Panya Ruengsawang (left), owner of a Jatukham amulet shop in Phuket City, discusses amulets with a customer.
PHUKET City: Jatukham Ramathep amulets and shops that sell them seem to be springing up all over Phuket, reflecting the hope that springs eternal among their devotees.
The amulets, priced from 50 baht to several hundred thousand baht, have become the latest craze – not just in Phuket but across the country and even abroad.
Nationwide, the business was estimated to be worth 20 billion baht in 2006, according to research by Kasikorn Research Center.
Shops selling the Jatukham amulets have been operating in Phuket for more than a decade, but it is only in the past several months that the number and visibility of these shops has skyrocketed, following a spate of media reports about the amulets.
In the past two or three months alone, between 10 and 20 new amulet shops and stalls have opened across Phuket, said Panya Ruengsawang, owner of one of the oldest Jatukham shops in Phuket City, on Rassada Rd near the Suriyadet Circle.
He estimates that about one million baht exchanges hands every day in Phuket’s Jatukham trade.
“When I started my shop in 1993 there were no more than three amulet shops in Phuket to serve amulet lovers. However, in the past year Phuket has seen at least 10 new shops. During the most recent Jatukham boom over the past two or three months, another 10 to 20 amulet shops have opened,” said K. Panya, 55.
Originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat, the amulets are believed to bring good luck and business prosperity, which is why younger people and business owners are buying them, K. Panya said.
“It used to be that our customers were mostly older folks, but now we have more working men and women, along with teenagers, buying amulets. The local interest in Jatukham amulets has definitely been brought on by the national craze,” he said.
“We also have a lot of international business owners who want to take the Jatukham amulets home with them, so they are buying amulets as well. The prices are going up so quickly that sometimes I reserve a top amulet for about 100,000 baht, but before I can even put it in the customers hands the price goes up to 300,000 baht.
“The most sought-after type of Jatukham are of the original Jatukham Hluk Mueng series, produced at Wat Mahatat in 1987. Prices for these generally start at 400,000 to 500,000 per amulet because they are so difficult to find now. The Jatukham Kod Sed Thee (Megarich) is also very popular, especially in Singapore and neighboring countries. Those can fetch between 60,000 and 80,000 baht each.”
The boom in amulet shops in Phuket is helping K Panya’s shop. Although there are fewer customers, they are buying more expensive amulets.
“I don’t have as many customers as I used to because there are so many shops to choose from now,” he said. “I used to turn a profit of 800 to 2,000 baht per day, but since the Jatukham boom started three months ago, my profit jumped to 4,000 to 6,000 baht per day. Some shops have more than 10,000 baht per day profit.”
K. Panya said that he expects the prices, and profits, from Jatukham amulets to continue to increase in Phuket, especially if more miracles are attributed to them in the media.
With so may people getting in on the Jatukham bandwagon, perhaps it should come as little surprise that the government is seeking for ways to get its share of the spoils.
In late April, Revenue Department Director-General Sanit Rangnoi said the department was sending officials to check the estimated income from Jatukham transactions and was considering whether to tax enterprises related to the soaring sales of the amulets.
“There is a tremendous amount of money floating around in the amulet market. If the production of the talismans is for commercial purposes, it should be taxed. If the production is done purely out of faith, it may be exempt,” he said.
Thus far there has been no announcement that the Revenue Department was planning to move forward with the tax.
By Sompratch Saowadhon
http://www.phuketgazette.com/thirdweek/business.asp
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