Holy water, feng shui help new Thai PM to ward off occult

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is using everything from holy water to feng shui to ward off the occult, as the 60-year-old prepares to move in to Bangkok’s Government House this week. Like many politicians and generals before him, Prayuth believes in spiritualism and divination. On Monday, members of his entourage were seen carrying Buddha statues and religious idols thought to bring luck in to Government House. Prayuth’s cabinet will reportedly also start work at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 9 - an auspicious number in a country where numbers mean everything.

It is not uncommon to use astrologers to decide what day and time to stage a coup, for example.

Analyst at Siam Intelligence Unit think tank Kan Yuenyong

In March, an anti-government group, the Network of Students and People for Thailand’s Reform, held its own ceremony at Government House to reverse black magic said to have been used against them by members of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government. Critics say the survival of these beliefs harms democracy and the course of politics should be dictated by the will of the living rather than politicians’ belief in spirits and the stars.

I have a sore throat and pain in my neck. Someone said there are people putting curses on me. I had so much lustral water poured over my head that I shivered all over.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha

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