About four feet underneath my feet are bricks scattered throughout our three acres here in north central Thailand. A lot of bricks and no one knows why.
When these bricks were found, it created quite a stir in the village. Many of these rural Thais are superstitious, believe in spirits and are always searching for the lucky lottery numbers. The bricks became the talk of the town and it seemed as if most of the town turned out to see them.
One brick was taken to a Thai archaeologist and he estimated that the bricks were about 50 years old. But the people that lived here ½ century ago say that nothing was ever built on our land. This 82-year old grandma has grown up in this area and never traveled outside of the province. The only Bangkok she has seen has been on TV. She played on our land growing up and said it has always been a jungle.
History shows that the Burmese raided Thailand about 500 years ago and destroyed everything in their path. What was destroyed in this area no one really knows.
However, a few villagers have their ideas about the bricks. Most believe it was a temple at one time that the Burmese Army destroyed. Some locals think it was a shrine built by a father. His son was sick and he made a promise to the Gods, that he would build a shrine if his son lived.
This B&W photo shows what appears to be a wall of some sort. Maybe one of these days, we will dig deeper into this mystery.
Since Thais put considerable beliefs in spirits, a Spirit House was built using the old bricks. Then the local spirit guru was brought in and the Spirit House was blessed.
It is all a mystery to me…
Update: July 2018
Recently, I visited a museum in Nan province. They had a display of old bricks which the curators thought were 140-150 years old. The thinking was the bricks were originally part of a temple.
Will visit a university in Phitsanulok to try and find out more about my old bricks.
