This short story/letter was written by one of our fellows ...Here is my Vidahanives ghost story… but don’t be scared… And I’ve included a photo of the empty 3rd floor corridor that Tom took (but can’t remember taking!)… Did the ghost borrow his camera??
I'm in Minneapolis now awaiting the plane to Indianapolis. (An interminable journey) I'm not sure if I should relay this story - especially for our peace fellows on the third floor, but in the interests of full disclosure, I must tell it as it happened.
I had booked a taxi for 3am this morning. The Vidahanives (or villa Vietnamese as Erinma calls it) is very quiet at that time of night - no movement at all along the corridors. I struggled with my three bags of books and buddhas - shoving one in the elevator to hold the door while I got the others. You can picture the door repeatedly trying to close - banging up against the suitcase while I run in for the last of the bloody buddhas.
Anyway, I get in the elevator, press the floor one button, and what happens? We stopped on floor three! I looked out and there was noone there! Just a silent empty corridor. It was scary! I think the ghost was saying goodbye! Sleep well peace fellows - it is a friendly ghost.
Why the ghost story?? Well, around the middle of August, some of our fellows were experiencing strange things in their rooms like leaving a window closed and finding it open, having awful nightmares of being strangled or dismembered and random things were disappearing (badmiton racquet, bananas, baby outfit). As a result of one of the fellows asked Jenn if these unusual events were normal or common. She (along with the office staff) then told us of a murder that took place in our dorm in 2001, more specifically in room 318. Let me just say that none of our fellows resided in this room! THANK GOODNESS!!
So the story goes ... Over a decade ago, there were two married gynaecologists (Dr. Wisut Boonkasemsanti and Dr. Phassaporn) - husband and wife who were having marital difficulties. The husband didn’t want to get divorced as he would have to split all of his finances with his wife. One evening he had dinner with his estranged wife to discuss their breakup. During the course of the night, he slipped a sleeping pill in her drink. When she got drowsy enough, he took her via taxi to our building in Chulalongkorn, where he rented a room. Many visiting professors from other countries reside here, so it is not uncommon to see professors in our dorm. After two weeks of her not returning to work, police conducted an investigation and discovered body parts (matching her DNA) in the dorm's toilet system. In sum, he drugged his wife, killed her, chopped her into small pieces and flushed her down the toilet of the building we are sleeping in for the summer!!!!!!
I was dumbfounded and stupefied!!!! While Jenn continued to talk about it, I googled (just in case she was kidding) http://worldfilmbkk.com/option/print.php?newsid=30042516
http://nationnewmedia.com/2007/07/25/national/national_30042439.php
No, Jenn was not joking! As it turned out, the murder occured on the third floor, and although none of the Fellows reside in room 318, Charlie and Ben are neighbors to the room where the scene of the crime took place almost 10 years ago. Needless to say, I did not fall asleep peacefully or without a problem for a couple of nights.
