Thais Place Dreams, Hopes at Revered Bangkok Shrine

On a noisy street corner in central Bangkok, Jarassri Jaideang kneels to place lotus buds before the image of a Hindu god she says found her a job.

Every day, hundreds of Thais pray for money, love and health at the Erawan Shrine, one of the most revered sites of worship in this Buddhist nation. Hundreds more give thanks after having their prayers answered.

‘Shrine Saved My Life’

“You can say the shrine saved my life,” said Jarassri, 28, who came to Bangkok from the far northern town of Chiang Rai 10 months ago in search of work.

Like many migrants to the capital, Jarassri found life in Bangkok harsher than she had expected. She spent six months looking for full-time work, worrying that she would have to return to her family’s grocery in Chiang Rai.

Four months ago she went to the shrine on a friend’s recommendation. Several weeks later she found a job in a small sewing shop, earning $80 a month.

The shrine was built in 1956 after a series of accidents during construction of the Erawan Hotel. “Spirit doctors” had a four-faced statue of the Hindu deity Brahma erected in a corner of the site and the hotel was completed without further delay.

The hotel has since been torn down and a modern one is being built on the spot. But the shrine will remain, hearing prayers for good school grades, bumper harvests, lucrative business deals, good health and lost possessions such as books and car keys.

Worship takes concentration. Traditional Thai music and clouds of incense compete with the roar and fumes of traffic. As cars speed past the corner, drivers often let go of the steering wheel to raise their hands in a quick prayer.

Married couples visit the shrine to ask for children. Love, in various forms, is a major topic.

“We came to ask for a happy married life and all the good things it can bring,” said nurse Noi Chinearap, 21, clutching the hand of the man she married a little less than a year ago.

“I go every week before I start work to ask for generous men,” said Nida Chaichum, 18, who said she worked in a bar in a red-light district.

Nida, who came to Bangkok five months ago from a village 400 miles to the north, earns $100 a month dancing in a bikini and talking to foreign tourists at the club. If the men are generous, she said, she can earn an extra $20 for staying a night with them.

Worshipers at the shrine offer flowers, fruit, incense, money and small wooden elephants. They also hire traditional dancers to perform before the Brahma and gradually cover elephant statues in gold leaf.

Hindu beliefs filtered into Thailand from India before the advent of Buddhism more than 2,500 years ago. Erawan was a 33-headed elephant in Hindu mythology.

The shrine’s fame has spread through the Chinese societies of Asia, and many supplicants come from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

Not all of the worshipers are convinced of the shrine’s power, however.

‘I’d Be Foolish’

“I think there’s a 50-50 chance that this will do any good, but as long as there’s a chance I’d be foolish not to take it,” said Nopphadol Viwatkamolwat, a 19-year-old university student who asked for success in examinations.

The shrine has failed some people. Thirayuth Charoenphaisal, 34, a machine operator, asked Brahma four years ago to help him buy a house, after which he would look for a wife.

The house cost $20,000 and Thirayuth had scraped together only $8,000. He hoped to win the rest in the government lottery, and spent 10% of his monthly salary on tickets.

Thirayuth did not win and still has not married.