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March 2010

march
Written by Editor
Friday, 08 October 2010 09:47

march
Written by Editor
Friday, 08 October 2010 09:44

march

Written by Editor

Friday, 08 October 2010 09:40

BANGKOK TRADER

Volume 4, Issue No. 3
FEBRUARY 2010

Managing Director: Alan S. Verstein
Tel. 081 761 9302
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Creative Director: Reid Nixon
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Executive Assistant to the Managing Director: Wiparat Jaila
Tel. 02 655 0941
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Published by Siam Gazette Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Kaewta Verstein
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Siam Gazette Main Office
Ground Floor, Vanissa Bldg, 29 Soi Chidlom
Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Tel. 02 655 0940
Fax 02 655 0941

Cover photo of Thai amulets provided by Dave Stamboulis.
To contact Dave, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

march

Written by Editor

Friday, 08 October 2010 09:30

Just what are all those little Buddha figures that half the population of Bangkok seems to have dangling from their necks? Whether it is worn as a necklace or hung up on the rear-view mirror of a bus or taxi, amulets play a major part in Thai culture. What do they mean, where do they come from, and just how real are they? A visit to the Ta Prachan Bangkok amulet market, across from the Wat Mahathat Temple and near the Chao Phraya River, reveals a whole flea market full of talismans and good luck charms, hawked by vendors who sit in rickety stalls peering into their magnifying glasses at the thousands of miniscule luck charms that they deal with every day.

For every potential ill or evil in Thailand, there is an amulet. There are amulets for protecting one from danger, amulets to prevent accidents, amulets to increase one’s attractiveness to the opposite sex, and amulets for just about any possible wish or fear one could name. What is interesting is that even though the amulets are Buddhist in nature, bearing images of famous or powerful monks, the Buddha himself eschewed amulet wearing, advising followers to ignore such illusory items.

The oldest amulets go back to the Haripunchai period (Lamphun Province today) of over 1000 years ago, and were made and blessed by monks and given to warriors to use for protection in battle. Later on, the common folk got in on the amulet craze, asking the monks for protection from evil spirits and accidents.

There are actually two kinds of luck charms; amulets, known as pra, which have the image of a famous monk, and talismans (kreung rang), which have any other holy symbol embedded on them, from Buddhas to elephants, buffalo, or deities of the Hindu pantheon. There are pictures of the Buddha in different poses, elephant-headed Indian god Ganesh engravings, two-headed baby zombies (a stillborn corpse that protects the parent from harm), and even large ships (said to protect people during sea voyages). The amulets are made from plaster, metal, wood, or bone, and may include incense ash, dust from temple bricks, human hair, and other bizarre materials.

march

Written by Editor

Friday, 08 October 2010 09:27

Most Thais get their amulets from temples after making donations there, or else they look through the small stalls in places like Ta Prachan, where the good luck pieces can be had for just ten or twenty baht. An older and dirtier amulet is seen as more powerful; as is one that has a history of protection (a former wearer survived an accident or received a fortune, for example).

Yet there are also rare or antique amulets worth millions of baht, and then there are those like the Jatukam Ramathep amulet, a talisman powered by the Hindu guardian gods of a temple in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, which earned a reputation for being capable of bringing rapid wealth and fortune to its owners. The Jatukam amulet craze spread like wildfire after its founder, a highly respected police major, died in 2007 at the age of 104, and a special edition of the amulet was released. One woman was trampled to death in the frenzy to snap up the amulets, and thieves broke into homes and temples to steal the lucky charms, which speculators correctly assumed would be worth a fortune. In the end, over 55 million versions of the amulet were purchased, with an amulet that was initially sold for 39 baht finally being auctioned off at over 3 million! Eventually, fraudulent copies and fierce competitions collapsed the Jatukam bubble and sent temples looking inwards at the emergence of an ugly Buddhist capitalism.

So do the amulets really work? Many believers swear it was their amulets that saved them in a car crash or accident, soldiers wear them during active duty and feel secure, and bus and taxi drivers are convinced that their talismans hanging off the rear-view mirror are keeping them safe on the chaotic Bangkok streets.

One believer, Pis Kumtuam, also known as the King of Amulets, takes amulet belief so seriously he has over 700 amulets in his collection, and he often wears them all at the same time, creating a staggering 5-kilogram necklace of luck around his neck. Kumtuam had a restaurant up in Nonthaburi that wasn’t faring well. He went to a nearby temple and started collecting amulets made by the monks there. The more he collected, the better his restaurant business fared, so he just kept right on collecting. Hey, if the shoe (or amulet necklace) fits….

The vendors of the amulets say that they aren’t really engaged in buying and selling, but rather renting out the Buddha power within the talisman itself. They also remind the wearer to follow certain caveats, such as not having sexual relations while wearing the amulet, keeping it away from the feet and off the floor, and that for the power of the amulet actually to work, one must be a dutiful Buddhist. This may be heartfelt advice, but it also does create a business caveat to ensure that one whose amulet fails cannot get a refund!

To visit the Ta Prachan Amulet Market, take the Chao Phraya River ferry from Saphan Thaksin up to the Tha Chang Pier. Walk up to Mahathat Road and turn left. The market is opposite Wat Mahathat and is busiest on Sundays.

Dave Stamboulis is a freelance photographer and travel writer based in Bangkok. He is the author of “Odysseus’ Last Stand,” which received the Silver Medal Book of the Year award from the Society of American Travel Writers. He can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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