Weird Experience In Hotel Room

I've had paranormal experiences since I was a child, having a special gift of precognition and very accurate intuition. When I was younger I found these experiences frightening, but the older I get the more laid back I am about things and just find them interesting. I also have a very healthy scepticism, and will always look for logical explanations for anything unusual.

In 1999 my eldest son, then aged 11, and I went to Thailand for a 3 week holiday. After landing in Bangkok late in the evening we stayed at the hotel at the airport, catching the train from the airport railway station to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, early the next morning.

I had booked our hotel accommodation online - just a local 3 star Thai hotel in close proximity to the World Heritage site of the old city. Ayutthaya was brutally sacked in 1767 by the Burmese, the city destroyed and its citizens either marched off to slavery in Burma or slaughtered. We arrived early in the afternoon, checked in and left our bags in our room and went out to explore the ruins of the ancient city.

Due to jetlag catching up with us, we didn't last long and were back around 5 pm having an early dinner in the hotel restaurant, before retiring to our room. I was a bit concerned about security, especially our passports and money, so I not only locked the door, but put the chain latch across it, before putting everything into the room safe. As it was still early and still light outside I switched off all the lights and closed the window blinds. By 7 pm we were both dead to the world.

In the middle of the night I suddenly came to consciousness with the overwhelming feeling that there was someone in the room. I gradually gained enough courage to slowly open my eyes. Every single light was on in the room - overhead, side lamps, as well as the entry light. I thought someone had broken into the room, so waited and listened for sounds or movement. When I didn't hear anything I got up and checked the hallway and then the bathroom. Nothing. Not surprising as the chain latch was still in position and it would have been impossible for anyone to have entered the room without making a noise. I checked the safe and nothing had been tampered with. I glanced at the bedside alarm clock and noted that it was 3 am. Having seen the local Thai poles and wires I just assumed it was some weird glitch with the electricity, so I switched off all the lights and went back to sleep.

The next day my son and I went out for another exhausting day of visiting ruins and museums, and once again were felled early in the evening with jetlag. In the middle of the night my son woke me up, in a panic telling me that there was someone in the room. This time the room was completely dark. I reassured him that there was no one in the room and gently urged him to go back to sleep. I looked at the time - 3 a.m. Roughly the same time as the night before. I realised then that I hadn't been imagining anything the previous night. I didn't tell my son about my experience as I didn't want to frighten him.

The next day on returning from breakfast my son noted that unlike all the other hotel room doors which were decoratively carved teak, our room door was plain white pine. He was absolutely convinced the room was haunted. Thai people are extremely superstitious and have many different categories of phi (spirits). Nearly all Thai houses will have a spirit house outside the house - like a small dollhouse complete with miniature furniture and food offerings in order to accommodate household spirits and lure them away from the household.

Before I could stop him, he told the staff at the hotel front desk that there was a ghost in the room. The alarmed and frightened looks on the front desk staff faces indicated that they knew there was a story with the room. I guess they deliberately gave the room to the farangs, as the majority of guests were Thai.

While out and about that final day I picked up a protective shield Sothorn Buddha amulet from a roadside seller. I also did some spiritual protection for both me and my son on the third and final night, before telling whatever it was that it had to move on into the light.

Whether it was the amulet, the psychic protection, or acknowledging the presence, we finally had a quiet night without any disturbance. I've had quite a few paranormal experiences in my life, but have never experienced multiple lights turning on by themselves like that. It was pretty impressive.