What Happens When Disaster Strikes?



In Thai, the word chiphai can be a curse: it’s damn hot (ron chiphai)! Or it can simply mean disaster. On September 24, 1990, one of the worst road accidents in the history of the country took place. Just before midnight people had noted that the air seemed to be quite foggy and that some kind of temperature inversion was taking place. Near the intersection of Phetburi Road and Witthayu and just under the expressway, a truck loaded with 40,000 liters of propane approached the junction at high speed. The driver didn’t notice that the light had changed — oh boy. In his attempt to avoid oncoming traffic, he swerved, the tanks tipped off the truck and slammed into a nearby building bursting on impact. Gas immediately spread throughout the surrounding area until the sparks from car ignitions lit the gas. The fire and flames spread over an area extending beyond 500 meters in all directions. People from all walks of life, cars of all makes, and shophouses of various types were all engulfed. Nearly one hundred people perished. In the wake of this disaster, the people dwelling in Bangkok looked for answers.

There is a religious term called theodicy. Generally, this term is defined as the study of how god allows evil in the world. In the case of Buddhism, a non-theistic religion, we will use the concept of theodicy to examine how Thai Buddhists explain disasterous occurrences in the modern world.

Some people have suggested that as Thailand modernizes, Thai people will become increasingly “rational,” that is, less interested in explanations related to the intervention of spirits or astrological aspects. In a book published the same year as the gas disaster, the following quote can be found:

 

It is instructive, for various reasons, to contrast Buddhism with spirit worship even though the latter is certainly a less prominent feature of Thai village culture than it was a generation ago. I regard spirit worship in an entirely different light than Buddhism. While in my Optimistic Scenario Buddhism will endure and grow stronger, spirit worship will gradually assume an ever less important role in the lives of people, since it is clearly counter to a scientific way of life. While it is true that spirit worship still serves positive social functions in parts of our rural subculture — such as maintaining a sense of continuity with deceased kinfolk, and preserving social order — these functions can gradually be assumed by other belief structures, and by a modern social structure.

(Sippanondha Ketudat, The Middle Path for the Future of Thailand: Technology in Harmony with Culture and Environment. Honolulu: East-West Center, 1990, p. 74)

While this Thai person may feel or hope that Thai beliefs are moving in this direction, when we looked at the news related to the gas explosion we found that this was not the case at all.

How did some Thai people analyze this disaster?

In terms of the Spirit of the City (of Bangkok)
In one prominent magazine read even by Thai intellectuals (Matichon, October 7 2533 [1990]), the headlines read SAYONG KHWAN! This term means “hair-raising” khwan. In other words, the spirit of the city was so out of whack that it caused its people to have a hair-raising experience. (See our Aspects\Thai Buddhist Psychology and Character Analysis for more information on khwan).



In terms of Stars of the City (astrology)
Thai astrologers believe that the City of Bangkok (Krungthep or City of Angels) has its own stars or astrological aspects. Following this disaster, several astrologers plotted and interpreted the stars close to and at the time of the accident. Briefly, they found that Mars had passed behind the stars of the city, which they took be a sign of imminent disaster. Other planets, such as Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn, were in converging and were found to be in “the same house.” This convergence was taken as a sign of impending death or extreme suffering by carelessness.

At the same time, insets in the news talked of Horse Pills. When an autopsy was done on the charred remains of the driver, the results showed that he was on “horse pills” (ya ma) or amphetamines. There were extensive discussions about the abuse of this drug; campaigns soon followed in the media; and people did say that this was an example of abayamuk (Pali, abhayamukha) — according to Buddhism, behaviors that lead to destruction (such as adultery, gambling, and substance abuse).

Such was the mix of modern Thai rationalization.