Today I sent a moneygram to a dear student who obtained for me an authentic Thai kuman thong, and so, while I am still waiting for it to arrive via LBC, I already consider it officially mine. The person who made the kuman thong available advised my student to offer it sweets and milk before shipping it to me, which, of course, he did. He reported to me having a headache, which I feel was unrelated to the acquisition of the kuman thong, and prolific dreams in which he was always traveling. He would also wake up at dawn at the same hour. I am certain that my student was only too glad to finally ship the kuman thong to me. He confessed, though, that, as he was placing the kuman thong inside the box, he felt that he had become somewhat attached to it after its albeit brief stay in his home. He said a moving goodbye to it, and also said that it was time to leave his house and go to mine.

I found a lot of material on the Thai kuman thong on the Internet, including advice on its placement, what to feed it, how to keep it happy, and specific incantations to use. I also found a list of suggested names to call it. I didn't want to give mine a pretentious, foreign name, though--I actually believe that as soon as the spirit of the Thai child is able to move on, the kuman thong will be immediately possessed by the spirit of a deceased, Filipino child. Herein lies the great responsibility in adopting a kuman thong. You are to love it as an actual child until it is ready to move on to the light, after which another spirit enters for you to also love until it is ready to move on to the light, and so on. The name Robert occurred to me, but we shall see. The kuman thong will allegedly appear to me in a dream and give me the name pleasing to itself.

Before going on-line I prepped the location for my kuman thong, where I shall place it as soon as it arrives. I included two tiny tea glasses, a saucer for candy, and doll furniture. It is in an inconspicuous place where my family members hardly look. Having said that, I am required to converse with the kuman thong, explain our house and its rules, and tell it not only about every member of the household but about frequent guests as well.

The kuman thong was quite expensive, but I am satisfied. To begin with, it was extremely difficult to obtain one. A real one, I mean, not a commercial curio. My student contacted approximately five sources in Thailand, none of which were responsive. Just as I told my student to abandon the idea and give up, one source responded and agreed to a meet-up.

Thus a kuman thong is finally coming to my house, in Cubao.