The Belief about the Soul of the Dead.

An elderly Red Lahu used to tell this story concerning the soul of dead person, when someone dies, his soul or spirit, is still bound to his family and home. This strong bond has made the spirit of the dead person come back tohis home. On the first night after death, the soul is able to come to the kitchen to search for something to eat. On the second night, the soul can get to the door of the house, and on the third day the soul can only get to the ladder. On the fourth night, the soul will be able to get to the entrance of the village. On the subsequent nights, the ability of the soul to come to the village will be weakening respectively until the 7 th night when the soul of the dead person will disappear for good to live in its own world.
Summary. The Red Lahu is an ethnic group of what Thai people call Musur. However, they call themselves Lahu. In Mae Hongson Province, the Red Lahu can be found in upper northern areas of the province, inthe districts of Pang Mapah and Pai. Based on the dead can be analyzed into two aspects. Firstly, it sh0ws how they love and are bound to the dead have a different status from those who are still alive.
Prior to 1969, the Red Lahu along the Thai-Burmese border would evacuate to a new location after 3-4 person in the village passed away witth in a short period of time. They believed that the ghost had cone to take the life of other people. Currently, the public health know ledge that they acquire from government agents is one of the factors that has diminished such belief. They do not have to evacuate to run away from the ghost as they can have access to modern medicine from public health workers.
The Red Lahu have a profound and complicated funeral ritual when treating the dead person. This treatment involves natural materials involved in the ritual, so there is no need to spend a large amount of money for the ritual. However, there is a trend that this cultural ritual of the Red Lahu is diminishing because of the influence of external culture, particularly in the case of those from the cities and Christian practice that have increasing roles in the daily life of the Red Lahu.