You are here: Real Ghost Stories :: Haunted Places :: It Did Not Want Me In That Room

Real Ghost Stories

It Did Not Want Me In That Room

 

As I have described before, I am an engineer and I seek logical (known physics-based) reasons for things that occur. However, I have come to realize that not all things can be explained within the bounds of my engineering textbooks. As I relate this story, I find myself wanting to stress the details. For me, the details lend themselves to a knowledge that what I experienced was based on factual observations. I would like to consider the following a listing of true facts, and where I include reference to my emotional state, I include it in that same train of thought: to list the facts of my mental and emotional state in case my state of mind at that time would have somehow influenced my observations. I am deliberately trying not to "make a long story short". I believe that details are important to establish the facts, and I believe the facts will show that I have certainly experienced an encounter with the (as-yet) unexplained.

Again, forgive me if this will tend to be lengthy. I appreciate your patience as I try to explain. I think you will find the long read worthwhile.

I was traveling with a colleague to Bangkok, Thailand for some business meetings. For those that may know Thailand, it is a country that has ghosts and spiritualism deeply ingrained into their philosophy and outlook. Since I had an important business meeting, I chose a hotel near the customer office which I stayed at only a few times before (without any incidents).

Upon arriving at the hotel at 3pm, I had some time to kill before meeting with my coworker at 5pm when we decided we would go out to dinner. I decided to iron my clothes for the week so that I would not be bothered in the mornings. I promptly set out to do this, but it is important to know the layout of the room. The bathroom was immediately on the righthand side as I entered the main door. Past the bathroom door was the closet. In fact, the bathroom door and closet door were one and the same, a sliding door. When the door was pushed to the right, the bathroom would be closed and the closet would be open. When the door was slid to the left, the bathroom door would be open and the closet would be shut. Further past the closet the room opened out for the bed (next to the bathroom) then a nightstand and finally a desk under the window. The only thing not typical with the room was that the wall separating the sleeping room from the bathroom was glass so that I could see into the bathroom from the bed. I would be looking through the shower but the bathroom sink was clearly visible from the bed.

I was busy ironing my shirts in front of the closet so that I could hang them up immediately after ironing them. Iron, hang, iron, hang. In order to do this, the door was slid all the way to the right, meaning that the bathroom was closed. As it approached 5pm, I put away the ironing and wanted to go into the bathroom to freshen up for going to dinner. As I attempted to slide the door to the bathroom open, I found that I could not. It wouldn't budge. I thought immediately that somehow the latch must have been such that when I closed the door to iron, the latch had locked itself. Annoyed at this delay, I called down to the front desk to explain that the bathroom door was locked and waited while she sent a repairman to my room. He duly came and with a screwdriver managed to open the lock mechanism from the outside of the bathroom and left. I quickly freshened up and left the room a bit late to meet with my coworker. At the time, I thought nothing strange of this incident, and I gave it no second thought as we went to enjoy a delicious dinner (Thai being my favorite food in all the world).

It was about 11:30 pm when we returned to the hotel and I entered my room. For the sake of stating the facts, I will say that I had been drinking at dinner and while I was not exactly sober, I was far from being debilitated. I would not have allowed myself to drive, but I was fully functioning and certainly in my right mind. My computer was on my desk and I responded to a few emails before deciding that I needed to sleep in order to be fresh for my important meeting in the morning. I prepared for sleep in the bathroom and then laid down on the bed. Next to the bed was that nightstand, and on the nightstand was one of those control boxes that contain the A/C controls and light switches. American hotels usually do not have these devices, but they are in most Asian hotels that I have stayed at. It is important to this story know how these devices work. Simply, there are buttons on the control box that when pushed will turn on or off the lights. Each light in the room had a button that could be turned off at that control box. The switches at the lights themselves worked as well, but they can be centrally controlled at that control box.

As I said, I laid down on the bed, ready for sleep. I then reached over to the control box and turned off the lights to the room and bathroom. Laying back, I had my eyes closed and I remember I was thinking about the big meeting the next day, so I was certainly not yet asleep. You can imagine my surprise, then, when suddenly the bathroom light turned on. My eyes opened and I looked to my left into the bathroom (remember, the bathroom had a glass wall allowing me to see into the bathroom). I lay there looking into the bathroom thinking how odd it was that the light had turned on, but I saw nothing of interest in the bathroom. While contemplating the oddness of the light turning on all by itself, I remembered also hearing a sort of scratching or clacking noise that occurred at the same time that the bathroom light turned on.

My mind had not made any jump to supernatural explanations at this point. I simply wanted to turn the light off and sleep. So I did just that, reaching over to push the button on the control box and turning off the light. I settled my head back down on the pillow and resumed to consider my presentation for the next day. About 15 seconds later, I heard the same scratching/clacking coming clearly from the bathroom and even though my eyes were closed, I could tell that the bathroom light turned on again. I am pretty sure my head snapped to the left and I stared into the (empty) bathroom. I remember holding that position and staring into the bathroom, my mind searching for some explanation. Faulty wiring was the logical explanation my mind fastened on. Grasping at that thought, I reached over to the control box to turn off the light and settled myself down again.

Sure enough, about 15 seconds after I had resumed laying down, the same noises were heard and the bathroom light turned on yet again. It was at this point that I could feel myself start to get a bit nervous. Having a light switch itself on three times is enough to start anyone searching explanations beyond faulty wiring. From my position in bed, I did all I could to see into the bathroom, but my visual search did not show anything of note. Deliberately, I once again leaned over to turn off the bathroom light using the control box.

I was trying very hard to remain calm and I remember thinking that if I got myself worked up, then my big meeting the next day would not go as well as could be. With this thought in mind, I forced myself to remain calm and closed my eyes. I waited for around the same amount of time as the three times before, half expecting the light to turn on again. This time it didn't turn on, and that relieved me. As I waited longer, my mind was thinking over the strange occurrence and somehow I got it into my mind that I wanted to turn on the bathroom light. Sitting up, I reached over to the control box and pushed the button. To my immense surprise, the bathroom light would not turn on. I pushed it several times, pushing harder with each subsequent attempt. It was no use, the bathroom light would not turn on, and when I tried to turn on any other light in the room, no lights in the room would turn on. At this point I admit that I was becoming upset.

I fumbled to find the phone and called down to the front desk. I explained to her that the lights would not come on in my room, and she kindly suggested that I need to put the key into the slot to activate the power to the room. I found this suggestion rather silly but it actually relieved me a bit, sort of bringing me back to reality. I assured her that my key was in the slot and had been in the slot. We agreed that it would be best if someone came up to check. After hanging up, I sat on the desk by the window (the farthest point away from the bathroom) and stared into the dark trying to see into the bathroom. Of course, my mind was racing for explanations and causes. It was during this intense period in the dark when the knock on the front door had me nearly jump out of my skin. Luckily, it was the night repairman sent to my room. Here was a real person, and the thought of this man coming seemed to strengthen my resolve. And I needed a lot of resolve, because in order to open the front door, I had to walk past the bathroom door (which I did walking sideways and never taking my eyes off of the darkness in the bathroom).

His first action was to check the slot on the wall to make sure that my key was indeed there. Assured that it was, he moved over to the control box and testing it found that it would not turn on the lights for him either. In broken English, he made me understand that he wanted to change that box out, that the problem surely rested with the box. I was very relieved, for here surely was the cause of all my problems. Faulty circuits indeed, and the control box seemed to be the cause. This assurance, however, went only so far as I was forced to sit in the dark again waiting for him to get a new control box. I resumed my seat on the desk at the farthest possible distance from the bathroom that I could get. I will admit my nerves were a bit frayed as I jumped a second time when he knocked on his return about 15 minutes later.

He commenced to changing the control box and when he had finished, he showed me with pleasure how a mere press of the buttons would turn on the lights in the room. I was certainly relieved that here was the logical explanation for all those times the light turned on by itself. Thanking him, I was ready to finally get to sleep for my big meeting in the morning. Before laying down, I made sure to push every button on that control box multiple times, turning on and off every light in the room. Satisfied, I decided it was time for sleep, but I needed to use the toilet before settling down. Going into the bathroom, I even stood at the light switch in the bathroom, flicking it on and off several times watching my wryly smiling face in the mirror, partly ashamed of my thoughts that this was anything but faulty circuits.

Then, my eyes came to rest on the bathroom door, focusing on the lock of the bathroom door. Somewhere in the back of my head came the memory of that afternoon where the door had become locked. For about a minute I stared at the lock thinking it strange that it had locked by itself. I remember distinctly thinking that no faulty electrical circuit was going to make a door lock all by itself. Walking over to the lock, I turned my attention to it for the first time, leaning over it and poking at it. I tried multiple ways to set it so that it was halfway thrown and that it would be able to lock itself upon closing. I could not seem to find a way how it would do that.

However, my investigation into the lock would remain incomplete. It was cut short while I was leaning over the lock, poking at it. Because directly at that time when I investigating the lock, I heard the scratching noise directly behind me and the bathroom light turned off, leaving me in complete darkness.

Within a matter of moments, I had determined that whatever was responsible for the lights and for the locked door did not want me in that hotel room that night. In the dark I came back to the control box next to the bed, but could not turn on any light in the room. My mental state at this time was quite a bit agitated, as you may guess. I called the front desk and told her that I need to switch rooms and switch rooms right now. She hesitated for a half a beat before she said someone will be right by to help me with my things. It probably took me half a minute in the dark to throw everything of mine (including my nicely ironed shirts) into my suitcase and I was out of the room long before anyone could assist. In my haste in the dark I had not seen a stack of expense receipts I left on the desk and needed someone collect a few weeks later (which could have costed me thousands of dollars in unreimbursed business expenses). That was my state of mind at the time, but one thing was certain - I was not going to be disturbing that spirit in the room any more.

People have suggested to me that this certainly was a case of faulty wiring (electrical), and I grant that it may be so. It may also be coincidental that the lock (mechanical) was also faulty. However, I find it compelling that the electrical problem resurfaced (even with a new control box) at the precise time that I was looking at the lock. The timing of it all strikes me as well. For instance, during the time I was writing emails there were no occurrences of the bathroom light turning on. That only started after I laid down. For me, this sequence of events is too much of a coincidence to be faulty this plus faulty that. However, I present this to you for your consideration.

Other hauntings by jabond99

Hauntings with similar titles

Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, jabond99, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+2
4 years ago (2019-11-09)
Ret-T and Caz,

James Bond is my call sign going back to my military days. Any resemblance to the actual James Bond is in the eyes of the beholder!

As I think back on this experience, I am coming to the conclusion that there was probably no malice intended and it does seem like a playful sequence of events. I fully concede that I may have over-reacted to the situation. Given time to reflect on this now, I will be better prepared if any such occurrences happen again.

It is nice to have validation in the form of actual hotel reviews from other guests. One reviewer even stated that he/she thought the ghost was not "mean".

007
Caz (342 posts)
+5
4 years ago (2019-11-09)
Hey Meeester Bond,
Being a one finger typist, would you think me awfully cheeky if I just called you 007 from now on?
You can blame T-Rex, 'cause that's where I got the idea! 😜
Rex-T (5 stories) (288 posts)
+4
4 years ago (2019-11-09)
Good Evening Meeester Bond,

While James Bond in Bangkok brings back memories of "The Man with The Golden Gun", I don't believe that Nick-Nack was hiding in the bathroom, with the intention of causing you discomfort or grief.

On the contrary, I once found myself in a similar technical situation while attempting to track down a fault in a telephone service. Like you, I used the process of elimination but there was no logic in the result. This continued for several weeks, with the Customer reminding me that the resident ghost was playing tricks on me.

Although I eventually learnt to expand my skeptical horizons, I found myself deep in your experience; throwing up ideas (blown fuse, tripped earth leakage unit, etc), only to discard them, as I traveled on your fault-finding journey.

If you had feelings of frustration, rather than panic or dread, it is my opinion that what you encountered was a playful entity, that had no concept of important meetings or sleep and was probably disappointed when you vacated the room.

As for changing rooms, I have done this several times, at Jubeele's request and I find different hotel owners and staff's reactions fascinating when we tell them the reason why.

Thanks for sharing your experience on YGS and you are not alone.

Rex-T
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+2
4 years ago (2019-11-08)
MrsRamsay,
I think it is clear the management know something is going on.
In hindsight, I regret not pressing the hotel for information when I stayed there.
James Bond
MrsRamsay (guest)
+2
4 years ago (2019-11-08)
Wow, following this story here, amazing the management inadvertantly admits some kind of activity as they talk about the religious rituals! I read the Shining as a teen, so am weird about hotels period. It's nice to be able to sort of brainstorm these things with people who are interested, isn't it? Thanks for sharing.
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-08)
OK, I have just looked up the hotel online and I found some very interesting reviews that have been posted. I can not correlate my room to the room that these other people stayed at, but it seems there is some interesting activity at this hotel. These clippings are from the actual reviews of the hotel:

"Haunted by friendly ghost-the ghost doesn't seem mean. One night there I woke up in the middle of the night to sounds coming from the bathroom. I thought my roommate was moving around toiletries but when I screamed her name, she was still in her bed. We were both terrified... As soon as we acknowledged the ghost, it seemed to have stopped. This happened again one more night... Once we greeted the ghost, the noises slowly stopped. Ironically in spite of all of this, I would recommend the hotel for the location and cost and overall helpfulness of the staff."

And one more:

"Ghost- There is ghost in this hotel. The last night in the room, felt the pressure on the corner of bed during the night, around 2-3:30am, smelt something stink not sure what it was but never smelt anything before, and heard footsteps, sound was from inside of the room then slowly moved out to the hallway."

I also find it odd that the management responded to both reviews in the same way. Seems they may get enough reports of ghosts that they have a prepared response for it!

"Thank you for your feedback in regards to your experience at our hotel. We take your comments very serious, but I can assure that we do not have any ghosts in our hotel. Our property follows all religious rites required to ensure no disturbance from any kind of paranormal activities. However please contact us directly to inform us in which room you stayed so we can investigate further."
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-08)
Jubilee,

Thanks for reading and commenting. I have just finished a 7-year stint living in Singapore. Enjoyed both Singapore and the rest of Asia for which I travelled extensively. I will really miss it.

The one benefit I had from this encounter was that the hotel did give me an upgrade to a suite for the rest of my stay. Despite that, I don't advocate using a ghost as an excuse to get an upgrade!

James Bond
Jubeele (25 stories) (882 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-07)
I remember those control panels. We see them in Singapore as well as Thailand. Thailand felt very welcoming to me when I visited. A part of me felt as if I'd come "home".

Have you looked into the history of the hotel or its location? Were there any events in the past around the area? I'm reminded of an experience shared by a past YGS member, roylynx when he encountered a spooky room in Thailand. They found an amulet tucked away in their hotel room. From his description, it sounded like a Taoist Fu talisman, as if someone was trying to dispel bad energy from the place. I wonder if the hotel staff had received other complaints about that room. Https://www.yourghoststories.com/real-ghost-story.php?story=25063

But if you had felt unsafe or unwelcome, it might be easier to simply request for another room. If there's one available, that is. When I've been in rooms that make me uncomfortable, for whatever reason, my husband now knows it's better to change our room. Even at the cost of an upgrade if we must. I've found from personal experience to trust this inner "warning system" when it comes to such things.

Thanks for the interesting read. Safe travels to you.
Cherubim (14 stories) (245 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-07)
Sounds like a poltergeist haunting to me. You mentioned how you got it in your mind to try the light again and it wouldn't turn on. Sounds like this entity was messing with you and didn't want you there. The noises you heard would have made me want to leave too! 😳 My sister was married to a man from Thailand, he was an excellent cook and his friend owned a restaurant in Los Angeles. I love Thai food as well. Thank you for sharing your very spooky story.
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+4
4 years ago (2019-11-06)
Silverthane,

I can not say for certain what caused the noise when the lights turned on/off by themselves. I can say for certain that the noise never happened when I turned the light on/off. The noise only happened when it came on by itself.

I have thought about if the noise was caused if the wires were short circuiting (actually making contact and sparking). While possible, if it was throwing actual sparks behind the wall, I am sure that a fire would have started (or will start soon). I certainly did not smell any burned electronics, a very distinctive smell that I'm sure I would have noticed. Anyway, I have heard wires short circuiting before, and this did not sound like a short circuit to me.

There must be some electrical switch somewhere which was controlled by the control box (i.e. Not the manual switch on the wall). It is possible this was located behind the wall and the switch itself was malfunctioning to cause the noise.

Like I said, I usually do seek rational explanations, so I am open to any explanation.

Thanks for the post.
James Bond
silverthane61 (4 stories) (344 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-05)
There is nothing more unsettling than having a paranormal experience in a hotel room far from home! It is possible that all of these events amount to one huge coincidence. However, I do agree that there exists too many coincidences in a row to convince one that there is not a paranormal cause. I submit for your piece of mind the strange scratching and clacking noises before each event. I would have concentrated on what could have caused those noises. I think they are the key to solving this case.
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+6
4 years ago (2019-11-03)
Rook,

Thank you for your comments.

I had not previously thought if the control box was wireless. I can not verify that since I won't have a chance to go back to that hotel. However, I do not think it was wireless. I rather believe that the control box was hardwired. The hotel, although nice, was not very modern and I do not think they hit the wireless phase yet. If the control box was hardwired, I believe that the repairman would be able to simply swap it out and be it would be functional. But your suggestion is worth considering. That would actually be funny if my next door neighbor and I were fighting eachother, he trying to turn on the light and me turning it off.

Considering your question about when I got an "unwelcome feeling", I'd have to say that I didn't get a feeling of un-welcomeness during the time when the light was being turned on, nor during the long periods in the dark when I was waiting for the box to be changed out. That was a period of gradually increasing uncomfort and suspicion. The feeling I got when I was inspecting the lock and the light turned off was more of a primal fear of being caught with my back to whatever made the sound and then being helpless in the dark.

Your suggestion that the spirit may have been trying to communicate instead of frighten is a good one that I never thought about. It makes me wonder what could have happened if I stayed longer.

Also, you suggest psychokinetic bursts could have played a part. This is something new to me, so I will research about that. I can say that nothing like this with lights and locks have ever happened to me before. My only other experience is given in my other post on this site.

Thanks again for your insights.

James Bond
rookdygin (24 stories) (4458 posts)
+6
4 years ago (2019-11-03)
Interesting experience, interesting indeed. A couple of questions and an observation or two...

The 'electric scratching/wire rubbing sounds' could it have been caused by the wireless signal activating whatever mechanism turned the lights on and off? To further that line of thought... Were the other lights in the room lamps or wall mounts? If wall mounts 'could' the same (similar) noise have been made when they turned on?

I ask because it seems all the repairman did was to swap out control boxes and there was no need to 'program' it to your specific room. There have been accounts of TVs turning on and off/changing channels on their own and garage doors opening and it was determined that someone next door/nearby was using a remote control/opener that used the same frequency their items reacted to. However, the timing within your experience would indicate that this is not likely... But needs to be suggested for consideration.

The mechanical lock on the bathroom door is even harder to 'debunk' which is something you were in the process of doing when the lights were turned off on you and you stated that this is what caused you to request another room... Here is my question for you, at which point in time did you actually get an 'unwelcome feeling' about being in the room OR were the events happening that night just strange enough that you 'wanted' to change rooms in order to not deal with them? This is important because a spirit may have just been trying to communicate with you rather than scare you off.

Something else to consider... Have you ever been in other stressful situations where 'odd' things occurred around you? You may have not even been alone when it happened... It could even be things as simple as 'static discharges' or light bulbs burning out. My point is this... These experiences may...MAY...have been psychokinetic bursts, based on your nerves, emanating from you and somehow the environment in that particular room was 'conducive' for them to manifest the way they did. I suggest this because as you were ironing your clothes you mentioned you were thinking about the meetings to follow during the week and even more so that as you lay down to sleep you were focused on your morning presentation.

Anyway, just some questions and observations. Thanks for sharing.

Respectfully,

Rook
Lealeigh (5 stories) (512 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-03)
Hi jabond99,

Now that you describe the optional shade, it does seem, to my mind, to actually be an aesthetically pleasing setup.

I usually like glass walls (and mirrors). In a small living area, they seem to open the room up and provide an ambient light.

I used to live in a small apartmemt. I bought sixteen square, frameless mirrors and lined them up perfectly on a wall. The wall was opposite from another wall which had floor-to-ceiling windows and the effect made the room look more open and full of light.

I am glad that you were able to reclaim your expense receipts as their loss would have added injury to insult.

Best Wishes, Maria ❤
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+4
4 years ago (2019-11-03)
Caz,

Thanks very much for your comment.

The scratching noise never sounded when I was turning on or off the lights. It only came when the lights turned themselves on (or off) by themselves. I'd like to describe better what the sound was, but find myself not really able to. The sound was not like fingernail scratching. Maybe the best I can describe it would be to say perhaps it sounds like the wires in the wall shaking or rubbing together. The sound definitely came from within the wall itself. I suspected as much when I heard it from the bed, but I definitely heard it come from within the wall when I was in the bathroom.

James Bond
jabond99 (3 stories) (61 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-11-03)
Lealeigh,

For me too, there were too many coincidences to just be a series of faults. I really think that whatever it was saw me messing with the lock and gave me one more indication to get the heck out of there (which I finally did).

About the glass wall separating the shower from the rest of the room, I have been in a number of hotel rooms in Asia that have this. Most have some sort of shade or blinds that can be closed to block off the wall while you take a shower.

Thanks for the comment,
James Bond
Caz (342 posts)
+4
4 years ago (2019-11-02)
Hello Jabond99,
Thank you for sharing your interesting and scary story with us! The thing that sent shivers down my spine and made me think it may be paranormal was the weird scratching noise you described just before the light turned itself on. Can you recall if you heard such a noise when you had occasion to turn the light on yourself? When you changed rooms, did you notice a similar sound when you turned on the bathroom light? Just wondered!
Lealeigh (5 stories) (512 posts)
+3
4 years ago (2019-10-31)
Hi jabond99,

After completely reading your story it does seem to be too many coincidences. I think the selling point for me was when you were analyzing the lock and the lights turned off.

I would have gotten the heck out of there too! While I was reading that part of your story, I was completely envisioning myself in your place.

On another note: What's up with a bathroom that has a glass wall? 😆 There are precious few people on Earth that I would be comfortable in front of while doing anything in a bathroom! I know you were alone but not everyone is. Ha!

Thank you for sharing your story and best wishes, Maria ❤

To publish a comment or vote, you need to be logged in (use the login form at the top of the page). If you don't have an account, sign up, it's free!

Search this site: