Good Luck and Protection

My first few trips to Thailand were planned around studying Thai massage, and I spent a good bit of time with my teacher, Pichest. He was really the first Thai person whom I came to know, and he remains a mystery to me on many levels. But, one thing he made very clear to me. Thai people believe in the power of things - material things - to change your luck. He had many rituals, some Buddhist, some Animist and some just blendy, which he performed weekly for his students. When we asked why (which we gave up on after awhile), the answer was always "for good luck and protection."



My friend Nong and I were pushing the stroller down a nearby alley on Wednesday and came upon this. I see these little offerings sitting around the city often. I had a pretty good idea what the answer would be, but I went ahead and asked Nong anyway. "So, why DO Thai people leave these things laying around?" "For good luck," she said. Right.

Turns out these small krathong ("boats" made from banana tree pith) are actually little repositories of bad luck which you scoot out of your home and leave in some innocuous location (where the bad luck won't end up sticking to someone else). Bad luck here is tangible. Together with the flowers, lovely foods, and flags, people often put their fingernail clippings or bits of hair. This cements it. Your bad luck will definitely stay with the krathong.

And, the stray dogs get to eat the goodies. Good for your kharma too.