Thai worker dies in his sleep in Taiwan

Taipei (dpa) - Taiwan police are investigating the death of a Thai worker who died mysteriously in his sleep in a suspected case of Nightmare Death Syndrome, common in Thailand, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Thursday.

Adul Phanakan, 41, a newly arrived worker at a factory in Chiayi in central Taiwan, died Wednesday after screaming loudly in his sleep, CNA said

Chiayi police plan to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of the death of Phanakan, who was strong and in good health.

Phanakan's death is similar to that of dozens of young Thai workers who were also in good health and also died in their sleep with loud screams.

Nightmare Death Syndrome is recognized as a leading cause of death in young men in Thailand, the Philippines and Japan, but the largest number of such deaths occur in north-east Thailand.

Spanish doctor Pedro Brugada discovered the cause of such deaths in 1986, linking them to an irregular heart beat that causes the chambers of the heart to pump out of sequence, halting blood circulation.

In Thailand, folklore has long held a different cause - widow ghosts. These ghosts are said to snatch the souls of young men when they are asleep.

To avoid nightmare death, some Thai men paint their fingernails red or wear lipstick at night to trick the widow ghosts into believing they are women and not men.
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Dollface, this story brought to mind the tale you told in another thread about waking up when you felt like your heart stopped... maybe it's time to start wearing some lipstick to bed. Better get pillow cases that match your shade.

I don't really think it applies to your experience though... not according to Wiki anyways:

Sudden unexplained death syndrome

The condition appears to affect primarily young Hmong men from Laos (median age 33) and northeastern Thailand (where the population are mainly of Laotian descent). There is a strong hereditary component and the victims tend to die in their sleep.

Survivors describe a feeling of intense fear and paralysis. There is a sensation of pressure in the chest, the presence of an alien being in the room and altered sensation.

That was just a excerpt from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_unexpl..._death_syndrome

The "presence of an alien being in the room" part is rather freaky eh? Explains why they attribute it to ghosts IMO.

This goes into adulthood as well?
Wow. Good article Luna!
Very intriguing

Good article i'd say, but I don't see how a ghost can kill a man through dreams.. Hmm.. why am I saying this? cause I've dreamed many times how I've been tortured over and over and wouldn't die, and I felt every bit of pain, just to wake up, and dream again the next night, and feel all the pain, hell, when I was 8 years old and I didn't want it anymore I desperately tried stabbing myself in the heart before the "monsters" got to me.. this could be a disease spreading around thailand I wonder what it does, well I'm not an anatomist (yet) or a chemist to know what dreaming causes to people's molecules, cya

You make me laugh Luna.
But this syndrome... strange huh?
Wish i knew what to make of it...

Good article, poor men though.

oh that's something that I forgot to mention minty, it does happen to men only, why not to women? man I wish I was a chemist and a doctor! can't wait till I graduate!

That is wierd how it only happens to men. Probably something hereditary.

perhaps.. perhaps.. or perhaps it's truly a succubus LOL

"To avoid nightmare death, some Thai men paint their fingernails red or wear lipstick at night to trick the widow ghosts into believing they are women and not men"
OK....sure....what a creative reason to explain getting caught wearing lipstick etc.....(not that i would know about such things)

dude you've been making me laugh too much in the last 30 mins stop it!! =)) hey man but what you said it's true, it is a good excuse huh, next they're gonna start dressing up like girls and go to puss n boots and dance on tables =))

yep, glammy, then say"its keeping the nightmare death away!"..but not stopping the blatant transvestite syndrome.....

LOOOOOOOOL and the next thing they might do is hire gigolos to let the succubus take the gigolos ah man ok ok nomore

The next thing you know there going to start carrying purses, when you ask they will say "Oh, I have a handgun inside for protection." You will ask how this protects them from the Nightmare Death Syndrome and they won't answer. The real reason is, -Speaks in a girlish voice.- "It matches my eyeliner and lipstick!."

it puzzles me why such deaths are common in particular part of Asia...
i'm pretty sure it has something in common with locally popular drugs, that cause the nightmares...opium for example

perhaps a form of narcolepsy?

yep, I was thinking of that too, perhaps those men are drug addicts and oughta let a girl try the same drug?