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100% Authentic Thai Buddhist Amulets - How to Know? A Guide.
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Authentic Thai Amulets or Fake?

This is an information page we use to show EBay and other buyers that we are selling real, sacred and blessed amulets in our auctions and at this ThaiPulse web site.

My wife is a lovely Thai girl from Sisaket, Thailand in the northeast countryside and we have been given, and have collected over the past few years many Buddhist amulets of various types. We have sold nearly all our old amulets and now we sell new ones from Wat Tum Sua in Krabi, Thailand. These are all guaranteed authentic.

We wanted to give you as much information on this page as possible to help you decide, is your amulet genuine and 100% authentic, or is it a fake, Thais' call fake amulets, "Blawm" and they are as worthless here as they are in your hands in America, Europe, Australia or wherever you happen to be.

How does one tell real amulets in an Ebay auction?

As I said, it is impossible to tell 100% if the amulet is genuine. One must trust that the seller is selling genuine articles. If you are a frequent buyer of sacred Thai amulets you need to align yourself with a seller or sellers that you trust and that consistently give you great amulets. Here are some ways you that will help you make the decision about whether the amulets are genuine or fake.

About the Ebay Sellers with Thai Amulets for Sale:

Is the seller located in Thailand?  How can you know this? 
Ask the seller to send a photo by email of the amulet he/she is selling in front of the daily "Bangkok Post" newspaper or "The Nation" newspaper. Then you will know... Ask the seller to send you photos of Thailand that he took over the years. Doesn't he have any? Can't he explain what the photos are of?   EVERYONE takes photos here - Thailand is the most beautiful place I've ever seen in the world... everyone would have photos. You can see our www.thaipulse.com web site to see our photos and videos. We are very real sellers here. My wife is Thai and I am an American. I have been in Thailand for almost 4 years and I hope to stay for a very long time.  

Does the seller have the items, or is the entire auction a scam? 
Again, the technique of getting a picture of a newspaper or something at the wat will work well.

Does the seller add historical information about the amulet?
Where did the amulet come from (city)? What temple is the amulet from?  What monk is featured? Thai people will never purchase an amulet that they don't know the history about. Even if the seller bought the item in Thailand he would know the history. If he doesn't, be suspect!

Does the seller have good feedback? 
This can be a trick, so watch this carefully. Ebay sellers can build up a username with great feedback by selling and buying very cheap items - 50cents or less - maybe hundreds of them to build up their feedback rating. They then list $20,000 worth of amulets, mobile phones, notebook computers, or other expensive items and have them all end on the same day. They take the money and run.

It is possible to BUY an Ebay username as well - and some people make big money doing this - they sell an Ebay username for $500-1000 usd which is then later used to run up a huge group of auctions that they don't plan on sending items for - just collecting the cash. Don't be a victim! Be careful buying high dollar items over $300 USD or whatever you can't afford to lose.

About Sellers of New Amulets (less than 100 years old):

1. Does the seller have the city of origination listed? The wat?
If new and authentic he will know the amulet's origin and other specifics and write it in the auction ad.

2. The only newer amulets that have very high value are the Jatukam amulets and exclusive production runs.
Update - Jatukam (Jatukum) amulets are defunct. Nobody buys them in Thailand. Their value has plummeted to nothing. Shop owners are throwing them out by the tens of thousands as worthless. Unfortunately they were just a fad and were doomed from the time all temples started making them. Many temples have gone into debt to create them - and are trying to climb back out of the hole they dug by creating them en masse.

About Old Amulets (100+ years old):
There are Thai jewelers here that are going against their religion and building up a lot of bad karma by faking the age of their amulets by brushing them with dirt, sand, rust shavings, other metals, and using other techniques.  Some things to look for with old amulets...

1. Does the amulet smell strongly of the material it is made from? 
Amulets lose their smell over time. One exception to this is some Lek Lai amulets which still have a smell even after many years. One way to tell the authenticity of an OLD amulet is to see if it smells strongly. With the exception of the Lek-lai amulets, Buddhist amulets typically do not smell much if they are ancient. The smell has worn away.

2. Are there mold marks on the old amulet?
If you check the sides - not the front and the back - you may see a seal from where the mold closed together. Molds were not used much before 100 years ago and if an auction seller is telling you the item is over 400 years old and you can plainly see mold creases - you are likely being sold a fake item. There ARE exceptions to this as sometimes monks would put two halves together. If this is the case you will see a very obvious and uneven crease in where the two halves have been joined. Look for a very small crease that is straight and seems to be from two halves being pressed together that signifies a recently made Thai amulet.

3. Old amulets that are genuine will probably NOT be found for under $50 USD, regardless of size. Why would a seller sell them for under their cost here in Thailand. Logically it doesn't make sense, and cannot be. Newer amulets under 50 years can sometimes be found for as low as $30. Sometimes here on this site we have specials at this rate because we have hundreds of amulets that we should really share with the rest of the world. We feel like we're being selfish by keeping them.

4. Old amulets are imperfect.
Over 100 years ago nobody was thinking about preserving the item in plastic, glass or other cases. The VERY old amulets over 100 years are imperfect, and that is part of their charm and proves that they are original. If someone is telling you that a perfect amulet is over 100 years old I would be pretty skeptical. It's possible, but maybe 2% of all amulets over 100 years old are in perfect shape because they were never exposed to the elements of heat, sunlight, and Thailand's very humid air.

5. Is the amulet original and one of a kind? 
Typically the very old amulets are absolutely unique and original. You will likely not find two OLD amulets of the exact same type, size, colors, materials, etc. If you do, be skeptical. You can search EBays past listings in the "advanced search" function. If a seller is selling multiple items that are the same - they are fake - I'm 100% sure. I have found amulets in Chinese stores in Ubon Ratchathani for 2 baht each (8 cents USD). They are the shiny metal and dulled metal - some designed to look old. It can be hard for you to decide by a picture on Ebay, however, if the seller is selling the same type amulet again after his present auction - they are fake and he is getting them for 5 cents to 20 cents per amulet! Are they worth the $10 - $30 you're buying them for?

6. Is the seller representing the amulet's case as being more than 100 years old?
Prior to 100 years ago or so amulets were sometimes wrapped in a silver, gold or other metal encasement that just outlines the edge of the amulet and protects it from breaking pieces off when brushed up against things during normal wear. There were no plastic or glass cases that are much older than 100 years. Trust me. Most serious collectors here don't like to put old amulets into new cases. It's just not 'right'. However, those amulets that are over 200 years old unless they are brass, copper, silver, gold or nickel need something to protect them - a new case or old antique case, up to you.

Recently there has been a massive interest in the round-shaped Jatukam type Amulets. These are new amulets, do not let anyone tell you that they are ancient, they are not. The Jatukam amulets have not been made before 2004. That said, there are still some Jatukam amulets that Thai people believe will bring them good fortune. Some being sold outside of Thailand are genuine and some are not. We cannot tell you which ones to purchase as one must know the history of the amulet in order to call it genuine.  However, there are clues you can look for that will show you if it is a fake (Thais' say, 'blawm'). Use this guide to spot fake Buddhist Thai amulets.

It's nearly impossible to prove that an amulet is genuine unless you know the history of it.  However, you can spot most fake amulets rather easily.

This is why we don't sell any Jatukam amulets.

1. They're a passing fad. They seem to have run their course here in Thailand and they are being deeply discounted. What was 10,000 baht 3 months ago is now 1500 baht. What was 1500 baht is 200 baht. There was an overproduction of supply and not enough buyers. It's a buyers market now! (Dec 2007).

2. Real Jatukums with any worth are very expensive. There aren't that many buyers from the USA and Europe that understand how expensive the real authentic Jatukams are, and so they buy the cheap ones for $20 USD.  We cannot even buy them here in Thailand at the temple where they create them and bless them for that little!  It just doesn't make sense for us to sell them right now. Maybe in the future something will change?

3. Jatukum started only in the last couple years. There were limited instances of good luck coming to wearers of amulets. The Thais' blew it out of proportion. Now every major temple makes them and nobody is buying them anymore, realizing they were just a fad.

3. Metal amulets. These can be produced by amateurs with a mold for the amulet. All of our newer metal amulets come directly from the temple and we have photos, videos, stickers, or if you like we can get a photo of a monk holding the amulet you buy. There are thousands of fake amulets on the market. Trust in the person you buy from is essential. If you don't care about authenticity go to eBay and buy amulets for $3-10. I've seen some as high as $200. There appear to be few reputable dealers on Ebay.

If you have any question at all, please write us at: trythaifood [a-t] gmail dotcom
and we will answer anything to the best of our ability.

Jatukam Sacred Amulet press

Abbot of Wat Tum Sua in Krabi, Thailand presses
some sacred Thai amulets that will sell
 for 50,000 Thai baht each (about $1500 USD).

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