Sumith Prasad
Taweewat Wantha’s Thai horror film ‘Death Whisperer’ revolves around a family that consists of a father, mother, three sons, and three daughters. After falling ill, Yam, one of the daughters, starts to display strange behavior. In addition to her concerning actions, her relatives start to see the spirit of a woman around their house, forcing them to rely on Mr. Phut, who shows up to save the possessed Yam. The movie is based on the novel ‘Tee Yod,’ written by Krittanon. According to the author, Yam’s spine-chilling tale is based on a series of occurrences that unfolded in his own family!
Krittanon’s Family and Yam’s True Story
The origin of ‘Death Whisperer’ can be traced back to a thread Krittanon posted in the Thai discussion forum Pantip. His thread begins with the disclaimer that his mother told him the “true story” of what happened to her younger sister Yam and that he doesn’t know whether it is fictional or not. According to the author, Yam, the real-life counterpart of the possessed character in the film, was his aunt. When Yam, the author’s mother, and their siblings were children, the former unexpectedly fell ill after allegedly seeing a middle-aged black woman who was wearing a black shirt and sarong.
Since falling ill, as per Krittanon’s thread, Yam started to behave strangely. Her actions puzzled the author’s mother, who was a teenager at the time. One night, she supposedly saw her sick younger sister eat chicken entrails. Meanwhile, several villagers started to visit the family’s home to see the sick girl. One day, the visitors also included an old woman, whose presence was unsettling for the “medicine man” who had been treating Yam. The person told the family members that the old woman was a “toy” who affected others’ lives and it was best to keep her away from the home, especially when a sick person was living in the same.
The presence of the old woman was followed by sleepless nights for the family members of Krittanon. The author’s mother and his siblings, including the elder brother Yak, dealt with the alleged presence of a woman around their house. Yak tried his best to shoot down the woman with a gun but he failed time after time. The medicine man, who warned the family about the old woman, led Yak to the former’s house, only for them to find Yam there. After these events, the family was visited by a man who is described as Mr. Phut in Krittanon’s thread.
Phut led the family to a nearby bamboo grove, only to ask Yak and others to cut the same down. Yak followed Phut’s order and allegedly discovered several organs hidden inside the grove which couldn’t be determined whether they belonged to animals or humans. The man then made it clear that Yam had to be taken to a hospital. Yak then drove his sister to the nearby hospital, where she received medical care. However, Yam didn’t survive for good. While Yam was dying in the hospital, Krittanon’s mother allegedly saw the woman wearing a black shirt and sarong. According to the author, her funeral wasn’t attended by many since there were rumors of her getting “eaten by ghouls.”
‘Death Whisperer’ deviates from Krittanon’s original thread concerning several events. In the movie, Phut gets killed while taking Yam to the hospital, which didn’t happen in real life. The spirit killing Paphan in the film is also seemingly fictional since the “medicine man” wasn’t killed, as per the author. The depiction of Yam’s death, however, is closer to the alleged real-life occurrences as the doctor who treated her in real life apparently discovered that her internal organs were torn. The author’s mother, as the film depicts through Yad, told her son that she heard “Tee Yod” repeatedly at night but couldn’t figure out what it meant.
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