The Legend of Nai Raeng

This folktale from Southern Thailand is about a man who was so big when he was born that his parents named him Nai Raeng (in Thai ‘raeng’ means strength, energy or power). The boy eats so much that his poor parents cannot feed him. They get him a job as a sailor, but the captain also cannot feed him. As Nai Raeng grows, he proves to be so wise that he gets a high government job. He is also very honourable, and one day must order that his own head be cut off and placed above a buried treasure.

Original Text / PDF (915 words)

General Comments

There is, indeed, an ancient temple in the city of Nakhorn Sri Thammarat that is said to house remains of the Lord Buddha. This temple (Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihan) is one of the most important in Thailand. Its main chedi (the Thai term for stupa) was reportedly built in the early 13th century to house Buddha relics brought from Sri Lanka two thousand years ago. There are several stupas in Thailand that are said to house Buddha relics, but this is the oldest.

There are many different kinds of folktales but to me they can all be grouped under three headings: those that carry a message about life, those that explain things, and those that are just plain fun As well as carrying a message about life (the importance of duty and honor), this story is used to explain the names of two places.

The story is set in the province of Songkhla in the far south of Thailand. Nai Raeng’s treasure was 900,000 baht in gold. On the southern end of Samila Beach in Songkhla there is a small fishing village called Khao Seng. Legend has it that the original name for the village was “Gao Saen”, which sounds very similar to the number 900,000 in Thai. Near the village there is a large boulder on an area of rocky land near the sea shore. This is called Hua Nai Raeng (Nai Raeng’s head). It is said that Nai Raeng’s spirit still guards his gold, and that before he died he made a wish that if anyone who was good could move his head from the place, he or she could take the treasure. So far, nobody has been able to do it.

And the treasure would certainly be worth having. Many people know the word ‘baht’ in terms of it being the main unit of Thai money. 900,000 baht in money is around $30,000. However “baht” also has other meanings and one of these – a unit of weight used to calculate the value of gold – is likely to be the one meant in the story. At today’s prices (June, 2010), 900,000 baht weight of gold would be worth over US$700 million!