Mae Nak Phra Khanong

In the common legend Mae Nak is a woman named Nak who died while pregnant or in childbirth while her husband Mak was conscripted/away at war. When Mak returned he initially lived with Nak and their infant without perceiving that she was dead; neighbours eventually warned him and Nak revealed her ghostly nature (for example by stretching her arm to an impossible length to retrieve an object). Various versions conclude with monastic intervention–a powerful monk either confines her in an earthen jar and disposes of it in the canal, removes and binds a bone from her forehead as a relic, or persuades her to leave by promising reunion in a future life. Scholarly and popular retellings record multiple variants and some historical-critical claims that the tale was later shaped in print and performance.

Legendary descriptions present Nak as a beautiful young woman who, in the ghost story, appears as if alive and nursing an infant. Shrine iconography at Wat Mahabut centers on a statue or images of Mae Nak with her child; devotees also offer fine dresses, toys, and portraits. A notable folkloric episode describes Nak stretching her arm to an impossible length, signaling her supernatural state.

Folklore attributes to Nak postmortem persistence and agency: she can appear indistinguishable from living persons (deceiving her husband), perform remarkable physical feats in stories (the elongated arm episode), pursue and terrorize those who oppose her, and inflict fear or harm on a local community when enraged or jealous. Her motivation in most tellings is intense attachment to her husband and child; responses to her haunting center on monastic ritual containment, negotiation, or shrine-based petitions.