery, the woman's relatives must take the cut placenta far away for burial to hide it from the Ahp. If the placenta is buried deep enough the spirit will not be able to find it. It is believed that it would bring great calamities to the child and its family if an Ahp ate the mother's placenta.
Thai folklore The Krasue is under a curse that makes it ever hungry and always active in the night when it goes out hunting to satisfy its gluttony, seeking blood to drink or raw flesh to devour. It may attack cattle or chickens in the darkness, drinking their blood and eating their internal organs.Honourable Mention: The Ghost and Master Boh It may also prey on species of cattle, such as water buffalo that have died of other causes during the night. If blood is not available the Krasue may eat feces or carrion.Krasue feeding Clothes left outside would be found soiled with blood and excrement in the morning, allegedly after she had wiped her mouth. Therefore, villagers would not leave clothes hanging to dry outside during the night hours.
The Krasue hides the headless body from which it originates in a quiet place because it needs to join it before daybreak,Krasue emerging from its body living like a normal person during the day, although having a sleepy look.Fullmoon Devil To crush the still headless body of the krasue is fatal to the spirit. The flying head will return after hunting but rejoin with the wrong body which will lead it to suffer torment until death. If the top part of the body fails to find the lower half before daybreak it will die in terrible pain. The Krasue will also die if its intestines get cut off or if its body disappears or gets hidden by someone. Some folk beliefs hold that the creature can be destroyed by burning it. The main foes of the Krasue are mobs of angry villagers carrying torches and machetes. They may catch the Krasue and kill it or watch where she goes before dawn and destroy her body.
There is a legend said that the people who are wounded should be aware of the Krasue because it can smell the blood and will come to eat the blood at night when people fall asleep. However, there are ways to prevent the Krasue from coming inside the house. House-owners usually build spiky fences or grow spiky bamboo to protect themselves from the Krasue. The Krasue is scared of spiky things because it fears its intestines will get stuck and it will not be able to escape.3. tumnandd. ผีกระสือ นักล่ายามรัตติกาล. tamnandd.com. [Online] 2010.
It is also believed that a true Krasue does not actually have a head or dangling internal organs, but is merely a green glowing light. If anyone is able to capture this light, for example, by covering it with a chicken coop, they can then bargain with it, demanding jewelry, gold, and other valuables in exchange for setting it free.
21st-century sightings Around August 2008, a sensational story emerged about CCTV footage that allegedly captured a Krasue in action at a lemon juice factory in Khlong Sip Song, Nong Suea District, Pathum Thani Province. The factory's middle-aged owner explained that, prior to the incident, she had heard strange noises coming from the side wall of the factory during the night. Suspecting a thief, she installed additional security cameras. About ten days later, one of the front-facing cameras recorded something that clearly resembled a Krasue, accompanied by a glowing light. The object first appeared as an indistinct floating shape approaching from the side of the factory and gliding along the outer wall, maintaining a height level with the top of the wall. As it drew closer to the camera, its form gradually became clearer—until it distinctly resembled the face of an elderly woman with long white hair. The footage was timestamped at 11:27 p.m. on July 22. The factory owner added that when the footage was viewed on a mobile phone and zoomed in, it appeared as though the creature was using its intestines to snatch birds mid-air for food. Associate Professor Dr. Chawan Koopipat, a visual imaging expert at Chulalongkorn University, examined the footage and confirmed it was authentic and had not been altered. However, he believed the Krasue-like figure was likely an object reflecting light from an overhead source. As the light moved, the reflection struck patches of wet ground in the open rice field beside the factory—an area without any rice crops at the time, as it was during the off-season. Local residents claimed to have encountered a similar Krasue several times over the past year or two. The creature bore a striking resemblance to an elderly woman who had once lived alone nearby. After her death, the sightings stopped. In mid-June 2014, strange red lights were seen floating above the paddy fields in Phachi District, Ayutthaya Province, near Wat Tako. The lights were widely believed to be from a Krasue. Soon after, hundreds—and on some nights, even thousands—of teenagers flocked to the area, hoping to witness the phenomenon themselves. Their presence reportedly caused damage to the rice fields. The landowner, however, dismissed the rumors, insisting that there were no Krasue in the area. He explained that the lights seen were actually from floating lanterns used to scare away birds.