Broadcast around midnight from a studio inside a half-derelict shopping mall in Bangkok, Ghost Radio is hugely popular in Thailand , with tens of thousands of people wanting to hear people tell their experiences with ghosts, spirits or otherworldly beings.

Belief in the supernatural is deeply rooted in the kingdom's popular culture, from the legend of the Mae Nak that haunts its neighbors after dying in childbirth, to the fearsome Krasu creatures that thirst for fresh meat.

These ancient stories are being told through communication platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and instant messaging applications.
"A man dressed in white appeared to me in a dream and told me that I was going to die and I had to carry out his instructions," says a participant in the "Ghost Radio" program, with a trembling voice, adding, "When I turned around, I saw his body on the bed."

Inside the studio, presenter Watcharapol Phukjaidi seeks more details of these accounts.
His program is shown twice a week on his YouTube page, which is followed by three million people, while the episode starts at eleven o’clock at night and continues until the hours of dawn.

The beginnings of Watcharapol Phukjaidi in this field go back 20 years, when he was presenting, along with Kabul Thongplop, known as the "Ghost Godfather" in Thailand, a night program that was well received by taxi drivers.

"The chances of seeing ghosts are increasing" thanks to new technologies, Watcharapol, 46, told AFP.
He added, "Ghosts communicate through applications, messages, and phone calls, and technology has become the channel through which they communicate with humans."
The broadcaster recalled the intervention of a man who said that his friend contacted him and set an appointment to meet them in a temple. When the man arrived at the place, he was surprised to see his friend dead, while his mobile phone was placed inside a coffin.

Anthropologist Andrew Allan Johnson, whose study focused on the role of metaphysics in Thai society, explains that "popular beliefs adapt rapidly" to changes in society.

He points out that stories about ghosts contribute to keeping the memory associated with places alive, or to explain the feeling of being uprooted, particularly in Bangkok, which has witnessed many changes in recent years.

In the lower level of the building where the program is filmed, there is a ghost-themed cafe that is frequented by fans of these topics, while it is a source of income for the program along with a number of sponsors.

An employee named Khimjira reads stories submitted by listeners before removing those that deal with sensitive political topics or taboo issues.

“The numbers of young people who are connecting to the program are increasing with the impact of TikTok and Twitter,” he says, adding, “I think people often meet ghosts, and the stories are rarely the same.”

While eating a brownie in the shape of a tombstone, Shalawat Thangud, a 25-year-old police officer, said he had a supernatural experience during a job assignment.

In response to a call he received to enter one of the houses, he noticed upon his arrival the shadow of a very large man walking in the bathroom, and after he took off the door with difficulty, he saw the body of the man whose death had passed hours.

"I saw the fat man's spirit," he says emphatically. "I definitely think ghosts exist."

As for Watcharabul, he, in turn, refuses to express his opinion on the fact that ghosts exist, but he admits to a "great fear" of the ghosts that haunt hospitals.

He believes that people participate in his program "because they are sometimes unable to tell their family members about their experiences with ghosts."
"No one can prove the existence of ghosts except the listeners of the program," he says, before smiling.