Amulet and religious markets in Korat

This market is located near Ya Mo statue (Thao Suranaree monument), in the center of the city, just beside the 7-eleven. It’s under a beautiful old hotel in wood, one of the rare example of old buildings in this area.

At night, very late, it’s a popular restaurants for people after the bars close. On day time, 7 days a week, it’s an amulet and religious items markets.

Amulets are religious things made in order to protect you from trouble. They are very popular among Thai people, especially in the South. If you have them in a necklace, it should be an odd number, like 3, 5, 7 for better luck.

Thai people believe that these objects can make them richer, or make them find a good partner, avoid a car accident, etc. This is why you often see them in cars…

Some other religious items are also sold, like statues, in wood, bronze, clay, etc. Their price can be very cheap to very expensive, depending on material, if it’s an original or not, the quality of the work, the age of the item, etc. They will often say: ‘This one is from Ayutthaya….’ as this was the capital of Thailand in the past and objects from Ayutthaya are praised with Thais. Some people can imitate and copy objects that looks old…but they are brand new. You have to pay attention to each details if you want to buy an object of a certain value.

Some artists are working in the market. This one was quite proud to show us his skills!

More expensive objects will be kept in secure places. Some buddhas can worth a lot of money…just like any piece of art in the world. However, here, they also have a religious connotation.

If you buy a buddha and put it in your house, it should be at a high level. Buddha should always be higher then you. It’s a belief and a tradition.

You might also find jade objects. Again be careful, jade can be very cheap or very expensive. Avoid buying if you don’t know how it worths. Jade price is connected with the color of the jade, is purity (if it has cracks or other colors in it), if it’s bright or mat, and much more.

This market is quite large but these pictures were taken on a Sunday afternoon, 2 weeks ago. Sunday is the quiet day. You can see a lot of activity in the week days. We suggest you to visit in on week day (Monday to Friday) between 10 am to 4pm.

You will see some stands also on the street. They also sell amulets in a section of saveone market. You will also find them at Klang Plaza 2, on one of the last floor (after the computer and mobile phone floor).

Links:

• Wikipedia on Amulets
• Amulets market in Bangkok