Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [528]
NAKHON SI THAMMARAT
pop 118,100
The bustling city of Nakhon Si Thammarat (usually shortened to ‘Nakhon’) won’t win any beauty pageants. However, travellers who stop in this historic town will enjoy a decidedly cultural experience amid some of the most important wát in the kingdom. Hundreds of years ago, an overland route between the western port of Trang and eastern port of Nakhon Si Thammarat functioned as a major trade link between Thailand and the rest of the world. This ancient influx of cosmopolitan conceits is still palpable today, and can be found in the recipes of local cuisine, or housed in the city’s temples and museums.
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JATUKHAM RAMMATHEP
If you’ve spent more than 24 hours in Thailand, then you’ve probably seen a Jatukham Rammathep dangling around someone’s neck – these round amulets are everywhere.
The bearers of the Jatukham Rammathep are supposed to have good fortune and protection from any harm. The origin of the amulet’s name remains a mystery, although a popular theory suggests that Jatukham and Rammathep were the aliases of two Srivajaya princes who buried relics under Nakhon’s Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihaan (opposite) some 1000 years ago.
A notorious Thai police detective first wore the precious icon, and firmly believed that the guardian spirits helped him solve a particularly difficult murder case. He tried to popularise the amulet, but it wasn’t a market success until his death in 2006. Thousands of people attended his funeral including the crown prince, and the Jatukham Rammathep took off.
The talismans are commissioned at the Mahathat temple, and in the last several years, southern Thailand has seen an incredible economic boom. The first amulet was sold in 1987 for 39B, and today, over 100 million baht are spent on the town’s amulets every week. The desire for these round icons has become so frenzied that a woman was crushed to death on the temple grounds during a widely publicised discount sale (she was not wearing her talisman).
Everyday, trucks drive along Nakhon’s main roads blaring loud music to promote new shipments. These thumping beats have started to shake the ground beneath the temple, and the repeated hammering has, in an ironic metaphor, bent the main spire of Mahathat.
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Orientation
Most of Nakhon’s commercial activity (hotels, banks and restaurants) takes place in the northern part of the downtown. South of the clock tower, visitors will find the city’s historic quarter with the oft-visited Wat Mahatat. Th Ratchadamnoen is the main thoroughfare and is loaded with cheap srng·ta·ou heading in both directions.
Information
Several banks and ATMs hug Th Ratchadamnoen in the northern end of the downtown. There is an English-language bookstore on the third floor of Robinson Ocean shopping mall.
Bovorn Bazaar (Th Ratchadamnoen) A mall housing a few internet cafes.
Police station (1155; Th Ratchadamnoen) Opposite the post office.
Post office (Th Ratchadamnoen; 8.30am-4.30pm)
TAT office (0 7534 6515) Housed in a 1926-vintage building in the northern end of the Sanam Na Meuang (City Park). Has some useful brochures in English. The local One Tambon One Product (OTOP) is just a block away on the west side of Sanam Na Meuang Park.
Sights
The most important wát in southern Thailand, Wat Phra Mahathat Woramahawihaan (simply known as Mahathat) is a stunning campus boasting 77 chedi (stupa) and an imposing 77m chedi crowned by a gold spire. According to legend, Queen Hem Chala and Prince Thanakuman brought relics to Nakhon over 1000 years ago, and built a small pagoda to house the precious icons. The temple has since grown into a rambling site, and today, crowds gather daily to purchase the popular Jatukham amulets (see boxed text, opposite). Mahathat’s resident monks live across the street at Wat Na Phra Boromathat.
When the Tampaling (also known as Tambralinga) kingdom