Thailand is home to a very superstitious citizenry. There are many superstitions common in Thailand, and most are spirit, luck or religious based. Superstitions related to everything from driving to buying a car, cutting hair and stomping feet inside your own home are very common in Thailand. Most superstitions are based on confusing the bad spirits into giving them good luck. From giving baby’s nicknames, preferably ones that are slightly insulting, like fat or stupid, so that when they grow up they will be the opposite.

In Thailand, cab drivers, bus drivers and all other drivers normally have jasmine garlands, which are good luck symbols, hanging from their rear view mirrors. It is an offering to the spirits for protection for the driver and occupants alike. When buying a car, Thai people prefer to buy their car on a favourable date (like the fourth), get a license plate with favourable numbers, and even get a monk to bless the vehicle using a special ceremony. If a person were to stomp their foot inside their own home, the good spirits would be scared away, leaving their home unprotected.

Barber shops are regularly closed on Wednesdays, as it is a superstition in Thailand that getting a hair cut on a Wednesday brings bad luck. Wednesday the thirteenth is a real bad day for Thai people in need of a quick haircut. For the marrying kind, getting married on an eneven month would bring a bad omen to the marriage. Even uneven years are unlucky, and the companies that rely upon marriage for their business suffer during the odd-numbered months and years, but are overly busy during even months and years.

Being extremely religious, if people in Thailand insult the Buddha image, they will go to Hell. Thai people will also go to Hell if they pick flowers in a temple grounds. Keeping with life and death, if Thai people walk with their face down, they will have a shorter life.

Being extremely superstitious and relatively poor, the Thai people have a national lottery. Many people look for lucky numbers that will give them an edge in winning the lottery. They look for numbers in unusual or auspicious places. They rub rub a lucky tree’s bark, and look for numbers in the tree’s outer shell. If a naga snake slithers their car, they look for numbers in the “footprints” of the snake.

As with most superstitions, the superstitions in Thailand are mostly geared towards a better life. When a country or geographical area has a poor population, superstitions usually abound, and Thailand has no shortage of superstitions. There are many, many more superstitions in Thailand, and the people mostly feel that they are based in fact, and follow them almost religiously.