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Local Stories & Anecdotes
The Ghost Road Once upon a time there was a fairly
popular bar set on Big Buddha Beach called the Beach Pub.
Now this bar was run by Sem and Tuk and was located where
the Secret Garden bar is today. One night Sem had to go
to Chaweng to do something for his sister, and having stayed
there until 3 in the morning , started the short trip back
by motorbike to Big Buddha beach from Anchor House Chaweng.
There was not much traffic in those days so the ride was
normally uneventful and straightforward. Or so he thought,
as just as he got to the wide open section where you can
see the airport, sem saw a figure in the road ahead of him,
walking in the same direction towards the Temple at Bangrak.
Now in those days the road was sandy and one had to be careful
of losing your motorbike tyres in the deep sand which prevailed
at certain points on the road, so Sem had to slow right
down and come up behind the lady, and wait for her to move
aside and let him pass. As Sem grew closer he saw that she
was an old lady and had a "Khacheu" on her head
with food and offerings to take to the Monks at the temple.
Now a "Khacheu" was a round tray which one placed
on one's head, but had not been used for many years by the
local people , and it was the first time Sem had seen one.
Now when Sem was behind her he was already wondering why
this old lady was going to the Temple at such an early hour
(5 o'clock would have been more like it) and why she had
this thing on her head that hadn't been seen for 50 years
or more, when she suddenly turned and stood aside to let
him pass.........Now what Sem saw was a massive grim smile
with red betel nut juice all over her teeth, and big black
rings around her eyes and a face covered in powder. This
apparition, as Sem is sure it was, gave our poor lad one
hell of a scare, and you could hear him screaming a mile
away over the roar of his motorbike engine as he fled the
scene. He tore back to his room at the Beach Pub and told
Dah his wife what had happened, and they huddled together
in their room with the door firmly locked until the following
morning. The next day at the bar the story was recounted
several times, as indeed it was for several years afterwards,
and people would often ask Sem to recount the story again...."Hey
Sem !, Tell us the story of the Ghost Road"...... And
that, my friends, is how the Ghost Road got its name, which
is still with us today. By the way if you should like to
ask Sem about this story, you can find him at the Panya
Restaurant at Choengmon beach, where he still lives with
Dah, and his lovely children, Bus and Bol. Tuk is still
at the Beach Pub at Secret Garden
