Power of Thai amulets lures foreign tourists to Phitsanulok
Thai amulets have proved a big hit among Chinese and Taiwanese tourists visiting a historic temple in Phitsanulok province.
Around two dozen Chinese and Taiwanese tourists attended a religious ceremony at the Sukhothai-era Wat Ratchaburana in Muang district on Tuesday along with local devotees.
The ceremony was led by revered Buddhist monks from several temples in the province, who recited prayers over 100 amulets of Brahma and Buddha.
Temple staff said the foreign visitors were mostly young businesspeople who love to take back sacred amulets to their homeland to pray for good fortune.
In return for the amulets, the Chinese and Taiwanese visitors offered scholarships to 90 novice monks from Satit Buddha Chinaraj School for Monks in Phitsanulok. Thai devotees who joined the ceremony donated 4 tonnes of rice to the school.
The school said it will divide the rice into three portions: 2 tonnes will provide school lunches for novice monks, one tonne will be donated to Phitsanulok Psychiatric Hospital, and one tonne will be offered to Wangthong Home for the Destitute.
Around 300,000 Chinese tourists will visit Thailand in the first quarter, with at least 5 million expected over the whole year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). It expects Chinese travellers to push up the number of foreign tourists arriving in Thailand in 2023 to at least 25 million.
The TAT has also made spiritual tourism a feature of its campaigns to lure visitors this year.
