Ghosts banned from cinemas over inappropriate laughter

But Thais in general are a superstitious lot, forever concocting supernatural rationales when Buddhism (or common sense) seems to come up short on answers. 

There’s a very observant person on Pantip.com who’s initiated a popular thread about seats in movie theatres being “reserved for ghosts”. This lady or fellow, as the case may be, noticed that even the top cinemas keep some really good seats empty – for chao tee. These are guardian spirits of the sort residing in the ubiquitous spirit houses. Just check it out every time you go to a movie – the same seats are always empty. And, if you ask about sitting in one, you’ll be told that it’s “already sold”. 

Don’t be daft, someone from the SF Cinema chain says in the thread. There’s no such thing. “Those seats are backups in case customers are assigned seats that are broken or wet from spilled drinks.” Then came a lovely pun in Thai: The seats aren’t for chao tee – they’re for chao na tee, meaning ushers. “We can assure you there is no such thing as ghosts in our theatres.” 

Pantip regulars backed SF up on this. “They’re for staff,” the wonderfully named OaterAlmighty commented. “I used to work in the theatre.” Others have in fact seen the ushers hop into the seats themselves for a while.

Well, you can’t kill off a good ghost story as simply as that. The thread goes on. “They usually hold four seats – and you know the meaning of the number four,” came one post. (Si sounds like the Chinese word for “death”.) And the magnificently named Whalephant pointed out that staff can watch movies any time from any available seat. 

Way out on the cusp of credibility, someone swore that theatres show movies late, late at night when there’s no one in the seats – except ghosts. Exclusive screenings: something to look forward to in the afterlife after all!

One comment, though, pierced all the dark, spooky talk like a laser: “What chao tee? This is just nonsense. If they really are guardian ghosts, they’d go to the really expensive theatres. And how many are there, anyway? If all 10 theatres in the cineplex book four seats, that’s 40 seats. That’s a big group of chao tee! No wonder they do nothing else all day except watch movies with so many seats available!”

Excellent points, but questions haunt us nevertheless. Why would a ghost need its own seat when, really, it could sit anywhere, including in someone’s lap? How do you know whether there’s a ghost sitting in a seat that looks empty? Do ghosts eat popcorn? And what kind of movies do ghosts enjoy watching most? Apart from horror films, obviously.