'He walked straight through the wall': Celebrity chef Melvyn Lee recounts spooky stay in Thai hotel

It's Halloween season, and celebrity chef Melvyn Lee has one of his own horror stories to tell.

In a reel posted yesterday (Oct 29) by The Celebrity Agency as part of their Star Buddy series, Melvyn sat with actor-host Herman Keh — his Makan on Wheels (2024) co-host — to regale his haunting encounter at a Thai hotel.

Recounting how he and his father had been looking for a place to stay during their holiday, he said a manager at one hotel had told them that there were no available rooms. 

However, Melvyn's tour guide insisted that the hotel find them a room as it was very late, upon which father and son were alloted the very last one, according to Melvyn.

"If a hotel is left with one last room, don't stay there," said Melvyn, alluding to a common superstition.

"[But] guess who ended up with that last room? Me," said Melvyn. "So my dad and I entered the room, and when we closed the door, it felt very stuffy — the air was really still.

The pair headed out for supper and when they came back, they found that their room door was latched from the inside.

Melvyn shared that the door was secured with a door chain, a safety feature that typically can only be adjusted from within the room.

"Then, we dialled the front desk and they sent this really short man to help us with the door. Somehow, his hand was able to get through the door and he opened the latch. We wanted to express our thanks and tip him — but he didn't acknowledge us nor did we manage to see his face due to his small stature.

"We watched the man leave down the corridor, but before reaching the lift lobby, he turned and walked straight through the wall. Stunned, my dad and I stood there and I asked him, 'Did you just see that?'"

That night, Melvyn said that they showered, turned off the lights and went to bed. 

But the next morning, he said both of them "got the hell out of there".

In the comments section of the clip, Yes 933 radio DJ Kenneth Chung asked: "Bro, how did you still manage to fall asleep?"

A user wrote: "Please tell me which hotel to avoid!", to which Melvyn remarked: "Haha, you mean which tour guide to avoid?"

Fluent in English, Mandarin and Thai, Melvyn joined The Celebrity Agency as a talent, with recent projects including the movie King of Hawkers (2024), as well as hosting variety shows Makan on Wheels and Makan Kakis - Heritage Food Edition (2024).

At this year's Star Awards, he made his mark by being the first chef in the running for the award show's Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes.

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kristy.chua@asiaone.com