Thai Amulets – Beads of Paradise

Traditions have been an inseparable part of this changing world. Each country has its own set of beliefs and faith. Thailand, a Southeast Asian country, known for its tropical beaches, sumptuous royal palaces, and grand temples has its own good luck charm in the form of Thai Amulets. Thai Amulets, also known as votive tablet, is a lucky charm, known to possess blessings of renowned Buddhist monks.

These amulets are mainly carried by wearing them as lockets and are worn in huge numbers by Thai people. The amulets sizes range from little-finger size to thumb size to even the size of a palm. They are available in round, triangular, rectangular as well as oval shapes. These amulets are made up from a range of materials like plastic, ceramic, silver, gold and jade.

Thai people are highly superstitious and have an unbreakable faith in the power of these amulets. There is much evidence of people being protected from accidents without any harm and have faith that it was because of the fact that they were wearing these amulets. Lp Parn Wat Bang Nom Kho Chicken is mainly famous for bringing happiness and prosperity in terms of health, wealth as well as social success. Other amulets are also worn with the same belief.

The amulets were embarked in the mid-19th century and were made by Phra Somdej To. After his death, after around a century and a half, the Buddhist monk was declared by Thais as a patron saint and images of him were all-over. A small tablet in the size of a matchbox with an embossed outline of the Buddha meditating started to become famous. This initiated the concept of amulets for the Thai people.

As the amulets and faith in them inflated, many monks started publishing their own version of these amulets. Some of them are available in a limited edition, while most have been produced in bulk for sale by enterprising Thais or high stature Buddhist monks. There are variety of these available namely, Benja Phakhi, Phra Somdej, Phra Rod, Phra Nang Phaya, Phra Phong Suphan, Phra Sum Kor, Phra Khun Phaen, Jatukham Rammathep, Phra Kring and many others. Each has their own welfare goals, ranging from welfare of family to welfare of wealth and health.

The faith in these amulets is extremely defined and certain actions are highly considered as a taboo. Wearing Buddhist amulets under the waist is an unacceptable act. For most amulets, you can wear it on the neck or else above the waist which shows respect to the Buddha. You should also pray before and after wearing an amulet and one shouldn’t wear an amulet when bathing.

As the demand of these amulets increased, many vendors started to benefit themselves by selling fake copies of these amulets, leading to unwanted unscrupulous practices. Selling worthless fakes to unsuspecting customers has become a common scam at some Buddhist temples. Chinese tourists who have been visiting Thailand are a particular target. These practices are not only demeaning the temples, but also the faith people have on these amulets.

Age and origin make this item so expensive. The prices of genuine amulets vary depending on supply and demand and their assumed benefits. The Tha Prachan amulet market in the oldest part of Bangkok is the hub of these amulets where you can find numerous amulets with esteemed backgrounds and faith. Believers are willing to pay a mammoth amount of money to get the original pieces. They are reluctant to leave their homes without piling themselves with these amulets and its blessings.