Four weeks ago when I went to the UK it seemed that every man, woman & child had put their faith in the Jatukarn/Ramathep fad. Big, chunky amulets were to be seen on a large percentage of the population.

I came back this week and I would say the numbers sporting this spiritual fashion must have seems to have dropped off by about 90%. Anyone else notice this?

So what happened? I saw in the paper a monk ridiculing the idea of wearing the things and that wealth comes from hard work. He also reiterated that the amulets were opposed to the teachings of the Buddha. He was selling ramathep biscuits I believe.

So has the fad, like Mr Roti, been cassed aside. And does anyone else think its a bit strange that spiritual belief is like a fashion, ie last years news!?

Behind the counter at a 7-11 yesterday they had those amulets in vacuum packed plastic between the scotch the toilet paper, and shampoo. They must be the four revered ingredients required for a lucky evening.

People here were wearing them for a few months but now, come to think of it, I rarely see any of those big round amulets any longer and at 3k Baht each from the temples they were not cheap.