Thanon Maharat and the Amulet Market

After I went to Wat Arun last Sunday, I decided to go back to the amulet market. The last time I was there it was at the end of the long, hot day and I just didn’t have the energy to really look at the amulets. But, I was actually more interested in the market itself. People just seem to set up a table or a cart on a little bit of the sidewalk and open up a business. And the street that leads to the amulet market – Thanon Maharat – is a perfect example. So I decided to document my walk up Thanon Maharat to the amulet market. Of course, I didn’t take a picture of every little shop along the way but these should give you an idea of what’s for sale on so many of the streets in Bangkok. Even after almost four months here, I am still stunned every day by the amount of “street life” here. Ready? Here we go.

This woman is selling lottery tickets, though it appears to be a “home-grown” lottery not the one run by the state. The price of the ticket depends on the numbers you pick, since some numbers are considered luckier than others.

This woman is making flower garlands that people will buy and put on altars when they “make merit.”

But there is some competition in the flower department, since these two were a few spaces down and cleverly positioned in front of a 7-11. Location, location, location.

This woman just amazed me. She was jammed in there, in this tiny little space between two tables and a tree, selling bags of vegetables. I can’t imagine how she planned to spend the entire day like that.

And if all your shopping has made you hungry, there are lots of places to have a quick lunch. Just pull up a plastic stool and dig in.

This guy was selling skewers of “meat balls.” Thais love these – either grilled on skewers like this or boiled and served in soup or with noodles. Personally, I find them nasty. The meat is usually ground fish or pork, mixed with a lot of flour. But you have to give this guy points for cleanliness – those pans are spotless. And he did have squid on a skewer. Don’t see that every day.


This guy is making desserts – very thin crepes with a cream filling, that he then rolls and serves on a stick.

This guy was also making similar desserts, only he had diversified and was also making “khamom buang.” Those are the desserts that look like tacos. The ingredients are the same but they’re folded, not rolled.

So, after all that streetside commerce, I finally rounded the corner and made it to the amulet market. It’s the same idea – lots of tables set up on the sidewalk. But the only items for sale are amulets – small images of the Buddha. Some are made of metal, some of wood, and some of stone. Since my first trip to the amulet market, I asked both Tewtip and Noon (my Thai instructor) about the amulets. The background is that amulets can cost as little as 10 baht or as much as several million baht. What makes an amulet extremely valuable is if it is a “first edition,” meaning that it contains some remnant of a service at a temple – wax from a candle, ash from a joss stick, or a bit of hair from a monk. And you do see buyers with small magnifying glasses scrutinizing the amulets, in search of a remnant that would make that amulet so valuable. Of course, the chances of a million-baht amulet turning up on a card table on a random side street in Bangkok are pretty slim, but you can always hope, I guess.