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Description

NANG NGUEK

Statues of and stories about mermaids can be found throughout Thailand. While the first fish hybrid creature of the region, and possibly the world, is the Matsya avatar of the god Vishnu (one of several of his animal avatars), in which, he is depicted as having his legs inside the mouth of a giant fish, thus making the general shape of a merman. From there the word nguek evolved from a meaning of snake, to that of a water snake with a human face that was decidedly separate from nagas. Modern tales tell only of golden colored mermaids, or nang nguek. They appear in stories to assist hero characters in their journeys, or are reported to have been seen sitting on this or that beach momentarily before getting frightened away. The most notable mermaid is called Suvannamaccha, which also means golden mermaid, who plays a role in the Thai version of the epic Ramayana. She is the mermaid daughter of the demon king, Ravana, who commands the lesser mermaids to stop his enemies from building a bridge to his fortress, but falls in love with the monkey commander trying to build the bridge instead.

MAGIC: An image of a nang nguek brings good luck to the house in which it is located.

TEMPERAMENT: Nang Nguek seem to be fleeting helpful beings whose only crime is to appear once before a human, and never return to allow that longing person a second encounter.

Description

NANG NGUEK

Statues of and stories about mermaids can be found throughout Thailand. While the first fish hybrid creature of the region, and possibly the world, is the Matsya avatar of the god Vishnu (one of several of his animal avatars), in which, he is depicted as having his legs inside the mouth of a giant fish, thus making the general shape of a merman. From there the word nguek evolved from a meaning of snake, to that of a water snake with a human face that was decidedly separate from nagas. Modern tales tell only of golden colored mermaids, or nang nguek. They appear in stories to assist hero characters in their journeys, or are reported to have been seen sitting on this or that beach momentarily before getting frightened away. The most notable mermaid is called Suvannamaccha, which also means golden mermaid, who plays a role in the Thai version of the epic Ramayana. She is the mermaid daughter of the demon king, Ravana, who commands the lesser mermaids to stop his enemies from building a bridge to his fortress, but falls in love with the monkey commander trying to build the bridge instead.

MAGIC: An image of a nang nguek brings good luck to the house in which it is located.

TEMPERAMENT: Nang Nguek seem to be fleeting helpful beings whose only crime is to appear once before a human, and never return to allow that longing person a second encounter.