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Decapitated four-headed Phra Phrom statue at the Erawan Shrine. |
A man with a record of mental disorder has just destroyed the sacred Phra Phrom statue of the Erawan Shrine in downtown Bangkok. The famous fourheaded statue of Brahma, adjacent to the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, has been hammered to pieces. It is a big shock to thousands of worshippers, who come to the shrine to seek good fortune. Some people say the destruction of the statue is just the one of many evil omens hovering above the country.
The Thaksin Era, characterised by unfettered capitalism and greedy economic growth, has also been beset by bad omens. They manifest themselves in different forms, symbols and natural disasters. If a leader does not practice virtue and learning is absent among the populace, society will head into a series of crises.
One of the natural disasters in the Thaksin Era manifested itself as a plague destroying the city, or “ha kin muang”. We witnessed Sars and subsequently bird flu. Then water started to flood the world, or nam thuam lok. This manifested itself in the tsunami which killed more than 100,000 people in Thailand and elsewhere around the Indian Ocean.
People are facing greater hardship in their lives, a period characterised by skyrocketing prices for basic necessities (khao yak mak phaeng). Another bad omen is phan din look pen phai (land turns into fire), which has been happening to Thailand’s three southernmost provinces. There, murders take place every day.
And people are also suffering from phan din yaek (cracks in the land), as they take sides in fiercely opposed political opinions. The angel has taken flight from the city. This is reflected in the destruction of the Phra Phrom statue.
During the Ayutthaya period, King Narai the Great (16561688) was believed to be the author of a poetic prophecy about Ayutthaya’s fall. The prophecy, reflected his concern for the Kingdom, recounted sixteen bad omens which would foreshadow the fall of the capital later in 1767.
The following is an excerpt of King Narai’s “Poetic Prophecy” (from Montri Umavijani’s “Facets of Thai Cultural Life”, Bangkok: Kurusapa Business Organisation, 2000):
There would be sixteen bad omens.
Irregular were the moon and stars, earth and sky:
Casualties erupted in the land.
Big clouds burst into flames.
Strange sights were seen everywhere.
The river was boiling hot like birds’ blood.
The earth went mad, while the sky waxed yellow.
The forest spirits invaded the city:
The city spirits fled to the forest.
The tutelary god took his leave;
The evil spirit took his place.
Mother Earth beat her breast and cried.
The god of death burnt his heart out.
This prophecy would certainly come true.
As everything went according to it:
Not being summer, it was very hot.
Not being the windy season, the wind strongly blew.
Not being winter, it was very cold.
Not being the rainy season, it rained.
At every nook and corner,
Accidents took the world over.
The angels who guarded religion
Protected now only bad people.
The honest lost to the dishonest.
Friends killed off their friendships.
Wives betrayed their husbands.
The low supplanted the high.
Pupils rebelled against their teachers.
Seniors were treated as juniors.
The lawful fell out of rights.
The learned fell out of grace.
Bricks floated upward;
While buoyant melons sank.
The noble lost their birthrights
By associating with the low.
The devout lost their faith
By mixing with charlatans.
........
Unholy thoughts were rampant;
The Dharma was quite put out.
The brave parted with courage.
There was a decline in learning.
The rich were deprived of their property.
The good were devoid of compassion.
Ages moved and changed their stations.
Traditions of love went awry.
Fewer crops came out of the earth.
Fruits and roots lost their flavours.
As to medicinal herbs,
They, too, lost their qualities.
Plants and wood that smelled good
Lost their fragrance as well.
Then there was a time of famine:
The land was completely dried up.
Smallpox and massacre erupted.
Ghosts mixed in with people.
In the city and throughout the country,
Evil happenings everywhere.
People felt so lonely,
With confusion in their minds.
Monks and laymen were worried.
Innumerable were evil things.
There were wars and massacres:
People died like ants in the fire.
Waterways dried up as roads.
The city and palaces became a wilderness.
Only beasts of the worst kind
Inhabited the land.
But people and animals
Perished together.
The god of death destroyed the land.
No more war and struggle.
Ayutthaya Kingdom would be lost.
Samrit Klomkliang, who claims he has been a longtime personal astrologer for Thaksin's family, said the destruction of the statue was a sign that there would be bloodshed in Thailand if the prime minister doesn’t quit before March 29.
But blood has already been shed. A protestor from Nakhon Si Thammarat, Rerng Ketkaew, slashed his finger to draw blood in front of Government House and call for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s resignation. Thanakorn Pakdeepol, the 27yearold man who destroyed the Phra Phrom statue, was killed near the Erawan Shrine after committing this most unnatural act. His blood spread on the pavement.
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