Haunted White Lion House and Ghosts in Chiang Mai

11:59 Amy 6 Comments

I don't think I believe in ghosts. 

Most Thai people do though, and everyone has a story to tell.  This post was born after hearing a few people mention the supposedly haunted house in Chiang Mai;  the creepy white Jangmuarinnakorn House.  Guarded by snarling lions with stained white walls and an immediately apparent ominous atmosphere, it's unsurprising that this house has inspired one or two ghost stories.

We drive past the haunted house every day.

It's a huge Greco-Italianate mansion and far from being hidden deep in a forest, it sits in plain view on the North-West corner of the moat. I've nicknamed it White Lion House.

I was told that few Thai people dare go near it, but a quick glance inside and you can see graffiti on the walls.

Stories about beautiful and majestic White Lion House crop up in conversation every once in a while in the Chiang Mai bars. Several people told me that the house was built around twenty years ago by a filthy rich mad man who, after living in the house for a while, hacked his family up into small pieces. No-one could tell me what happened to the man. I couldn't learn if the ghosts are supposed to be him or his family. Now, no-one will buy the place for fear of ghosts, and those that have tried to open a business there are plagued by bad luck and death.

The door is always open, and I want to go inside...

I don't really believe in ghosts, but I do believe in meth-heads, and I don't fancy getting on the wrong side of either.

Trying to find out more, I asked a Thai colleague about ghosts in Chiang Mai.

She seemed reluctant to talk much about this topic, but said that most Thai people believe in ghosts and spirits.  Apparently, White Lion House was always doomed because it was built in the North-West corner of the moat which, according to what seemed to be a mixture of feng shui and Thai superstition, is an unlucky place to build anything.

She hadn't heard of the killings there.  She did however say that she had heard of a haunted 13th floor of Chiang Mai Ram hospital, but didn't know anything about it.  Intriguing.

It was time to dig deeper. Is there a 13th floor in Chiang Mai Ram Hospital?

Another colleague told me that yes, there is a hidden 13th floor, accessible by stairs through a locked door on floor 12, but I mustn't go there. It's haunted by those poor unfortunate souls who died whilst in the hospital. I wonder if the hospital staff believe in this?  Anyone found it already?

I also learned that according to Thai superstition, you mustn't touch a dying person. When that person dies, he or she will haunt the last person who touched them and not only that, the person will have a life of bad luck and misfortune (something to think about when you're dodging traffic on the moat road).

This colleague didn't know about the killings at White Lion House, either.
Despite my fears of whoever might be lurking there, I went today after school to take photographs.  There was a hand written sign that said "NOT FOR TOURIST PHOTOS.  DO NOT COME HERE."  Eeep!  I crept around the outside as much as I dared, took a few photos, then got scared and ran away.

 At the back there was a massive monster cockrel walking around, a parked motorbike and a small round (empty) swimming pool.  The building is covered in amazingly pretty statues and gargoyles and the windows have coloured glass.  Behind the house is another grand building, pretty much hidden from the road... but I didn't dare to go closer!

Have you heard these ghost stories in Chiang Mai?

If anyone knows the true story, or has been inside White Lion House or visited the mysterious 13th floor of Chiang Mai Ram hospital, let me know. I'm genuinely interested in finding out more.

If you fancy visiting this alternative tourism attraction in Chiang Mai, check out this map to White Lion House.  It is beautiful, and well worth a visit. 

I'm going to write lots of posts about alternative tourism in Chiang Mai, this is the first of many.


Ghosts are all over Thailand, not just Chiang Mai

The most famous Thai ghost story about the vicious ghost of a dead pregnant woman, Mae Nak, has been told over and over again for many years.  Several movies have been based on it and are always box office hits. Now, her spirit is said to live peacefully and people visit a shrine in Bangkok to seek spiritual help from her.  They believe that every village, town, city and province is protected by a type of guardian ghost.  Ours lives up in Chiang Dao, watching over the whole Chiang Mai province - good choice, it's lovely there!

Amy Lou likes driving in the mountains, writing in coffee shops and spending her days with awesome people.

She's pretty sure these posts will be your cup of tea:

6 comments:

  1. Dustin11 December 2013 at 17:45

    Do you know of any other cool, abandoned places in / around Chiang Mai?

    ReplyDelete
  2. silencer1 October 2017 at 10:22

    I'm actually trying to search for the history of this building as well. 3 hours googling and your post is the only one I found related. I passed by this building and my driver a 53 years old Thai men told me this was the killing points long time ago, not sure by the Lanna or Japanese rulers. Anyone who tried to open up a business there will end up in bad luck.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erin C.1 August 2019 at 05:26

    I actually randomly stumbled across this place back at the tail end of 2014. It was very abandoned and no caretaker at all. I did creep around inside for a bit. It was pretty interesting but to me just looked like a place they had started to build and then ran out of money. There was a lot of unfinished stuff or perhaps the place has been ransacked a bit but it seemed to me as though construction and halted but I could be wrong. I have some photos. :)

    ReplyDelete
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