A Better Bottom Line Carrying the Torch
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Medals won by China’s ‘Prince of Gymnastics’ Li Ning at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles 6 > TOMORROW IN LIFE Monday, May 20, 2019 A BETTER BOTTOM LINE CARRYING THE TORCH Google’s cheaper Pixel 3a and 3a XL smartphones have Statue of Liberty Museum in New York explores many of the features of top models DIGITAL LIFE C8 the history and impact of the attraction TRAVEL C9 A Buddhist monk inspects an amulet at a temple in Bangkok. Photos: Tibor Krausz Charmed to the teeth Thailand’s Buddhist amulet market is the world’s biggest, worth nearly HK$10 billion a are ubiquitous. “Appreciating health, good fortune, social amulets is like appreciating success and karmic merit. They year. Seven out of 10 Thais wear them for good luck – and some own many thousands artworks,” Jitti says. “A painting by are also assumed to protect their Van Gogh is far more valuable wearers from physical harm, than a painting by an unknown including road accidents. Tibor Krausz sale by enterprising Thais or The country’s amulet market is artist. The same goes for amulets. “People surviving accidents [email protected] financially astute Buddhist the largest in the world, with Which monk made it when and while wearing certain amulets – monks. They all have one thing in estimated annual sales of 40 where matters a lot.” that’s proof the amulets work,” common: they bear stylised billion baht (HK$10 billion). Somdej was a son of King says Suthi, who is covered in mag- Jitti Kongsupapsiri reaches into depictions of Buddha or venerat- “We’re very superstitious. We Rama I, the founder of the current ical tattoos up to his neck, around his breast pocket and takes out a ed monks, said to give them believe in amulets,” Jitti says. Chakri dynasty, and became a which he wears several charms on small, off-white object. It is spiritual and magical properties. A bespectacled, avuncular trusted adviser to King Mongkut, a chain. “I have been involved in a encased in a shiny gold locket with Prospective buyers stand man in his 60s, he once lived in the or Rama IV, who was played as a few car accidents and have always curved glass panes on the front around stalls, bending over at the United States and speaks fluent mercurial monarch by Yul escaped unharmed,” he adds. and back. waist to peer intently at the offer- English. He could be mistaken for Brynner in the 1956 film The King Some amulets can even “Take a look at this,” the ings with inquisitive zeal. Once an a college professor. and I. The monk was said to protect their owners against Chinese-Thai trader urges as he item has caught their eye, they lift Pointing to a collection of possess the power to pacify 100 million knives and bullets, Suthi says. He cradles the amulet gingerly in his it up and proceed to inspect it amulets in a display case, he says: vengeful ghosts. shows an old bullet-shaped object palm, as if his very touch posed a through a plastic jeweller’s loupe. “Some of these are quite valuable, During his lifetime the monk’s with the image of a Buddhist danger to it. some are not. Many of them cost royally endowed temple, which Amount, in baht, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha – monk carved into it. Jitti is in a hole-in-the-wall only a few hundred baht.” still stands on the opposite river- the late Thai-Chinese billionaire who owned the “Some criminals escaped shop at the labyrinthine Tha Not so the amulet he’s holding bank near the old amulet market, Leicester City soccer club – paid for an amulet many times with their lives after Prachan amulet market in the in his hand. It costs a lot more than made many charms for his follow- being shot because they wore oldest part of Bangkok, near a that: its asking price is 15 million ers to protect themselves and amulets like this,” he says. bustling pier on the Chao Phraya You have to be careful with baht. “Half a million US dollars,” remind them of his teachings. His What about Vichai’s amulet, River. He is about to offer a forgeries. If you don’t Jitti repeats, sensing my surprise. amulets remain popular with hair, or ground-up jasmine though? It may have made him glimpse into the strange world of “It’s the king of amulets,” he adds. Thais from all walks of life. petals from phuang malai floral even wealthier and, against all Thai amulets. know much about amulets, The amulet may not strike the Replicas of them have been garlands, which are widely used as odds, Leicester City, his team of There are good luck charms as you can be easily tricked uninitiated as especially valuable. proliferating. Some copies are so votive offerings. underdogs, won the English far as the eye can see, and medal- It’s a small, chalky tablet, the size expertly made that spotting them A nearly identical amulet was Premier League in 2016. Yet in the lions, pendants and Buddhist WOR THAPRACHAN, AMULET VENDOR of a matchbox but only half as requires a well-trained eye. Tell- bought for an exorbitant sum. end the amulet did not seem to trinkets. They are for sale at rickety thick. It bears an embossed out- tale signs include minute details Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the protect Vichai. Last October he stands, wobbly stalls and stuffy They may spend minutes line of the Buddha meditating such as natural decay. late Thai-Chinese billionaire died in a helicopter crash at the old shops, laid out in neat rows or studying a single item even if there atop a tiered throne inside what “You can make a copy, but it who owned the English Premier club’s stadium in Leicester. jumbled up in plastic baskets. are many identical, factory-made seems to be an arched doorway. won’t look exactly the same,” Jitti League soccer club Leicester City, When I point this out, Jitti The amulets come in a variety Suthi copies of it around. Acquiring a Age and provenance make this says. “When I see you and your paid an eye-watering 100 million remains unfazed. “Vichai was not of sizes: from thumb size to palm Utanworapot new amulet without first examin- item so expensive. The amulet twin brother, you may look alike, baht for it, amulet merchants say. wearing his amulet during the size. They are round, triangular, shows off his ing it closely seems to be a no-no. dates from the mid-19th century but after looking more closely I It’s believed to have been the pri- accident,” he says. Amulets have rectangular, oval. And they come prized amulets According to a recent poll, and was reportedly made by Phra can still tell you two apart.” ciest amulet ever sold in Thailand. to be worn. They can’t protect you in a range of materials: plastic, (left); Kob some 70 per cent of Thais wear Somdej To. A century and a half Palming off worthless fakes on from a distance. Either that or the ceramic, base metals, silver, gold, Ladkrabang Buddhist amulets to fortify them- after his death, the Buddhist unsuspecting customers has businessman’s luck had run out. jade. Some are rare edition; most shops for more selves against the slings and monk is revered by Thais as a become a common scam at some “When it’s time for you to go, not have been mass-produced for good luck. arrows of capricious fortune. patron saint and images of him Buddhist temples. Chinese tour- even a potent amulet can save ists who have been flocking to you,” Suthi says. Thailand are a target. They may be People surviving accidents That is why many Thais hedge lured into shelling out minor while wearing certain their bets by hoarding amulets. fortunes for cheap baubles passed Their hope is that the more off as valuable antiques. amulets – that’s proof the amulets they have, the better their “You have to be careful with amulets work chances that at least some of their forgeries,” says Wor Thaprachan, charms will work their magic. an electrical engineer turned SUTHI UTANWORAPOT, AMULET MASTER Kob Ladkrabang, a practitio- amulet seller. “If you don’t know ner of alternative medicine, is much about amulets, you can be “Ultimately an amulet sells for one such hoarder. He has about easily tricked.” what someone is willing to pay for 10,000 amulets. Yet he keeps Prices of genuine amulets it,” says Suthi Utanworapot, an returning to buy more. vary depending on supply and “amulet master” who has been He never leaves home without demand and presumed potency. buying and selling the charms hundreds of his amulets on him. The Phra Somdej amulet that for three decades. “Its true worth He wears them on thick chains Jitti has for sale is a highly prized comes from how much you around his neck, where they specimen. It is made of porous personally value it.” dangle in clunky cascades. The limestone mixed with rice Phra Somdej amulets are pockets of his sleeveless jacket powder. Some aficionados claim especially valued because they are also bulge with them. amulets like this may contain the believed to bestow several “I don’t think about their ashes of cremated monks, their benefits on their owners: wealth, price,” he says. “I like amulets.” .