Phi Tai Hong usually has its origin in a man or a woman who died suddenly, often without the observance of proper
funerary rituals. According to the
Royal Institute Dictionary 1999, the official dictionary of Thai words,
tai hong means "to die an unnatural and violent death, such as being murdered or drowning" and
Phi Tai Hong means the ghost of a person who died in such manner. The word
hong (โหง) has two components: "great suffering" and "suddenness or unexpectedness", with the latter component being more prominent because people who become
Phi Tai Hong are not able to prepare themselves for death. These types of ghosts symbolize how life can end unpredictably and anyone can become victims of death. Thus there is a distinction between them and for example, cancer patients, who do suffer greatly but are aware of their condition and potential death.
Suicide victims or prisoners who were executed also do not fall under the category of
Phi Tai Hong because their death was anticipated. According to Thai
oral tradition Phi Tai Hong are especially dangerous and aggressive because, due to their sudden death, they were unable to fulfill their dreams and desires while alive.'''''' As such, their anger and sorrow are manifested into the form of a vengeful ghost. It is believed that the first seven days of a person's death is when their spirit is most actively seeking revenge and the living are advised to avoid the area where they had died.
Phi Tai Hong will often try to kill other living people in the same manner of which they had died themselves, and as a consequence they are among the most feared ghosts in Thai culture. Thai culture blames these types of
vengeful spirits as one of the most difficult to
exorcise. This is due to their particularly violent nature and because they actively haunt areas where their death took place, including
houses. Exorcisms can be very complicated, involving arcane ceremonies. Stories about this kind of spirit and the exorcism ceremonies that are needed to be free from them are popular in Thai publications. There is another distinct form of
Phi Tai Hong known as
Tai Thang Klom (ตายทั้งกลม) or
Tai Thong Klom (ตายท้องกลม), which is the ghost of a woman who died together with her child in her womb. == Tai Thang Klom and Tai Thong Klom ==