On June 9, Orient Thai Airlines will conduct a ritual to anoint the popular talismans at altitude.

Airline chief Udom Tantiprasongchai said the ritual would be held in the cabin of Orient Thai's new MD-82 aircraft en route from Bangkok to Nakhon Si Thammarat.

According to popular belief, the higher the annointment ritual takes place, the more the Holy Spirit will be drawn to the talismans.

The expected one million baht from sales of the sky-high editions of the Jatukam amulets will go to charities repairing schools burned down by insurgents in the southern province of Pattani.

The catalogue magazine, Friday, produced by the same company that sells Mistine cosmetics, recently included a number of Jatukam amulets on its stocklist. Friday offers items ranging from household goods to toys, from supplementary foods to lingerie.

Friday also offers 10 Jatukam editions with prices ranging from Bt199 to Bt599 depending on the texture and the materials used in the casting.

So far the company has enjoyed brisk orders for the amulets. Of the Bt150 million in orders that the Friday catalogue receives each month, Jatukam amulets already account for 5 to 6 per cent of the total.

The catalogue would appear to be good news for Jatukam collectors who don't want to go through the stampede to get one of these tremendously popular talismans.

Kwanchai@nationgroup.com