The world is, understandably, an odd place.
We’ve heard of toilet-themed restaurants in Taiwan and Taipei where the seats are toilet bowls, where chocolate ice cream desserts are also served in bassinets, and drinks come from small urinals, but that’s all just for laughs and aesthetics.
Then there are weird as hell (pun intended) cults who think human fecal matter is the panacea for any and all diseases.
For every anti-vaxxer I ever disdained, or anyone who solemnly believed in the “God will heal us” rhetoric, your sanity and restraint has never been more appreciated.
A Cult That Eats Crap, Literally
In Thailand, a cult leader by the name of Thawee, who claimed to be “the father of all religions”, told his followers to eat his faeces.
The underlying belief?
His body is so holy that his excretions–whether it’s his urine, mucus, dandruff, or faeces–is capable of curing all diseases.
Needless to say, he was quite literally full of shit.
The 74-year-old cultist and his followers were based in a forest campsite near the village of Tambon Dong Klang in Chaiyaphum Province’s Khon Sam district.
According to Asia News Network, Thawee had a following of nearly 30 followers, who were either middle-aged or elderly people.
Much like any other cult, which tends to share similar behavioural traits, followers would adopt a “hermitage” lifestyle after joining, where they would be kept close to the leader in a closed-off and communal setting.
They lived together in a large make-shift wooden hut, whose roof was made out of grass leaves. Besides the main hut, there were satellite huts surrounding it.
Whatever Thawee was preaching must have been quite effective, or it’s just the matter that the followers were basically stuck in an echo chamber of indoctrination, but they reaffirmed to the authorities that they believed that Thawee was the “Father, the God” who could cure them of any and all illnesses.
Several of them even went as far as drinking Thawee’s urine and eating the fall offs of his flaky skin, fresh from his arms, right in front of the authorities.
In case you missed the picture for the article, this is how the esteemed cult leader looks like:
There’s devotion, and then there’s please don’t pass that motion.
Someone, please send psychiatric help to these people ASAP.
The Arrest of the Cult Leader
Fortunately, all of this horridness came to an end when Thawee was arrested last Sunday (8 May).
What led up to the discovery and subsequent takedown of Thawee’s cult might surprise you though.
Jiraphan Phetkhao, better known as a celebrity shaman called Mor Pha, had led the police and authorities from other government agencies to raid the cult’s campsite.
Jiraphan declares that he possesses special powers that can help people affected by superstition. and he runs a television programme where he campaigns against fake shamans and Buddhist monks who violate the teachings of the Dharma.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that his special powers are probably logical thinking, empirical science, the study of theology, and good persuasion skills.
Honestly, not the worst kind of show to run, to call out people on their nonsense.
Jiraphan recounted that a woman had sought his help after her mother went to the campsite, which the followers considered a secluded residence and private retreat, and was not allowed to return home.
The woman the celebrity shaman speaks of is Ms Jenjira, a 53-year-old resident from Khon Kaen.
Her 80-year-old mother, Noi, had gone to the hermitage and failed to return home. It was only later that the daughter discovered that the followers were told to eat Thawee’s excrement as his waste was the cure-all for diseases.
The situation at the campsite, however, showed that it clearly wasn’t the case.
The Illness of Their Minds
When Mor Pla, the Chaiyaphum governor and Khon San police Colonel Watanachai Janhathum, and the other authorities arrived at the campsite, they found 11 dead bodies.
Most of the corpses belonged to the sick followers of the cult.
All of the bodies had death certificates which were issued by local authorities, and they were placed in zip lock bags and sealed with the coffins.
The followers would pierce the bottom of the coffins so the residual liquids could seep out and fall to ground, but the bodies were not embalmed with formalin.
Ms Jenjin’s mother was among the dead victims.
The followers admitted to the authorities that the encased corpses were the sick followers who had died at the campsite after they came to seek treatment from Thawee.
They were buried in such a manner because they wanted their bodies to remain there for “The Father” to later send them to “Heaven”.
When Mor Pha asked Thawee why his followers addressed him as “The God, Father”, Thawee responded that it wasn’t something he had taught them, rather it was his followers’ own belief.
The Charges Laid Against Thawee
At the end of the raid, Thawee was arrested on numerous charges.
Chaiyaphum Governor Kraison charged Thawee for encroaching on forest land and violating the public health law and disease control act.
With regards to the latter offences, of eating excrements and leaving the dead unburied to pollute the land with corpse water and the smell of putrefaction, it’s definitely more than warranted.
It is highly likely to have more charges slapped on him in relation to the 11 corpses found on site, including and notwithstanding his questionable cult practices.
Thawee is currently being detained at Khon San Police Station, while a dozen of his loyal followers have gone to the station to wait for him.
Choose your God wisely, readers.
Or you know, stick with science instead of superstition. That works too.
Featured Image: The Nation / Asia News Network
