Thai Amulets

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Mike

Thai amulets including M16 amulet

Thai Amulets can be found everywhere in Thailand, visit any temple, monk shop or market and I can almost guarantee you will find a vendor. You even find them on public and private transport often hanging from the rear view mirror or on the dashboard of buses and cars.

From a Thai perspective amulets are seen as good luck talisman, offering the wearer protection from evil and perhaps bringing them prosperity.

Amulets are made from a variety of materials including clay, metal, stone and wood. They will often feature an image of a revered monk or the Buddha. Anyone can make the images, however older monks are usually charged with reproducing amulets with the Buddha image on them.   Both inside and outside of Thailand many of the amulets particularly those associated with famous monks are highly collectible and it can cost a lot of money to buy them. The same applies to batches of amulets that are blessed by important Buddhist monks.

The amulets in the above photograph are part of my Thai partners collection and feature two quite sought after pieces. The two amulets featuring monks on the bottom row are from left to right, Luang Phor Jawkon Non Wattesirin, a famous monk from the North of Thailand and Luang Phor Thuad a very famous monk from the South of Thailand.

The amulet featuring Luang Phor Thuad has an interesting story attached to it which reveals how some versions of the amulet became known as the M16 amulet.

Briefly the story goes like this.  Bandits tried to stop a lorry in southern Thailand by spraying the drivers cab with M16 rounds which penetrated all around the driver but no bullets struck him. This allowed him to escape and live to tell the tale.  Later it was discovered that the truck driver had been wearing a Luang Phor Thuad amulet similar to the one featured above.

The M16 amulet features Luang Phor Thuad smiling (Yim in Thai) but I can’t make up my mind whether Duen’s amulet has a smiley face. What do you think could it be an M16 amulet?

To put the belief in the power of Thai amulets into perspective here, I recently read that the current Prime Minister of Thailand, who was born and educated in the UK, says he does not believe in the power of Thai amulets. However since he has had several hundred donated or lent to him since he came to office he feels obliged to wear one. Which given the current political situation in Thailand sounds like quite a good idea.

Just for the record, when I first came here I would not have considered buying a Thai amulet,  writing them off as superstitious junk . Now I see them as nice little pieces of Buddhist art and have started my own collection from the temples that I visit to collect data for my blog Wat Thai Temple.

Do I believe they offer me protection? Lets just say the jury is still out on that one.

What about you?

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  • http://paulgarrigan.com/ Paul Garrigan

    Hi Mike, I know that some Thai monks refuse to deal with these amulets. Ajahn Chan was famous for this. I love the story of how one of his followers kept pestering him for an amulet. Ajahn Chan kept refusing but this man was getting desperate because he had been conscripted to the go into the army. He wanted something that would stop bullets from hitting him. Ajahn Chan got so exasperated with this man that he pointed to a huge Buddhist statue behind him and told the follower to wear it around his neck; now that really might stop bullets.

    I remember a couple of years ago everyone was wearing those huge amulets; I would only wear something like that if I’d won a marathon :-)

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Paul love the story about the soldier. I don’t actually wear any of my small collection I just enjoy the different colours and textures. As for good or bad luck well in the case of the M16 I just reckon the robbers were bad shots ;-)

  • Martyn

    Mike, personally I don’t believe the amulets carry any luck at all, apart from for the person selling them. Lucky charms can be found the world over, horeseshoes in the UK and the rabbit wasn’t so lucky losing his foot. Thais are no different to the rest of us as far as lucky charms go.

    As collectable items I can definitely see their appeal, many of them are tiny works of art. If someone offered me a amulet which protected me from snakes even I the pessimist would probably put it around my neck, but i’d still keep out the long grass. I reckon the snakes have eaten all the rabbits feet.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Martyn, not sure if there is an amulet specifically designed for snakes, but your local monk might help there.

      We don’t seem to have much luck with rabbits, the rabbits don’t seem to have much luck either ;-)

  • Anonymous

    I remember taking a journey on one of the min bus services in Thailand where the driver weaved in and out of traffic, going 3 wide to overtake cars, buses and truck while heading into on coming traffic at break-neck speed and in pouring rain……I was petrified (the thais on the bus seemed aok). I said to the driver “slow down, take it easy, you’re going to kill us all” to which he pointed to his amulet pendent and said in broken English, something like, “no worries, have good luck” – I arrived at my destination in one piece, if somewhat shaken.

    • http://www.thailand-blogs.com Mike

      Yes I know the feeling, fortunately so far I too have survived :-)

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