The cult of Phaya Narin Songkhram: Spiritmediums and shifting sociocultural boundariesin northeastern Thailand

Ian G. Baird

Sociocultural boundaries come in many forms, and crucially, are responsive to powerand constantly in flux. This article focuses on the production of space and unmarkedsociocultural boundaries linked to spirit mediums in a historically contestedarea of northeastern Thailand who are possessed by the spirits of Phaya NarinSongkhram — a key ‘Lao’ military leader of Chao Anou’s famous Vientiane revoltagainst Siam between 1826–28 — and those of his subordinates. Spirit mediumslinked to ethnic ‘Thai’ leaders are also found to the south of this area. Throughchanneling and performing these historical persons, spirit mediums keep alive andreproduce group memories with space-making implications. This article also showshow the mediums’ positioning has shifted over time and varies in relation to con-temporary power relations, altering the sociocultural boundaries between ethnicLao and Thai.

IntroductionBoundaries manifest themselves in various ways, and exist in a multitude of

forms. Some are marked by fences or walls that physically restrict passage; othersare unrecognisable without knowledge of local sociocultural ‘markers’. Sometimesthe most restrictive boundaries remain physically unmarked, while others that aremore easily discernible may actually be quite porous. Some boundaries exist as indi-cators of difference, but may not physically obstruct passage. Some are sharp and see-mingly unmoving; others are varyingly fuzzy, broad, contested, and conditional.Boundaries have various meanings and consequences for groups and individuals,

Ian G. Baird is Assistant Professor at the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison.Correspondence in connection with this paper should be addressed to: ibaird@wisc.edu. The authorwould like to thank all the spirit mediums and other informants who assisted him during this research,especially Mae Wat Khemwiset, the spirit medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram in Nong Bua Yai village,Chatturat district, Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand. Thanks also to Suthi Laolith, Suthep Seusamlit,Udom Bunyanuson, Thongdee Chaleelin, and Phra Khru Wuthithammathada (Achan Wiloon), theabbot of Wat Pathummachat, Nong Bua Yai village. Thanks to Erick White, Ryan Wolfson-Ford andLeedom Lefferts for reading earlier drafts of this article and providing helpful feedback, and for thevery useful comments of two anonymous reviewers. This research would not have been nearly as easyor enjoyable if it was not for my wife, Monsiri Baird, who assisted me in various ways during thefield research and writing up period. The maps were prepared with the assistance of Isaac Dorsch andChloe Quinn from the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 45(1), pp 50–73 February 2014.

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and these meanings are constantly changing through contestation, negotiation,struggle, accommodation, and shifting circumstances. Some are recent creations;others have existed much longer, even for generations. Some apply to most peopleor everyone; others are only relevant to particular groups or individuals, includingcertain minorities. All change in intensity over time, some become more meaningful;others less so.1

Today, human geographers — and those in related disciplines — tend to think ofplaces and identity as mutually constituted but also variously interactive. Both areconstructed through discourse and practice,2 but are also contested in multitudes ofways. As Robert Kaiser and Elena Nikiforova have explained, one of the main valuesof this tendency amongst scholars has been to ensure that both place and identity arenot thought of in essentialised or reified ways.3 Similarly, there has also long been atendency to think of borderlands or other kinds of boundaries as less rigid configur-ations. This is the analytical lens that I adopt in this research; I see boundaries as mul-tiple, complicated, and variable.

The district of Chatturat in northeast Thailand and its surrounding area presentan excellent opportunity to demonstrate the ways in which particular socioculturalboundaries have been produced and reproduced through the practices, discourses,and symbolism of spirit mediums. My understanding generally coincides withHenri Lefebvre’s, which is that space is continually produced, altering power relationsalong the way.4 I have also observed that the role of spirit mediums is changing, thusleading to shifts in the meanings and significance of boundaries, in this case dimin-ishing their political nature significantly, but increasing their links to leisure and plea-sure, or as local people say, having ‘fun’ (muan in Lao).

In this article I consider some shifting meanings of particular socioculturalboundaries, the construction of which are deeply rooted in history and are basedon political struggles, ethnic and linguistic differences, symbolic materiality, and cul-tural performance. I am interested in the region near the largely unmarked bound-aries between those who are culturally and linguistically linked to being ethnic‘Lao’ — even if today they are much more likely to identify as being ‘Thai’ or ‘ThaiIsan’ (from northeastern Thailand) — and those who have historically identifiedthemselves as ethnically and culturally ‘Thai Khorat’, ‘central Thai’, or simply‘Thai’. In particular, I examine the ways spirit mediums have been and are implicatedin political and historical tensions that exist between the ‘Lao’ and the ‘Thai’ in a

1 See Deborah Pellow, ed., Setting boundaries: The anthropology of spatial and social organization(Westport, CT and London: Bergin and Garvey, 1996); Hastings Donnan and Thomas M. Wilson,Borders: Frontiers of identity, nation and state (Oxford: Berg, 2001); Joel Samuel Migdal, Boundariesand belonging: States and societies in the struggle to shape identities and local practices (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2004); David Newman and Anssi Paasi, ‘Fences and neighbours in the post-modern world: Boundary narratives in political geography’, Progress in Human Geography 22, 2 (1998):186–207.2 Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a theory of practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977);Michel Foucault, The archaeology of knowledge (London: Routledge, 1972).3 Robert Kaiser and Elena Nikiforova, ‘Borderland spaces of identification and dis/location: Multiscalarnarratives and enactments of Seto identity and place in the Estonian–Russian borderlands’, Ethnic andRacial Studies 29, 5 (2006): 928–58.4 Henri Lefebvre, The production of space (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991).

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particular ‘border region’ embedded within a modern nation–state/kingdom, andhow these tensions arise culturally and spatially. I also want to suggest ways inwhich the meanings of medium-centred spirit cults are changing in relation to this

Figure 1. Key locations in Thailand and Laos mentioned in this article

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sociocultural yet intimate political boundary,5 and demonstrate how complex identitypolitics have emerged.

This study is partially focused on a group of older women who are spirit med-iums living in Chatturat district, in the southern part of Chaiyaphum Province, north-eastern Thailand (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). They are not particularly unusual: they live withtheir families, have children and grandchildren, regularly attend their local TheravadaBuddhist temples, and all have wet-rice farming backgrounds. The study is especiallycentred on Nong Bua Yai village, a seemingly typical community in northeasternThailand. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about the geography of thearea, apart from a large wetland adjacent to the village. The village does, however,have a unique history: it was founded by Phaya Narin Songkhram, who, in early1827 became the chief military leader of Chao Anou’s well-known rebel army fromVientiane.6

I begin by briefly reviewing the literature about mediums and possession inThailand. I then provide a partial history of Phaya Narin Songkhram, and ChaoAnou’s revolt against Khorat and more generally Siam. Next I explain the nature ofthe spirit cult devoted to Phaya Narin Songkhram that is centred in Nong Bua Yaitoday. I provide some information about the ‘Thai’ and ‘Lao’ sides of the boundaryin Chatturat district and Nakhon Ratchasima Province (Khorat) to the south, followedby an ethnographic account of my engagement with the head spirit medium of thegroup, and some of her subordinates. I continue by discussing historical and contem-porary aspects of the politics of the spirit cult, and how the meanings and significanceof the sociospatial boundaries associated with them are unevenly changing over time.I point out that the roles of some spirit cult members is to protect and maintain com-munity space; ‘Lao’ space is imagined to be under the spiritual control of Phaya NarinSongkhram; and ‘Thai’ space imagined to be under cults of the spirits of ‘Thai’ his-torical figures.

Spirit mediums in ThailandConsiderable research has been conducted regarding the creation of historical

memory and its social uses in spirit mediumship practices in different parts of theworld,7 including in various countries in mainland Southeast Asia.8 A large number

5 A spirit cult, in this particular context, is a ‘group of adherents to a set of religious beliefs and ritual inwhich ghosts are believed to interfere in the affairs of the living.’ http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/anth370/gloss.html (last accessed on 9 Oct. 2013).6 Phaya was a high-level honorific conferred upon leaders by the King of Siam; Chao is an honorificterm indicating a royal position.7 G.P. Makris, ‘Slavery, possession and history: The construction of the self among slave descendants inthe Sudan’, Africa 66, 2 (1996): 159–82; Lindsay Lauren Hale, ‘Preto Velho: Resistance, redemption, andengendered representations of slavery in a Brazilian possession-trance religion’, American Ethnologist 24,2 (1997): 392–414; Michael Lambek, ‘The Sakalava poiesis of history: Realizing the past through spiritpossession in Madagascar’, American Ethnologist 25, 2 (1998): 106–27; Kristina Wirtz, ‘Enregisteredmemory and Afro-Cuban historicity in Santerıa’s ritual speech’, Language & Communication 27(2007): 245–57; Meera Venkatachalam, ‘Between the umbrella and the elephant: Elections, ethnic nego-tiations and the politics of spirit possession in Teshi, Accra’, Africa 81, 2 (2011): 248–68.8 See, for instance, Amphay Doré, ‘Profils mediumniques Lao’, Cahiers de l’Asie du Sud-Est 5 (1979):7–25; Ing-Britt Trankell, ‘Songs of our spirits: Possession and historical imagination among the Chamin Cambodia’, Asian Ethnicity 4, 1 (2003): 31–46; Erik Davis, ‘Khmer spirits, Chinese bodies: Chinese

THE CULT OF PHAYA NAR IN SONGKHRAM 53

Figure 2. Key locations discussed in this article in present-day Chaiyaphum andNakhon Ratchasima (Khorat) provinces

spirit mediums and spirit possession rituals in contemporary Cambodia’, in Faith in the future:Understanding the revitalization of religions and cultural traditions in Asia, ed. Thomas A. Reuter andAlexander Horstmann (The Hague: Brill, 2012), pp. 177–96; Karen Fjeldstad and Nguyen Thi Nien,ed. Spirits without borders: Vietnamese spirit mediums in a transnational age (New York: Palgrave

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of studies have been conducted on spirit mediums and spirit possession in Thailand,especially in northern Thailand,9 but also in other parts of the country.10 Thisresearch has variously examined the local practices and beliefs associated with spiritmediumship, and its varying sociocultural, economic, and political causes andimplications.

Marlane Guelden recognises spirit possession as a complex phenomenon relatedto identity, class, religion, gender, and resistance.11 Gender issues is crucial, andGuelden believes that in Thailand about 80 per cent of spirit mediums and aboutthe same proportion of their customers are women. Shigeharu Tanabe believes thatwomen have turned to spirit mediums because they are not allowed in the highestorder of the dominant religion, Theravada Buddhism.12 Guelden, however, suggeststhat many Thai women turn to mediumship to resist male domination, as well asto help resolve marital problems. As she put it, ‘[s]pirit possession is an important

Macmillan, 2011); Bénédicte Brac de la Perriere, Les rituels de possession en Birmanie: Du culte d’etat auxcérémonies privées (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, ADPF, 1989); Jean DeBernardi, Theway that lives in the heart: Chinese popular religion and spirit mediums in Penang, Malaysia(Singapore: NUS Press, 2012).9 Andrew Turton, ‘Matrilineal descent groups and spirit cults of the Thai Yuan in northern Thailand’,Journal of the Siam Society 60, 2 (1972): 217–56; Walter Irvine, ‘Decline of village spirit medium cultsand growth of urban spirit mediumship: The persistence of spirit beliefs, the position of women andmodernisation’,Mankind 14, 4 (1984): 315–24; Shigeharu Tanabe, ‘Spirits, power and discourse of femalegender: The Phi Meng cult in northern Thailand’, in Thai construction of knowledge, ed. ManasChitakasem and Andrew Turton (London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University ofLondon, 1991), pp. 183–212; Marjorie A. Muecke, ‘Monks and mediums: Religious syncretism in north-ern Thailand’, Journal of the Siam Society 80, 21 (1992): 97–103; Rosalind C. Morris, In the place of ori-gins: Modernity and its mediums in northern Thailand (Durham, NJ: Duke University Press, 2000); IreneStengs, Worshiping the great moderniser: King Chulalongkorn, patron saint of the Thai middle class(Singapore: NUS Press, 2009).10 Stanley J. Tambiah, Buddhism and the spirit cults in north-east Thailand (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1970); Mary Beth Mills, ‘Attack of the widow ghosts: Gender, death, and modernityin northeast Thailand’, in Bewitching women, pious men: Gender and body politics in Southeast Asia,ed. Aihwa Ong and Michael Peletz (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), pp. 244–73;Pattana Kitiarsa, Mediums, monks and amulets: Thai popular Buddhism today (Chiang Mai: SilkwormBooks, 2012); Mary Grow, ‘Celebrating divine wrath: The spirit cult of Luang Phau Phra Cao Sua, theTiger King’, Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 16, 1 (2002): 1–18;Alexandra Denes, ‘Recovering Khmer ethnic identity from the Thai national past: An ethnography ofthe localism movement in Surin Province’ (Ph.D. diss., Cornell University, Ithaca, 2006); Jovan Maud,‘The sacred borderland: A Buddhist saint, the state, and transnational religion in southern Thailand’(Ph.D. diss., Macquarie University, Sydney, 2008); Supeena Insee Adler, ‘A theater of the spirits:Ritual performance and community in northeast Thailand’ (M.A. thesis, University of California,Riverside, 2010); Eric Cohen, The Chinese vegetarian festival in Phuket: Religion, ethnicity, and tourismon a southern Thai island (Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2001); Justin T. McDaniel, The lovelorn ghostand the magical monk: Practicing Buddhism in modern Thailand (New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 2011); Marte Nilsen, ‘The spirit of a heroine: Spirit reverence, patriotism, and Thai Buddhism’,Modern Asian Studies 45, 6 (2011): 1599–625.11 Marlane Guelden’s publications include: Thailand: Spirits among us (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish,2007); ‘Spirit mediumship in southern Thailand: The feminization of Nora ancestral possession’, inDynamic diversity in southern Thailand, ed. Wattana Sugunnasil (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books,2005), pp. 179–212; ‘Ancestral spirit mediumship in southern Thailand: The Nora performance as a sym-bol of the south on the periphery of a Buddhist nation-state’ (Ph.D. diss., University of Hawai‘i, 2005);Thailand: Into the spirit world (Singapore: Times Editions, 1995).12 Tanabe, ‘Spirits, power and discourse of female gender’.

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aspect of power relations, local cultures and how people communicate with each other.’13

Rosalind Morris is of the opinion that mediumship in Thailand is a way of ‘accessingpower’; power which she argues can be appropriated by both men and women.14

The mediums I discuss are all involved in spirit possession. In Thai, they are typi-cally known as khon song or rang song (lang song, ‘medium person’), and in Laos theyare often referred to as nang thiem (‘false woman’) — a term also used in parts ofnortheastern Thailand — which demonstrates that most spirit mediums are womenwho are predominantly possessed by male spirits. Indeed, ethnic Lao society was his-torically matrilineal: females own property and men move in with their brides’families, at least initially, with the youngest daughter and her family ideally lookingafter parents in their old age.15

Becoming a spirit medium in Thailand typically begins with a long incurablechronic illness. Once a spirit identifies a body to enter, it frequently takes monthsor even years to settle into a comfortable relationship with the person being possessed.During the time the potential spirit medium is ill, established spirit mediums whocure people often ask their patients to become mediums for curative reasons.Spirits are believed to enter the bodies of those descended from previous spirit med-iums and also those who have accumulated a lot of good karma.16

Spirit mediumship is generally perceived as an unsavoury profession,especially when it comes to ‘professional’ spirit mediums in urban areas, wheremediums are often suspected of cheating the public.17 Spirit mediums frequentlyaccuse others of lacking authenticity. No wonder many spirit mediums initiallyresist becoming possessed, before eventually succumbing to pressure from spiritsand peers. It is also, however, true that nonprofessional elderly spirit mediums— those less likely to make much money from chanelling spirits — often havestrong community support and respect. Most of the spirit mediums I interviewedin Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima fall into this latter category. Other thanthe spirit medium for Luang Banthao,18 who lives in nearby Kok, the capital ofChatturat (Fig. 2), none appear to have benefited financially in a significant wayfrom their practice. Some do, however, help cure people from spirit-caused ill-nesses, as well as provide advice about the future. They more closely resemblewhat the literature has tended to view as rural spirit mediums, even if they actuallyoccupy a more intermediate space.

Most spirit mediums in Thailand identify themselves as good Thai citizens andloyal subjects of the King and Queen.19 They also commonly claim that they havebeen possessed by kings and famous monks. Guelden believes that overall, spirit

13 Guelden, Spirits among us, p. 98.14 Morris, In the place of origins.15 Loes Schenk-Sandbergen and Outhaki Choulamany-Khamphoui, Women in rice fields and offices:Irrigation in Laos, gender specific case studies in four villages (Heiloo: Empowerment, 1995).16 Guelden, Spirits among us.17 Rosalind Morris discusses the admission of one famous male central Thai spirit medium that he hadfaked his performances as a spirit medium for many years. See Morris, In the place of origins.18 Mae Nang Sitithai is the spirit medium for Luang Banthao. She lives in Kok village, the capital ofChatturat. All those mentioned in this article consented to having their real names used, since theydid not perceive any risk in doing so.19 Guelden, Spirits among us.

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mediums tend to be quite patriotic, and many claim to be protectors of the nation. Inline with this, Irvine reported that many spirit mediums in the late 1970s and early1980s in northern Thailand joined anticommunist movements to show their loyalty.20

In the case presented here, however, I demonstrate that spirit mediums also some-times support less dominant narratives.

There is generally considerable tolerance in the relationships between spirit med-iums and organised Buddhism in Thailand.21 Theravada Buddhist monks are oftenideologically imagined as separate from spirit mediums,22 but in reality the bound-aries between the two are frequently blurred. Indeed, spirit mediums who inhabit pos-itions somewhere between Buddhism and local religion often do not conduct theirrituals in temples, and with the exception of certain ‘magical Buddhist monks’, donot typically participate in local rituals involving spirit mediums.23 Guelden alsoobserved,24 as I have in Chaiyaphum, that spirit possession does not occur on‘monk days’, or Buddhist days (wan phra), which occur every 15 days according tothe lunar calendar; thus there is both a spatial and temporal division betweenBuddhism and spirit possession, albeit a blurred one at times.

Several scholars have pointed out that spirit medium possession has grown aston-ishingly in Thailand over the last few decades, especially in urban areas.25 A Thainewspaper estimated that there are as many as 100,000 spirit mediums in thecountry.26 Both Shigeharu Tanabe and Walter Irvine suggested in the 1980s thatthere were several hundred times as many spirit mediums in Thailand then as com-pared to the 1960s.27 Although Max Weber believed that the development of capital-ism would eventually lead to the end of religion,28 the dramatic increase in thenumber of spirit mediums in Thailand has occurred simultaneously with rising capit-alism.29 People I interviewed in Chaiyaphum clearly associate the rise of capitalismwith the popularity of spirit mediumship in their communities, a point also madeby others.30 Irvine believed that spirit mediums in northern Thailand were proliferat-ing because of the widening gap between rich and poor, and increasing landlessness.31

20 Irvine, ‘Decline of village spirit medium cults’; Walter Irvine, ‘The Thai–Yuan “madman” and the“modernising, developing Thai nation” as bounded entities under threat: A study in the replication ofa single image’ (Ph.D. diss., SOAS, University of London, 1982).21 Guelden, Spirits among us; Morris, In the place of origins.22 Guelden, Spirits among us, p. 99.23 Pattana, Mediums, monks and amulets; Peter A. Jackson, ‘The political economy of twenty-first cen-tury Thai supernaturalism: Comparative perspectives on cross-genderism and limits to hybridity inresurgent Thai spirit mediumship’, South East Asia Research 20, 4 (2012): 611–22; Nilsen, ‘The spiritof a heroine’.24 Guelden, Spirits among us.25 Guelden, Spirits among us; Morris, In the place of origins; Tanabe, ‘Spirits, power and discourse offemale gender’; Irvine, ‘Decline of village spirit medium cults’.26 Quoted in Guelden, Spirits among us.27 Tanabe, ‘Spirits, power and discourse of female gender’; Irvine, ‘The Thai–Yuan “madman”’.28 Max Weber, The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (New York: Norton Critical Editions,2009[1905]).29 See also Jean Comaroff, ‘Defying disenchantment: Reflections on ritual, power, and history’, in Asianvisions of authority: Religion and the modern states of East and Southeast Asia, ed. Charles F. Keyes,Laurel Kendall, and Helen Hardacre (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1994), pp. 301–15.30 Morris, In the place of origins; Irvine, ‘Decline of village spirit medium cults’.31 Irvine, ‘Decline of village spirit medium cults’.

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The increase in popularity of spirit mediums in Thailand certainly does appear to beseen by spirit mediums themselves as linked to increased material prosperity, andcapitalism. As one spirit medium in Chaiyaphum put it, ‘Before it was hard to findmoney, but now it is easy. People now have enough money to have fun during spiritmedium rituals.’ Alexandra Denes has cautioned, however, that while capitalism is animportant influence, other factors need to be carefully considered, as the advent ofcapitalism is insufficient to explain for all that is occurring.32

Chao Anou and Phaya Narin Songkhram: Rebelling against Khorat/SiamTo understand the context in which sociocultural boundary-making involving

spirit mediums has occurred in Chatturat, it is useful to summarise the history ofPhaya Narin Songkhram, especially since important parts have not been publishedin English before.

One of the most important figures of mainland Southeast Asia during the nine-teenth century was Chao Anou (frequently referred to as Chao Anouvong),33 the Laoking of Vientiane from 1804–28. Vientiane was an independent kingdom for much ofthe eighteenth century, until it was forced to become a Siamese vassal in 1778. LuangPrabang and Champassak also came under the yoke of Siam during the same year(Fig. 1).34

Chao Anou is best known for rebelling against the Kingdom of Siam, beginningin 1826, apparently with the goal of uniting the ‘Lao’ of present-day northeasternThailand, and those who had been forced to migrate into Siamese territory closerto Bangkok, with their kin in Laos, creating an independent kingdom under his lea-dership.35 Although some claim that Chao Anou planned to attack Bangkok fromKhorat (now officially known as Nakhon Ratchasima),36 Thawat Phunnothoksuggests otherwise, based on local documentation.37 Although this article is not

32 Denes, ‘Recovering Khmer ethnic identity’.33 His Lao name was apparently Chao Anourout, but the Siamese gave him the royal name ChaoAnouvong (Khamphoui Sisavatdy, Praraxpravat lae virakam khong Somdet Prachao Anou–Vientiane,phou nam thi sang pravatsat Lao kou isaraphap khong prathet Lane Xang [The history and heroismof His Majesty King Anou–Vientiane, a leader who created Lao history for the freedom of the nationof a million elephants] (in Lao) (n.p.: Khamphoui Sisavatdy, 1994), p. 267.34 Ryan Ford, ‘Memories of Chao Anou: New history and post-socialist ideology’, Journal of LaoStudies 2, 2 (2011): 104–26; Khamphoui, Praraxpravat lae virakam khong Somdet Prachao Anou–Vientiane; Manit Opma, Pravat chao por lae pravat khwam pen ma khong Amphur Chatturat [The his-tory of founding father and the historical origins of Chatturat District] (In Thai) (Nong Bua Yai: n.p.,1980 [BE 2523]).35 Mayoury Ngaosyvathn and Pheuiphan Ngaosyvathn, Paths to conflagration: Fifty years of diplomacyand warfare in Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1778–1828 (Ithaca, NY: Southeast Asian ProgramPublications, Cornell University, 1998); Suthi Laolith, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum [History ofChaiyaphum] (In Thai) (Bangkok: Chom Rom Chaiyaphum, Regular Education Department, Ministryof Education, 2002[BE 2545]); Khamphoui, Praraxpravat lae virakam khong Somdet Prachao Anou–Vientiane; Sila, The history of Laos.36 Anonymous, Thao Suranari virasatri Thai [Thao Suranari, Thai Heroine] (In Thai) (Muang NakhonRatchasima: Wat Sala Loi, 2011 [BE 2554]); Sila, The history of Laos; Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum.37 Thawat Punnothok, Phun Wiang: Kan Suksa Prawattisat lae Wannakam Isan [Concerning thechronicle of Phun Wiang: The history and arts of Northeast Thailand] (Bangkok: Sathaban Thai KadiSuksa, Thammasat University, 1983), pp. 78–9, reports that local versions of the story of Chao Anou’srebellion claim it stemmed from the latter’s conflict with the Chao Muang of Khorat about registeringthe population in Isan through tattooing (sak lek hua Muang Isan), and friction between the Chao

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intended to definitively determine which version of this story is correct, it is impor-tant for readers to recognise that some versions appear to be more plausible thanothers, even if many facts remain disputed.

As some of Chao Anou’s rebel troops were forcibly removing part of the popu-lation of Khorat to Vientiane, they were defeated by a Siamese force at Thung Samrit,50 kilometres from Khorat in present-day Phimai district.38 Another 3,000 of ChaoAnou’s troops joined Phaya Narin Songkhram, and on Chao Anou’s orders movedto Muang (city–state of) Nong Bua Lamphu, the main Lao defence line.39 Therethey were defeated in early May 1827, allegedly after a fierce three-day battle,40

although Phaya Narin Songkhram himself testified during his interrogation by theSiamese that the battle only occurred from one evening until the next morning.41

Phaya Narin Songkhram apparently caused heavy Siamese casualties, including per-sonally stabbing and killing a commander named Kiet. His troops were, however,badly outnumbered and the Siamese were well reinforced. Eventually Narin’s forceswere overwhelmed.42

When Chao Anou heard of Phaya Narin Songkhram’s defeat, he fled to Vientianeand then Xieng Khouang (Muang Phuan) in northeastern Laos, where he was cap-tured on 21 November 1827. He was executed in Bangkok on 15 January 1828.43

Vientiane was depopulated, looted, and razed, as collective punishment for ChaoAnou’s disloyalty to Siam.44 As Mayoury and Pheuiphan Ngaosyvathn wrote, thewar ‘left lasting, vivid scars on the soul and spirit of the people in the region.’45

Indeed, the historical events associated with the Chao Anou rebellion remain highly

Muang of Khorat and Chao Nyo, Chao Anou’s son, in Champassak. There is no mention of any problemwith Bangkok, nor is there evidence that Chao Anou planned to attack Bangkok. The attack on ChaoAnou’s forces at Thung Samrit is alleged to have been planned by the Chao Muang of NakhonRatchasima, not Ya Mo.38 Charles F. Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit: The struggle over memory in the case of ThaoSuranari of Nakhon Ratchasima’, in Cultural crisis and social memory: Modernity and identity inThailand and Laos, ed. Shigeharu Tanabe and Charles F. Keyes (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i,2002), pp. 113–36.39 Sila, History of Laos. Chao muang was the term used for the chiefs of city-states or districts (amphurin Thai).40 Sila, History of Laos, p. 120; Anonymous, Pavat khong Amphur Chatturat [The history of Chatturatdistrict] (in Thai), n.d., p. 4; Udom Bunyanuson, Pavat Ban Talat [History of Talat Village] (in Thai)(Chatturat, Chaiyaphum: Self-published, 2010 [BE 2553]); Anonymous, Phun wiang samai ChaoAnou [Phun wiang in the time of Chao Anou] (in Lao) (Vientiane: Lao Language and LiteratureSection, Faculty of Linguistics, National University of Laos, 2004), p. 66.41 Raikanthap muang Viengchan [Army report Vientiane City] (in Thai), 8 (n.d.): 81–3 (Kham HaiKan, National Archives of Thailand, Bangkok).42 Phaya Narin Songkhram fought and was captured at present-day Pakchong Phu Wiang, just outsideof the administrative centre of Phu Wiang district, Khon Khen Province. A shrine there is devoted to himand locals organise an annual major festival in his memory. He is known there as ‘Chao Chorm’ and isthe most respected spirit in the district. Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat; Anon., Sala Chao Chorm Narin.43 Anon., Pavat khong Amphur Chatturat, p. 4.44 Ford, ‘Memories of Chao Anou’; Khamphoui, Praraxpravat lae virakam khong Somdet PrachaoAnou–Vientiane; Sila, History of Laos; Udom Bunyanuson, Pavat Muang Chatturat [History ofChatturat district] (in Thai) (Chatturat, Chaiyaphum, Thailand: Self-published, 2010 [BE 2553]).45 Ngaosyvathn and Ngaosyvathn, Paths to conflagration, p. 13.

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politicised and disputed, both within Thailand and Laos46 as well as amongst the Laodiaspora.47

Chao Anou was reputed to have had excellent relations with King Rama II ofSiam.48 However, after Rama II died in 1824, Chao Anou’s relations with his succes-sor deteriorated rapidly; when Chao Anou came to Bangkok in 1825 for the funeral ofRama II, he was asked by Rama III to send his men to cut sugar palms in Suphanburiand transport them to Samutprakarn after the funeral.49 The new Siamese king alsorefused to allow Chao Anou to repatriate a large number of ‘Lao’ people from Saraburito Vientiane.50 Many of these people had probably been relocated from Laos in 177851

(see Fig. 1).Reflecting the focus of the spirit mediums I discuss, my concern is with the leader

of Chao Anou’s main rebel army, the ethnic Lao named Thong Kham (or possiblyThong Dam), who had been given the distinguished name ‘Phaya NarinSongkhram’ by the King of Siam.52

There are various accounts of this period. According to one, Kham, the fatherof the Phaya Narin Songkhram mentioned earlier, who joined Chao Anou’s rebel-lion, was originally from Vientiane, or at least his parents were. This versionrelates that Achan53 Kham, as he came to be known, was the first to hold thetitle Phaya Narin Songkhram. Another version claims that Achan Kham was animportant military leader for Siam during the late Thonburi period and a keySiamese military leader when Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champassak wereattacked by King Rama I’s army in 1778.54 Udom Bunyanuson claims, however,that Achan Kham gained the title ‘Phaya Narin Songkhram’ due to his importantrole in defeating Ay Sa Kiet Ngong in Champassak.55 One anonymous publicationsuggests that Achan Kham received his title from King Rama I because of his sup-port in gaining control over Chao Phimai, the chao muang of Muang Phimai, in1770.56

According to Manit Opma,57 Achan Kham lived in Narai village, which is withinpresent-day Cho Ho subdistrict, Muang district, Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat). Later,he was allowed to establish Muang Simoom, a city–state directly under the tutelage ofKhorat. Towards the end of King Rama II’s reign, in the 1820s, the first Phaya NarinSongkhram’s son, Thong Kham, relocated the city–state to the vicinity of a large natu-ral wetland that became known as Nong Bua Yai (‘large lotus pond’), near the

46 Thawat, Phun wiang; Ngaosyvathn and Ngaosyvathn, Paths to conflagration; Keyes, ‘National her-oine or local spirit’; Anon., Pheun wiang samai Chao Anou; Ford, ‘Memories of Chao Anou’.47 Khamphoui, Praraxpravat lae virakam khong Somdet Prachao Anou–Vientiane.48 Sila, The history of Laos.49 Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum, p. 85; Sila, The history of Laos, pp. 113–14.50 Sila, The history of Laos, p. 114.51 Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum, p. 85.52 Songkhram means ‘war’.53 Achan (‘teacher’) is a term of respect, generally used with educated men.54 Manit, Pravat chao por lae pravat khwam pen ma khong Amphur Chatturat; Anon., Pavat khongAmphur Chatturat.55 Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat, p. 2. Achan Ma, who was Achan Kham’s deputy, was given the titleLuang Aphay, and later became the upahat, or deputy, of Muang Simoom.56 Anon., Amphur Chatturat.57 Manit, Pravat chao por lae pravat khwam pen ma khong Amphur Chatturat.

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eponymous present-day village58 (Fig. 2). The second Phaya Narin Songkhram(Thong Kham) probably decided to join forces with Chao Anou due to his Lao ethno-nationalism.59 The other well-known leader of Chaiyaphum, Phaya Lae (discussedlater in this article), was not as willing a participant, and was eventually capturedand killed by Chao Anou’s followers for his disloyalty.60 Phaya Narin Songkhram,however, appeared to have been loyal to Chao Anou. Ryan Ford described PhayaNarin Songkhram as ‘heroic’, pointing out that he ‘fought valiantly, killed theenemy commander and refused to surrender, preferring death to subservience’.61

According to Udom, he battled at Nong Bua Lamphu until all but five or six of hissoldiers were killed,62 while Phaya Narin Songkhram testified after his defeat thathe was captured with his nephew and ten soldiers after his forces were scattered bythe Siamese forces.63 When all was lost, Phaya Narin Songkhram reportedly triedto retreat up a hill on horseback, but was surrounded by Siamese soldiers. Hishorse lost its footing, Phaya Narin Songkhram fell off his mount backwards, andwas then captured. Udom reports that even then, the Siamese recognised PhayaNarin Songkhram’s past good deeds for Siam, and were so impressed with his battle-field skills that they offered him a chance to continue on in his capacity as chaomuang of Muang Simoom, provided he pledge allegiance to the King of Siam.64

Legend has it that he refused, stating that he had already given his oath to ChaoAnou and could therefore not give it to another. Thus, he was executed after beingtied to a large resin tree (ton yang; Dipterocarpus alatus).65

Udom claims that Thong Kham’s successor was Duang, whose official nameswere Luang Pheng or Luang Phornhomphakdi,66 and was not related to the rebelPhaya Narin Songkhram,67 but was the oldest son of Phaya Narin Songkhram’s dep-uty, or upahat, Luang Aphay (Achan Ma). All the direct descendants of the rebelPhaya Narin Songkhram were, according to Udom, made into slaves.68 Accordingto Udom, Duang became the new Phaya Narin Songkhram because he had not par-ticipated in the rebellion, instead fleeing to the forest with the population, thus main-taining order.69 Udom suspects that the name Muang Simoom was changed to

58 A pamphlet produced by the local government of Chatturat describes it as being officially establishedunder the thesaban system in 1898 [BE 2436]: 100 Pi Amphur Chatturat [100 years of Chatturat district](in Thai) (Chatturat: 1998 [BE 2536]). However, the name had been used for the district even beforethen: see Manit, Pravat chao por lae pravat khwam pen ma khong Amphur Chatturat; Anon., Pavatkhong Amphur Chatturat; Anon., Amphur Chatturat; Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat.59 It is noted here that the ethno-nationalism of that era undoubtedly differs from its contemporaryform.60 Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum.61 Ford, ‘Memories of Chao Anou’, p. 107.62 Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat, p. 7.63 Raikanthap Muang Viengchan.64 Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat, p. 7.65 Ibid.; Anonymous, Sala Chao Chorm Narin [The shrine of the High Royal Narin] (in Thai), 2008[2551], http://www.mkpat.org/index.php?name=knowledge&file=readknowledge&id=10 (last accessed29 Dec. 2011); Anon., Amphur Chatturat, p. 5. Maha Sila Viravong, however, claims that PhayaNarin Songkhram was killed by an elephant stomping on him: Sila, History of Laos, p. 121.66 Udom, Pavat Ban Talat; Pavat Muang Chatturat.67 Udom, Pavat Ban Talat.68 Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat, p. 9.69 Ibid.

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Muang Chatturat when Duang took over from Thong Kham, possibly to extinguishthe memory of the rebel.70

Many years later, in 1849, it was reported that Duang’s son, Sao, briefly took overthe position of Phaya Narin Songkhram when his father unexpectedly died, appar-ently due to a massive cholera epidemic.71 Boonhao, Sao’s brother, became thenext Phaya Narin Songkhram. Finally Thongdee was the last Phaya NarinSongkhram. When the French explorer, Etienne Aymonier met Thongdee in early1884, he observed that he was a staunch Buddhist, had nine weaving looms in hishouse, and owned fifty slaves, two elephants, and a number of cows and water buffa-loes. Aymonier also visited Nong Bua Yai.72

All in all, there were five or six Phaya Narin Songkhrams until the time when theposition was dissolved around 1897–98, when the amphur (district of) Chatturat wasestablished as part of Bangkok’s introduction of the centralised thesaban political sys-tem.73 When the government administrative system changed, the last Phaya NarinSongkhram, Thongdee, was appointed as the first nai amphur (chief district officer)of Chatturat.74 He continued in that position for another decade until retiring at theage of 90, in 1906. He passed away at the age of 104 in 1920.75

Nong Bua Yai and the Phaya Narin Songkhram cultMuang Phaya Narin Songkhram, thin hae kleua, ngam leua pha mai, kwang yai beungLahan, boran seng klong, phi nong chit kuson [City-state of Phaya Narin Songkhram,place of rock salt, very beautiful silk cloth, wide Lahan lake, ancient drums, kindrelatives]76

Phaya Narin Songkhram was the founder of Nong Bua Yai, which became known as‘Nakhon Nong Bua Yai’, the centre of Muang Simoom (later amphur Chatturat).77

According to Savat Hayarop,

If one counts back about 180 years [to around 1782], to around the period of KingPhraphutthayotfachulalok [King Rama I], nobody is able to say with certainty whatthe condition of Nong Bua Yai village at the present location was. However, not longafter, Nong Bua Yai village prospered to the highest level, until it was Nong Bua YaiCity [Nakhon Nong Bua Yai]. It had a district chief (chao muang) administering it, itwas the first muang in Chatturat district [amphur Chatturat]; afterwards the Muang

70 Ibid., p. 9.71 Ibid.; Manit, Pravat chao por lae pravat khwam pen ma khong Amphur Chatturat; Anon., Pavatkhong Amphur Chatturat.72 Etienne Aymonier, Voyage dans le Laos (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1897), pp. 287–306.73 Udom, Pavat Ban Talat and Pavat Muang Chatturat; See also Paitoon Mikusol, Kan patiroop kanpokkhrong Monthon Isan 2436–2453 [Administrative reform in the Isan provinces, BE 2436–2453] (InThai) (Bangkok: Education Unit, Teaching Training Department, 1972); Tej Bunnag, The provincialadministration of Siam 1892–1915 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977).74 Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat, p. 12; Anon., Amphur Chatturat, p. 5.75 Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat, p. 13.76 Official slogan for Chatturat district, 100 Pi Amphur Chatturat; my translation.77 Savat Hayarop, Pravat yo Ban Nong Bua Yai kuson katha [Brief history of Nong Bua Yai Village,katha merit-making] (in Thai), (Nong Bua Yai, Wat Pathummachat, 1962 [BE 2505]).

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was transferred to Kok village, and later [Muang Simoom] was dissolved and changed toChatturat district, as it remains up to now.78

Some claim that during the period of Chief Boonhao, the Muang designation — butnot the entire population — was transferred from Nong Bua Yai to Kok,79 possiblydue to the cholera epidemic at the former, which at its height was said to have killed700 people in a single day. Another alleged reason for the move was the frequentflooding of the site.80 Finally, Boonhao also married a woman from Kok, whichwas the main reason for the move.81

Many of the ancestors developed a new cult around the spirit of Phaya NarinSongkhram. For my research, I largely interacted with members of this group inthe villages of Nong Bua Yai and neighbouring Nong Bua Rong, as well as some spiritmediums from Kok, the capital of Chatturat. Mae82 Wat Khemwiset is presently thespirit medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram in Nong Bua Yai and is the fourth in herfamily line to play this role.83 There are about a half dozen other spirit mediums inthe area directly linked to Mae Wat’s group, including Mae Keo,84 Mae Sian,85 MaeSan,86 Mae Mun,87 and Mae Samlan.88 All are older women, aged from their early 50sto over 70, and most were encouraged by Mae Wat to become spirit mediums afterexperiencing illness. They gather together, led by Mae Wat, and become possessedso as to support each other during their respective rituals, which are conducted atspecific times of the year and generally involve much eating, drinking, and dancing.89

I interviewed them all.Reflexivity has become increasingly valued by those conducting ethnographic

research. I did not specifically search out Nong Bua Yai in order to conduct thisresearch. Instead, my connection to this community of a few hundred householdsis accidental and personal and unrelated to Phaya Narin Songkhram and the historyof the community. My wife of 24 years was born and raised here and my

78 Savat, Pravat yo Ban Nong Bua Yai kuson katha, p. 1; my translation.79 Udom, Pavat Ban Talat and Pavat Muang Chatturat; Anon., Amphur Chatturat, p. 5.80 Anon., Amphur Chatturat; Udom, Pavat Muang Chatturat.81 Anon., Amphur Chatturat, p. 5.82 Mae (mother), is a term of respect used with older women.83 Mae Wat’s great-grand aunt, Mae Theu Khamchumphon, preceded her as the spirit medium forPhaya Narin Songkhram, and Mae Dee Mee Suwan preceded her. Prior to Mae Dee, a male, GrandpaLuang Suwan, was the spirit medium (Mae Wat Khemwiset, pers. comm., 21 July 2011). Savat mentionsthat one of the original founders of Nong Bua Yai was named Luang Suwan, although this might be just acoincidence. Savat, Pravat yo Ban Nong Bua Yai kuson katha, p. 6, history section.84 Mae Keo Chanachai is the spirit medium of ‘Khun Dan’, a thahan ayk or military commander underPhaya Narin Songkhram. She lives in Nong Bua Yai.85 Mae Sian Opma is the spirit medium for ‘Mae Ek Khai’, the spirit, or Chao Nong, responsible forNong Bua Yai. She lives in Nong Bua Yai. She is related to Mae Wat Khemwiset.86 Mae San Arichart is the spirit medium for ‘Pho Nyai Cheep Samut Thong’, Phaya NarinSongkhram’s deputy. She lives in Nong Bua Yai.87 Mae Mun serves as the ‘secretary’ (samian) of Thong Dee. She lives in Nong Bua Yai.88 Mae Samlan Philomthai is the spirit medium for ‘Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai’, a thahan ayk, or mili-tary commander, under Phaya Narin Songkhram. She lives in Nong Bua Long, adjacent to Nong Bua Yai.89 The ritual for Phaya Narin Songkhram takes place during the fourth lunar month and that foranother spirit, Khun Dan, occurs during the sixth lunar month. These rituals must occur on aWednesday (wan phut) in the morning. Khun Sulivong’s ritual occurs every year on his birthday, 15Apr. (fifth lunar month), which coincides with the Songkran (Thai New Year) festival.

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mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law still live in the village. The families ofboth my wife’s parents have deep roots in the community. Furthermore, my wife’smaternal grandmother was a spirit medium from the spirit cult led by the mediumfor Phaya Narin Songkhram, and my wife’s maternal aunt’s husband considered him-self to be a direct descendant of Phaya Narin Songkhram.

My field research began when I visited Nong Bua Yai with my wife and our twochildren in July and August 2011, and continued in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima(Khorat) during June 2012. I did additional research in southern ChaiyaphumProvince and northern Nakhon Ratchasima in July 2013. Most of my interviewswere conducted in the presence of my wife, who has known most of those interviewedsince she was a child. My wife’s presence and credibility as an ‘insider’ whose familyhistory is known to most long-time residents of the village made it easy for me toquickly gain the trust of our informants. All the interviews, however, were conductedby me in Lao and Thai.

Politics and boundary-makingDenes has pointed out that ‘spirit mediums were instrumental actors who repro-

duced the ideological and social structure of the muang, inasmuch as they gave voiceto the spirit of the founder in annual rites of propitiation to the phi muang, therebysanctifying the authority of the chao muang’s lineage.’90 Turton, Wijewardene, Morris,and Irvine have similarly illustrated the political importance of spirit mediums inChiang Mai, where they are considered bearers of prophecies about the future ofthe kingdom and protectors of the population.91 When Chiang Mai royalty ruled,spirit mediums were also central political figures.

Thus, the original spirit cult that developed sometime after the last Phaya NarinSongkhram’s death should be recognised as having had a political role in maintainingthe memory, and, perhaps at least initially, the vision of an ethnic Lao leader who hadfought bravely against the Siamese. Memories embodied by history are always politi-cal;92 thus maintaining the history of Phaya Narin Songkhram as the founder of thevillage and hero of Chao Anou’s attempted rebellion presents a strong counter-discourse to the Siamese ethno-nationalist narrative of Chao Anou’s defeat due tothe heroism of the brave ‘Thai’ woman of Khorat, Thao Suranari (also known asYa Mo), a history that has become important in Khorat but also more generally inThailand.93 Although the exact role of Ya Mo in Chao Anou’s defeat remains con-tested, she has nonetheless been elevated by many as an important Thai nationalheroine.94

90 Denes, ‘Recovering Khmer ethnic identity’, p. 202.91 Turton, ‘Matrilineal descent groups’; Gehan Wijewardene, Place and emotion in northern Thai ritualbehavior (Bangkok: Pandora, 1986); Morris, In the place of origins; Irvine, ‘Decline of village spirit med-ium cults’.92 See Kasia Kietlinska and Donna Parmelee, Communism’s negotiated collapse: The Polish round table,ten years later. A conference at the University of Michigan April 7–10, 1999. English transcript of the con-ference proceedings (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Center for Russian and East European Studies,1999).93 Thao Suranari was apparently the title given to Ying/Ya Mo by King Rama III after the defeat ofChao Anou’s army. Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’, p. 118.94 Saipin Kaew-ngarmprasert, Kanmuang nai anusawari thao Suranari [The politics of the monument

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Among other mechanisms of memory production and maintenance, the role ofspirit mediums has been significant. Applying a well-known Lao idiom, one can sayman bo lao man leum (if you don’t speak of something, it becomes forgotten), spiritmediums maintained politically important history through oral narratives. BourinWungkeeree’s argument that the transmission of folk literature maintains the ethnicidentity of descendants of those who migrated from Luang Prabang to Thailand res-onates with the story of spirit mediums in my study area,95 as does NittayaWannakit’s and Siraporn Nathalang’s account of the role of spirit mediums inChiang Dao, in northern Thailand, in the persistence of the history of Chao LuangKham Daeng.96

Particular sociocultural boundaries were created within this political and histori-cal context. Laden with ethnic politics dependent on which side of the Chao Anourebellion one was on, spirit mediums are integrally linked to boundary-making, asboundary-making relates to identification, and thus difference, from Others. On theone hand, most of the subdistricts of Chatturat are predominantly Lao-speaking,and thus the spirit mediums there are largely focused on being possessed by PhayaNarin Songkhram, his soldiers, and members of his political entourage, all ofwhom are assumed to have supported the fight against Siam. On the other hand,those in the Thai-speaking parts of southern Chatturat and Nakhon Ratchasima donot identify themselves as Lao as do most of the population of Chaiyaphum. Theyare ‘Thai Khorat’. As Charles Keyes observed, ‘In the Khorat area, while there aremediums for a variety of spirits, there is little question but that of GrandmotherMo [Ying/Ya Mo] holds by far the most prominent place.’97 In fact, these spirit med-iums, and the mediums of other Thai spirits found in these ‘borderlands’, not onlyplay roles producing and reproducing a historical narrative crucial for defining thedifferences necessary for boundary-making, they themselves become, in certainways, markers of these boundaries, indicators of whether a community was or is his-torically sympathetic to one side of the conflict or the other. The boundaries areundoubtedly inconsistent and fuzzy at points, but they have had and continue tohave symbolic and material meaning for many people. Boundaries are essential forconstructing certain spaces, for place-making. They create meaning; such an under-standing affects one’s sense of belonging, and all that goes along with such a sense.

Crucially, the population was socially organised in ‘villages’ (ban), and each vil-lage self-identified based on language, culture, politics, and history. Moreover, eachvillage had a spatial imaginary, including core and frontier areas, and also, as indi-cated below, space was imagined as needing to be guarded. This structure gave spatialmeaning to situations where different spirit cults were associated with particular vil-lages and thus various spaces. Villagers would certainly have known which village

of Thao Suranari], special issue, Sinlapa Wattanatham (Bangkok: Matichon, 1995 [BE 2542]); Nilsen,‘The spirit of a heroine’; Anon., Thao Suranari virasatri Thai; Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’;Thawat, Phun wiang.95 Bourin Wungkeeree, ‘Self-awareness of Luang Prabang Laoness in Thailand: A case study of mythand ritual’, MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities 11, 1 (2008): 91–105.96 Nittaya Wannakit and Siraporn Nathalang, ‘Dynamics of power of space in the Tai–Yuan ChaoLuang Kham Daeng cult’, Special issue, MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities 19 (2011): 87–104.97 Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’, p. 128.

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spaces they were in, and which side of the boundaries they were on; even now this isgenerally well known to locals. They recognise which villages are populated by ‘Lao’speakers and which ones are ‘Thai’. Aymonier commented on his crossing of theseethnic boundaries between the Thai and the Lao when he travelled through thearea in 1884, even if he did not refer to them as boundaries.98 He did, however, ident-ify which villages were ‘Lao’ and which were ‘Thai’. At the time such differences werealready quite prominent. Nong Bua Yai was, of course, Lao.

The boundaries between these two peoples, materialised through villages, and thetwo ethnicities of spirit mediums found in ‘Lao’ and ‘Thai’ villages, both manifest andsymbolise political difference. They are also reproduced through performative ritualpractice (related to spirit medium rituals) and a powerful narrative discourse (relatedto being Lao or Thai) designed to maintain memories crucial to either a Lao or Thaiethno-nationalist project and its associated boundaries. Although the boundariesbetween the ‘Thai’ and the ‘Lao’ are not physically marked or recognised by thestate, they nevertheless continue to socially divide two groups of people who politi-cally and ethnically identify with different sides of the Chao Anou conflict, even ifthe boundaries are generally ineffective in stopping people from crossing them, atleast nowadays.

The links between spirit mediums and boundaries can be observed travellingsouth from the ‘Lao’ Nong Bua Yai to ‘Thai Khorat’-speaking areas, such as NongBua Khok and Ban Kham subdistricts (both are in Chatturat). While the PhayaNarin Songkhram spirit cult area is located not far to the north of these areas,99

the key spirit at Nong Bua Khok is Ta Poo Luang Khong, who is believed to be a‘Thai’ speaker. People from other nearby Thai-speaking villages, including those inBan Kham subdistrict (Fig. 2), also revere the same spirit. People in all these placesconfirmed that inhabitants of the area speak ‘Thai Khorat’, and that Ta Poo LuangKhong spoke the same language.100

The geography of spirit mediums is not, however, always obvious. Overall, theboundaries between spirit cults appear to be clear at their cores, but fuzzy at theiredges, and generally complex. For example, the people of Samhong Thung village,about one kilometre from Nong Bua Yai, do not respect only the spirit of PhayaNarin Songkhram, but also another Lao-speaking spirit, Khun Phileuk. In addition,in Sompoi village, to the north of Nong Bua Yai, Phaya Borom AnouvongChaichana, another Lao-speaking spirit with a provocative name, is dominant. Onthe Thai-speaking side, another Thai-speaking spirit, Ta Poo Luang Khan, holdssway in the area immediately south of Ta Poo Luang Khong’s sphere. According toa woman interviewed at Nong Bua Khok, ‘People respect Ya Mo’s spirit in villagessouth of Ta Poo Luang Khong and Ta Poo Luang Khan.’ To the south of

98 Aymonier, Voyage dans le Laos, pp. 287–306.99 The area includes, at its core, Nong Bua Yai, Non Phan Chat, and Nong Bua Rong villages, all inNong Bua Yai subdistrict. The spirit of Phaya Narin Songkhram’s ally, Luang Aphay, is important innearby Talat village, where an older spirit, Khun Som, is also revered. Luang Aphay is also respectedin other villages in Kut Nam Sai subdistrict, Chatturat, as well as in Nong Bua Rawe district,Chaiyaphum Province.100 Fieldwork interviews, Nong Bua Khok village, 12 July 2013.

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Chatturat district, in Nakhon Ratchasima Province, there are both Lao andThai-speaking areas.

Older place names in the area sometimes indicate ethnicity, but there have beensome deceptive changes as well. For example, the name ‘Non Thai district’ came intoexistence only in 1941 (BE 2484) during the Plaek Phibulsongkhram governmentperiod of strong Thai nationalism; its name was changed from ‘Non Lao’.101 OtherLao places were reverted to being called ‘Thai’ as a result of Prince DamrongRajanubhab’s efforts. Damrong wrote in the mid-1930s that ‘people in Bangkokhave long called [the peoples of Northern Siam] Lao. Today, however, we knowthey are Thai, not Lao.’102 Certainly these efforts to change names have made theboundaries much less visible. But over time the boundaries are being at least partiallymaintained through spirit mediumship, which has — along with serving other pur-poses — engaged with past memories through ritual practice. However, the growthof spirit mediumship in this region, as in other parts of Thailand, does not appearto have occurred due to a greater interest amongst the population in rememberingthe past and its associated ethnic politics, although political circumstances inThailand today suggest that this could become the case in the future. For nowthere appears to be much more demand for opportunities to have ‘fun’, as in themusic, dancing, eating, and drinking associated with spirit medium rituals. As onespirit medium in Nong Bua Yai put it, ‘People have more money to spend on havingfun than they did before.’ This fits well with reports about the expansion of spiritmediumship being linked to processes of capitalist development.

The efflorescence of spirit mediumship has, however, probably tended todecrease the emphasis on the maintenance of past boundaries between the Lao andthe Thai, compared to what they probably meant when the Phaya NarinSongkhram spirit cult first began, as people we have spoken with have reported a gen-eral decline in Lao identity in the area in recent decades. This has led to some contra-dictory outcomes worth elaborating on through recounting some ethnographicinteractions with Mae Wat Khemwiset, the present spirit medium for Phaya NarinSongkhram and leader of the spirit cult, as well as some of her subordinate followers.They indicate how the boundary maintenance work occurred in the past and con-tinues today.

Mae Wat, Achan Suthi, and spirit medium politicsMae Wat was eager to demonstrate her knowledge of the history of Phaya

Narin Songkhram from the time I first met her. She was active, spoke forcefullyand volubly, and clearly had a gift of the gab. It was immediately evident that histori-cal knowledge remains a crucial part of her role as a spirit medium in Nong Bua Yai,and our discussions with other spirit mediums in her group reinforced thisimpression, but it also became clear that Mae Wat’s actual understanding of historicalevents was much more limited than she would have us believe. For example, she hasinternalised the story of Ya Mo leading the Vientiane soldiers to become drunk beforerising up and defeating them, an account that seems likely to be based more on

101 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_Thai_District (last accessed 9 Oct. 2013).102 Quoted in Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’, p. 122.

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political manoeuvring than reality.103 Keyes also made similar observations when heinterviewed a spirit medium for Ya Mo in Khorat. But still, Mae Wat’s role in trans-mitting history is significant, and when I visited her in July 2013, she demonstratedthis when she stated, ‘If I say something wrong, please correct me. Write it downcorrectly.’

Later I learned that Mae Wat and other spirit mediums in the Phaya NarinSongkhram cult also serve the community by conducting rituals to cure peoplefrom afflictions believed to be caused by malevolent spirits, something that is fairlytypical for such mediums in the region. As one spirit medium put it, ‘People mostlycome to see me to cure illnesses.’

When I first met her, Mae Wat usefully clarified two points included in the offi-cial biography of Phaya Narin Songkhram inscribed on a recently erected stone slab atthe shrine or San Chao Por104 of Phaya Narin Songkhram, located adjacent to theNong Bua Yai temple, Wat Pathummachat, and the former and much more modestshrine for Phaya Narin Songkhram. The first related to the method used to executePhaya Narin Songkhram. The official biography inscribed on his shrine claims thatbecause his skin was impenetrable, the only way he could be killed was by havingan elephant step on him. Mae Wat claimed that the story was altered because thenew version sounded more polite than the old one, which states that Thong Khamwas killed by impalement.

More crucial, however, was Mae Wat’s second clarification. When I asked ifPhaya Narin Songkhram had been forced to join the Chao Anou rebellion, as writtenin the official biography at the shrine and in other Thai-language historicalaccounts,105 she emphatically assured me that Phaya Narin Songkhram had been awilling ally of Chao Anou. She wanted me to clearly understand that Phaya NarinSongkhram was a Lao rebel. In July 2013, she reiterated this idea, ‘Chao Por Narinand Ya Mo were enemies in the past, during the war.’ Other members of her entou-rage interviewed separately at their houses made similar claims.

Mae Wat, during another interview, told me about an exchange she had with theformer nai amphur, or district chief, of Chatturat, Kasem Chaiyanong, in themid-1980s. She asked him, when possessed, to arrange for a memorial statue to bebuilt in Phaya Narin Songkhram’s honour and he apparently verbally agreed.However, according to her, Kasem never fulfilled his promise, as he was transferredin 1988. She then revealed that there had been a fire at the Kok village market shortlyafter he left, with three stalls burnt. She implied that this was linked with the naiamphur not following through with his promise and the inadequate recognitiongiven to Phaya Narin Songkhram’s spirit by the State. Even before she was possessed,her words were harsh and political, even rebellious, much as one might imagine froma resistant political spirit medium. She was advocating for her spirit, the purportedLao ethno-nationalist Phaya Narin Songkhram.

103 See Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’; Saipin, Kanmuang nai anusawari thao Suranari;Thawat, Phun wiang.104 San refers to shrine in Thai, and chao por to founding father in Thai. In Lao, they are generallyreferred to as ta ho.105 See Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum.

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Later, however, I learned that the situation was much more complicated. Wemade yet another appointment with Mae Wat so that I could interview the spiritof Phaya Narin Songkhram. Once she was possessed and we started to converse, Iwas immediately struck by her attempt to speak central Thai rather than the Laolanguage that one would expect a Lao to converse in. Her central Thai was farfrom perfect, but it is interesting that Phaya Narin Songkhram speaks central Thai.Later, when Mae Wat was no longer possessed, I asked her why Phaya NarinSongkhram spoke in Thai when he entered her body. She responded, ‘He has beenin Thailand a long time now, so he has adjusted to speaking in Thai.’ This answerdemonstrates the political shift from representing the spirit of the military leaderopposed to Siam, to becoming socialised to be less explicitly political, and instead,someone who is no longer as opposed to Siam as portrayed by the spirit mediumswho came before her. She clearly indicated that the spirit of Phaya NarinSongkhram had even adapted to the circumstances by adopting the Thai language,although the body he possessed was of someone who always speaks in the localLao dialect! This episode demonstrates changing social and political circumstancesand how conjoined ethnic boundaries are blurring. However, Mae Wat also gave ageneral indicator about space and boundaries between the Thai and the Lao, tellingme that, ‘Those who respect Ya Mo live south of here.’

During our efforts to learn more about the history of Phaya Narin Songkhramand Chaiyaphum generally, my wife and I managed to meet Achan Suthi Laolith, anative of Chaiyaphum who was previously the principal of a school in the provincialcapital and is presently a senior government official, even though he is 74 years old.106

He is recognised as a key historian of Chaiyaphum, having written a book in Thaiabout the history of the province.107 We visited him at his office in the provincialcapital of Chaiyaphum. He willingly provided information and leads about the historyof Phaya Narin Songkhram. He was clearly sympathetic to the Lao view of history. Healso gave us a copy of his book, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum, now out of print.108 Heexplained that because Phaya Narin Songkhram was the original founder of MuangSimoom, the first Muang of Chaiyaphum, he should be recognised as the chao por,or founding father, of Chatturat district. This displaces Luang Banthao, of Kok village,whom Achan Suthi claimed was historically insignificant, and thus not deserving tobe recognised as the chao por. He claimed that the district centre was moved to Kokvillage and Luang Banthao was made the chao por, around 1933 [BE 2476], during the‘nationalist period’ following Phlaek Phibulsongkhram’s dismantling of the absolutemonarchy in Siam.109 Even if the district centre might actually have been relocatedearlier, Achan Suthi’s claim that the change of chao por and the movement of the dis-trict centre from Nong Bua Yai to Kok as part of an attempt to erase the memory ofPhaya Narin Songkhram, and, particularly, his heroic role in Chao Anou’s rebellion,

106 His official title is Rong Nayok Khanamontri Thesaban Amphur Chaiyaphum.107 See Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum.108 Interestingly, Achan Suthi was much more candid in person compared to the content of his book,which was much less Lao nationalist in tone, and not as revealing.109 The name of the country changed from Siam to Thailand in 1939. Saipin (Kanmuang nai anusa-wari thao Suranari) discusses attempts to find local people to integrate into the national narrative.

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was itself quite a political statement. He suggested that it was probably part of thesame plan that elevated Ya Mo’s heroism.110 In any case, one can understandAchan Suthi’s interpretation as demonstrating that there was an attempt to obscurethe sociocultural boundaries that divided the Lao from the Thai nation. The Thai gov-ernment was not entirely successful, however, partly due to the prevalence of spiritmediums whose existence has tended to maintain boundaries through the perpetu-ation of folk history.

After considerable discussion, Achan Suthi asked us to arrange a meetingbetween him and the spirit medium for Phaya Narin Songkhram, Mae Wat. Weagreed, and a few weeks later we visited Mae Wat’s house at Nong Bua Yai villagetogether. She became possessed so that Achan Suthi could ask Phaya Narin somespecific historical questions. He asked about an alleged gold mine from PhayaNarin Songkhram’s period. Achan Suthi wanted to find it in order to fund the con-struction of a spirit house in honour of Phaya Lae. After the possession was over, wewere surprised to learn that Achan Suthi is himself a renowned spirit medium fornone other than the hero of Chaiyaphum, Phaya Lae, whose execution on the groundsof disloyalty was ordered by Chao Anou after being summoned to meet in 1826;111

thus Phaya Lae became a martyr for Siam and is commemorated by a monumentin front of Chaiyaphum’s provincial headquarters.112

The interaction between the two spirit mediums was quite amicable, however,especially considering the fact that Phaya Narin Songkhram had been involved inthe execution of Phaya Lae in the past. Part of their conversation went as follows:Achan Suthi explained to Mae Wat — as he had to me earlier — that he felt thatPhaya Narin Songkhram should be promoted to become the official chao por ofChatturat; Mae Wat (when not possessed) responded rather unexpectedly, consider-ing my earlier interactions with her. Rather than exhibiting confidence and politicaladvocacy as she had with me, she appealed to Achan Suthi to not promote theidea of Phaya Narin Songkhram becoming the official chao por of the district. Sheeven went as far as begging him not to pursue it. I believe she did this because shefeared the anger of high-level government officials or politicians. Eventually, AchanSuthi backed off and stopped trying to convince her. Her response to Achan Suthi,a high-level official himself, was quite different from her response to me a few daysearlier, indicating the varied ways that Mae Wat positions herself. Clearly, theexpression of identities and the boundaries associated with them vary dependingon context.

In July 2013 I heard, however, that Achan Suthi had convinced the local govern-ment in Chatturat to make a drama film depicting Phaya Narin Songkhram ratherthan Luang Banthao. But still, Mae Wat was not interested in elevating the conflict.

110 See Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’; Saipin, Kanmuang nai anusawari thao Suranari;Thawat, Phun wiang.111 Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum.112 Phaya Lae, or Phaya Phraphakdichumphon, apparently migrated from Vientiane to Chaiyaphum in1817 [BE 2360], and two years later he founded Muang Chaiyaphum (Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum,p. 79). While many people I interviewed in Chaiyaphum for this research believe that Phaya Lae andPhaya Narin Songkhram were brothers, they were not related. In addition, Phaya Narin Songkhram isbelieved to have established Muang Simoom before Phaya Lae left Vientiane (Suthi Laolith, pers.comm., 1 Aug. 2011).

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As she put it, ‘The Chinese [Thais] in Chatturat did not agree to make a statue forChao Por Narin at Kok village. I don’t want to compete with people there. I donot want there to be a conflict.’ She then continued, ‘Chao Por Narin left the districtcentre (amphur), so it is fine for Luang Banthao to be chao por amphur.’

The Phaya Narin Songkhram spirit cult, Khun Dan, and Khun SulivongProbably the most striking example of how local space is produced and repro-

duced through the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult relates to symbolism and practicesassociated with the roles of Khun Dan and Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai, two ‘soldierspirits’ in the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult. The spirits possess Mae Keo and MaeSamlan respectively, but they are particularly important because both have importantroles protecting the boundaries of the territory of the spirit cult’s home community.

Khun Dan’s name can be translated literally as ‘Sir Border’, dan meaning bound-ary or border.113 According to Mae Keo, the medium of Khun Dan and a long-timeresident of Nong Bua Yai village, ‘Phaya Narin Songkhram told Khun Dan to guardthe area at different places.’ In particular, Khun Dan was ordered to guard the impor-tant southern flank, facing Khorat. An ancient sacred tree and a concrete spirit housenearby mark the location where Khun Dan is supposed to vigilantly guard the border.A forest in the vicinity had previously marked the frontier, but it was cut down somedecades ago, and the spirit house was put up in its place to serve as a material remin-der of the village boundary. Each year a ritual takes place at the spirit house andancient tree. Others in the cult attend. Thus, the boundary is reproduced each year,both materially and ritually.

Similarly, Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai is a member of the group responsible forprotecting the northern flank of the territory, located in Nong Bua Rong village (pre-viously part of Nong Bua Yai village) (Fig. 2). He was also assigned to protect theboundary of the community. In line with the comments made above by Mae Keo,Mae Samlan, the medium for Khun Sulivong Kiang Kai, told me that, ‘KhunSulivong’s job is to protect the village [space].’ The spirit house for Khun Sulivongis located at the historical northern edge of the village. Thus, both these membersof the Phaya Narin Songkhram spirit cult see their roles as protecting the innerspace of the spirit cult, and thus are involved in the production of space, and themaintenance of boundaries.

Individual rituals conducted by spirit mediums, as well as those that bring all themembers of the spirit cult together, led by Mae Wat, are all crucial for variously pro-ducing the community space represented by the ‘Laoness’ of Phaya Narin Songkhram.

ConclusionsThis article demonstrates that spirit mediums in northeastern Thailand have

played and continue to play important roles in perpetuating and altering the politicallandscapes they inhabit. However, while spirit mediums for Phaya Narin Songkhramoften maintain the memory of the Lao leader and founder of the village, the roles andpolitical positioning of Mae Wat and her colleagues have undoubtedly shifted overtime and will continue to do so.

113 Khun Dan was also a government position.

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Yet it is still possible to identify the ethnic Lao and Thai sociocultural divide bybecoming attentive to the ways in which spirit mediums and villagers identify them-selves, thereby intentionally or unintentionally influencing those who interact withthem. Indeed, those linked to Phaya Narin Songkhram continue to identify, at leastat some level, as ‘Lao’, while those linked to Ya Mo, Ta Poo Luang Khong, andother Thai spirits identify as ‘Thai’ or ‘Thai Khorat’. This became especially clearwhen I visited a Ya Mo spirit medium in Khorat in 2012; she strongly and proudlyidentified herself as ‘Thai Khorat’. Thus, the spirit mediums produce and reproduceethnic difference. Mediums such as those who channel the spirits of Khun Dan andKhun Sulivong still see their role as protecting community space, even though it doesappear that the political importance of the boundaries they protect has diminished.The depoliticisation of boundaries has, however, not occurred evenly across the land-scape; those located near the centre of the Phaya Narin Songkhram cult maintain astronger sense of spatial division than people on the fringes.

Although Mae Wat continues to insist that Phaya Narin Songkhram was notforced by Chao Anou into becoming an ally,114 she has adopted narratives and prac-tices that indicate shifts in her own political positioning in relation to the Thai stateand boundaries between the Lao and the Thai. One example is her use of central Thaiwhen possessed by Phaya Narin Songkhram, indicating her enclosure in an expandingnationalism, something that might not be expected of the Lao nationalist Phaya NarinSongkhram. Similarly, at a local level Mae Wat was willing to imply that she was thecause of the fire at the market at Kok village, the capital of Chatturat, in response tothe failure of the district administration to appropriately acknowledge Phaya NarinSongkhram. The intent then was to demonstrate that the spirit of Phaya NarinSongkhram remained powerful, and continues to be politically potent and relevant.When confronted with the possibility of politics about who should be the officialchor por of the district, however, she retreated rapidly from her previous bold stance,saying that she was concerned that the situation might become too political.

Mae Wat acknowledged being aware of Saipin Kaew-ngarmprasert’s book aboutthe politics of the monument to Ya Mo,115 and the strong protests levelled against thebook and the author in 1996 by the promoters of Ya Mo’s memory. As conveyed byKeyes during his interview of a Ya Mo spirit medium in Khorat, this group saw them-selves as defenders of the Thai nation and they were particularly concerned about pro-tecting the reputation of Thao Suranari as a brave ‘Thai’ heroine. They were thusgreatly offended by Saipin’s questioning of Thao Suranari’s role in the defeat ofChao Anou’s troops at Thung Samrit.116 While Mae Wat undoubtedly did notwant to face similar political controversy, it does not mean that she is apolitical.

Ultimately, one can see how spirit mediums such as Mae Wat both maintain theethnic and political boundary between memories of Lao and Thai nationalism, trans-forming the meaning of historical figures such as Phaya Narin Songkhram into some-thing much less symbolic of resistance to the Thai than would presumably have been

114 In 2011, Achan Suthi admitted to me privately that he believed that Phaya Narin Songkhram hadwillingly joined Chao Anou. However, in his book he states (apparently for political reasons) that PhayaNarin Songkhram was threatened into joining Chao Anou. Suthi, Pravat muang Chaiyaphum, p. 92.115 Saipin, Kanmuang nai anusawari thao Suranari.116 Keyes, ‘National heroine or local spirit’.

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the case for spirit mediums before her, at least at particular moments. She thus findsherself in a normal human space, one in which she expresses her identities in varyingways at different moments. This is the complex nature of the dynamic meanings ofsociocultural boundaries, with individuals acting across multiple boundaries in mul-tiple ways.

From this story of spirit mediums, boundary production, and shifting contexts, itis possible to see how the meanings and significance of boundaries can transform overtime, depending on various factors, such as language, food, social organisation, etc. Atthe same time boundaries are partially maintained, both intentionally and uninten-tionally, despite all the contradictions, through a particular combination of past prac-tices and discourses and present-day practices and symbolism that result in theemergence of particular hybrid and conditional forms of borderlands.

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