It's been said that amulets/good luck charms can be dated back to when man crawled out of caves. It's not my intention to take you back that far. In fact, I'm going to limit this article to Thailand and only back a few hundred years. There were some amulets found in an old temple in Northern Thailand, Phitsanulek actually, and these were found to have been made in approx. the 1400's. They were found to have been made of materials that are also still used in making amulets today. Soil, flower petals, plant seeds and human ash, all mixed in with a clay mixture. The human ash probably came from where it still does today, a deceased monk who was thought to have been holy or possessed of supernatural abilities or attributes.

It is widely believed that some old Tudong monks, or wandering monks, as they are know as, probably was the forerunner in distributing these amulets. These were monks who spent most of their lives wandering around in the forest in search of solitude and enlightenment and probably hand carved some amulet from a piece of wood or some soft stone. Probably the wood or stone came from someplace they thought was holy, or someplace they spent the night and had some remarkable vision. Anyway, as these monks got older and found it hard to get around, they settled in some temple somewhere and either gave these amulets they had collected to a favored temple devotee or maybe a protégé monk.

I'm not sure anyone knows exactly who started the next amulet/good luck charm phenomenon, but what happened is this. One of these older, former Tudong monks found a way to earn some money to use for temple repairs. Making and selling some blessed amulets/good luck charms. These at the beginning were sold for about a dollar or two each. And they didn't have the modern convenience of mass producing, so they probably only were able to make 500 or 1000 or these amulets out of a simple mold. These molds were usually made of wood and were hand carved either by the guru monk or some talented devotee. You should remember though, a dollar went a lot further then than it does now.

Two guru monks that I know of, Luang Por Parn and his protégé, Luang Por Ruesi Lingdam, built a beautiful temple complex up in Uthai Thani. Wat Tzudong. I've been there and I have to tell you, it's something to behold. There were in the beginning and I guess still are, two kinds of amulets/good luck charms. One was to help the wearer in seeking spiritual insight and to ward off misfortune, and the other was to help in invoking to the wearers benefit, good luck and prosperity. You find more of the latter today, especially since Thailand instituted a national lottery. Wearers of the first are usually policeman, soldiers and construction workers. For obvious reasons. Some of these old guru monk made amulets still bring a good price. I've seen some Luang Por Parn amulets selling for upwards of 3 to 5 thousand dollars. I can't even find a Luang Por Ruesi Lingdam amulet, and probably couldn't afford one if I did. There are a lot of guru monks whose amulets still command a lot of money. Here's a few of those guru monks.

Luang Por Parn, Luang Por Lee, Luang Por Koon, Luang Por Pae, Luang Por Hong, Luang Por Pern, Luang Poh Toh and the list goes on. I've found that different peoples preference comes under two categories, either they wear the amulet from the district the guru monk comes from or some relative experienced some really good luck wearing a certain monks amulet or good luck charm.

Now we come down to today's #1 selling amulet/good luck charm in Thailand. The Jatukarm Ramathep Amulet. This amulet is not really Buddhist related. It's considered to be a guardian angel, guardian spirit amulet or good luck charm. It's been around since about 1987, but got really popular the last 2 or 3 years. The original maker of this amulet was a policeman, Khun Phantharak Rajjadej in Nakhon Sri Thammarat, located in Southern Thailand. He originally designed it to help ward off misfortune. It must of helped because he lived to be 103 with the rank of Police Major General. About 3 years ago, rumors started surfacing of people wearing this amulet/good luck charm, winning the lottery, their business not only tripling, but going up even 10 fold, having motor cycle wrecks and coming out with only skinned knees or bruises, all kinds of stories. And the boom was on. It is reported that sales of this Jatukarm Ramathep amulet has reached in excess of 500 million dollars. U.S. Dollars. That's approx. 16 billion Thai Baht.

Unfortunately for the Thai government though, most of these sales are tax exempt. Because most of these sales occur in the temples which are exempt from taxes. You can not walk around any market area anywhere in Thailand and not see this amulet for sale. I've seen some of these early amulets bring upward of 25 thousand dollars. U.S. Dollars. Most of the good Jatukarm amulet/good luck charms are not cheap, at least the real ones aren't. Now, I have to warn you. In order for these good luck charms/amulets to work or at least given a chance to work, they should be associated with or made at a Buddhist temple. As is in all cases where there is something being sold of some value, there is always going to be someone copy this item and make a profit. For example; Levi jeans, Rolex watches, Polo shirts, etc. So be extra careful when you purchase one of these amulets/good luck charms. Give your self at least a halfway chance at receiving some of the invoked powers that the monks at the temple chanted into them. The fake ones are just going to be a piece of clay or metal.