Origin Edit
In Thailand, there is a legend locating Krasue's origin in Angkorian Khmer culture. It tells of a certain Khmer princess becoming the Krasue in centuries past after having been executed by burning. The marriage to a powerful Siamese nobleman had been arranged for this Khmer lady following the defeat of her people in war. She was very distressed, however, for she was in love with one of the conquering soldiers, a younger man of a lower status. Eventually she was caught with her lover and the offended Siamese aristocrat sentenced her to death by burning. Shortly before the execution the princess got a Khmer sorceress to cast a magic spell over her to allow her body to be unharmed by the flames. The spell was powerful, but its effect arrived too late, when most of the body of the princess had been burnt except for her head and some of her viscera. Thenceforward the non-charred remains were cursed to continue living as the Krasue ghost. A modern version of this particular Phi Krasue's legend was enacted in the 2002 Thai horror film Demonic Beauty.[15]