Thailand caught in an amulet craze
By Todd Crowell
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT, Thailand - This city lies at roughly the same latitude as
as the internationally renowned resort destination of Phuket, except that it is
on the Gulf of Thailand side of the Malay Peninsula, while Phuket is an island
in the Andaman Sea.
Nakhon Si Thammarat is an ancient city, tracing its present incarnation to the
13th century. One can easily discern the outlines of the old city in the
current layout of streets and in the remnants of the city wall.
Lately, Nakhon Si Thammarat has become a tourist destination,
possibly the biggest in Thailand. Four flights a day from Bangkok disgorge
visitors. They stream off buses and trains. The city estimates that 1.6 million
people visited in 2006, straining its modest accommodations.
Very few of the visitors are foreign tourists - no sun-seeking Europeans, no
backpackers, no beachcombers. During the weekend I spent there, I encountered
only one other farang (ethnic-European foreigner), a Dane who was
attending his brother-in-law's wedding, and he seemed happy enough to get back
to Chiang Mai.
The Thai visitors are pilgrims, really. They don't come because of the city's
rich history, the Makhalon archeological site to the north or the Phrom Lok
Waterfall or any of the other attractions touted by the Tourism Authority of
Thailand, Southern Region. No, they come for just one reason: Jatukam!
All of Thailand is in the grip of Jatukam fever and the supposed magical powers
of the talisman, but nowhere else is it so all-consuming as in this city, where
it all began. It seems every other citizen is wearing one of the amulets.
They are easy to spot, since they look like Olympic bronze medals suspended by
a chain around the neck. Sometimes more than one. (Thai joke: A man goes to the
doctor complaining of neck and shoulder pain. The doctor points to the five
Jatukam medallions strung around his neck and suggests he lighten the load.)
It is impossible to ignore the phenomenon here. Billboards plastered on the
side of buildings display the latest models. Sound trucks that in any other
Thai city might be advertising boxing matches or the candidates in local
elections broadcast information on new medals.
Along Ratchadamoen Road, the city's main street, whole shops are given over to
display cases stocked with the medallions in their little plastic cases,
generally priced from 2,000-5,000 baht (US$62-$154). Even stores that sell
ordinary household items still have a few cases displaying the latest amulets.
The Jatukam craze has become a huge bonanza for Nakhon Si Thammarat and the
Buddhist temples that give the medals their blessing. Of the city's 560
temples, 200 produce the amulets, and more are planning to do so. The sales and
visitors have brought in more than 10 billion baht. (Nationally the amulets
trade is estimated at 40 billion baht.)
Jatukam fever is bringing in so much money that the Thai Revenue Department is
considering whether to tax the amulets, helping to offset loss of tax revenue
from the general downturn in the economy. "There's a tremendous amount of money
floating around in the amulet market," said department director general Sanit
Rangnoi.
What is Jatukam?
The amulet's full name actually refers to two people, Jatukam Rammathep, and
their origin is obscure and difficult to understand for someone not steeped in
Hindu-Buddhist mythology. By some accounts, they were princes in the
13th-century Srivijay Kingdom of which Nakhon Si Thammarat was the center.
Another theory is that the names are a corruption of Khuttugama and Ramadeva,
two Hindu guardians that can be seen alongside the stairway leading into the
inner sanctum of the Great Stupa of Wat Pra Mahathat, which is said to be the
most important and historic Buddhist wat (temple complex) in southern
Thailand.
The first Jatukam amulets were stuck and sold in 1987 (they now fetch prices in
excess of a million baht, or nearly $30,000). But only a few of the amulets
were sold for many years. The craze only took off last year.
Most Jatukam enthusiasts associate the amulets with a much more contemporary
figure, Police Major-General Phantarak Rajadej, the provincial police chief who
died last September at age 103. He was said to have magical powers and was
instrumental in building the holy site called the City Pillar, now a center of
the amulet trade.
His cremation ceremony here in February drew tens of thousands of people, some
hoping to obtain one of the talismans distributed to mourners. His Royal
Highness Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn presided.
On a rainy Saturday, I found my way to the City Pillar to observe the
consecration of a new Jatukam amulet. The pillar is a golden stele, with the
four faces of Buddha at the top enclosed in a white alabaster structure.
In the late morning, the courtyard was already crowded with people. A huge
offering table displayed a feast of symbolic offerings: heaps of grapes,
bananas, crabs, durians, even two hogs' heads. A loudspeaker blared out
constant announcements or prayers. Every now and then one heard the crackling
of fireworks.
At 1:30pm, 10 saffron-clad monks took their seats on a long bench on one side
of the pillar and began a steady, droning prayer chant that lasted for 40
minutes as people paid their respects by listening respectfully, their hands
folded in prayer.
On the far side of the pillar complex, several men were kneading clay that
would be pressed into amulets. The chanting came to a close, and a senior monk
took his place in front of a press, having the privilege of striking off the
first amulet.
Then he stood up, cupping the newly minted medallion in the palm of his hand
for all to see. People crowded around to gape and take pictures as if it were
some kind of exotic and fabulously expensive rare jewel. Another little Buddha
was born.
Hope amid uncertainty
There are plenty of theories to explain the enormous popularity of the Jatukam
phenomenon in Thailand at this time in its history. And there are plenty of
people happy to testify about motorbike accidents survived, of diseases cured
by the miraculous power of the amulet.
Some argue that the phenomenon is symptomatic of the "confused state of Thai
Buddhism" - to quote The Nation newspaper - where temples and monks are willing
to debase their religion and calling for the enormous profits that can be had
from amulet sales, sales that dwarf the traditional temple trinkets by a huge
margin.
Some argue that Thais are feeling insecure given the country's political
turmoil and the aging of their beloved monarch, His Majesty King Bhumibol
Adulyadej, and thus put their faith in objects they think can bring them good
fortune, or at least keep away the bad.
One should not discount their sheer collectibility. New amulets are issued
almost every day. Glossy, four-color catalogues display the latest models
complete with the numbers of each limited edition and their prices.
And there is also the simple excitement of one young woman at the City Pillar
as she struggled to convey in her limited English to this unenlightened farang
why she was so happy to be present at the consecration of a new Jatukam amulet:
"It gives you everything."
Todd Crowell is a Thailand-based correspondent for Asia Times Online.
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