Tips for Buying a Genuine Thai Amulet

Purchasing an authentic and blessed Thai amulet from an online website is a bit tricky. How would you know which Thai amulets are genuine and which are fake? Can you really tell if the amulet you are seeing on a Thai website is real? Are there any tips you can follow to increase your chances of success?

Here are some tips you can use to help you figure out if the Thai amulet you’re about to buy is an original from a Theravada Buddhist temple in Thailand, or a fake that’s worth a couple of cents because they’re made and sold in bulk.

Thai Amulet Buying Tips: What Doesn’t Work:

• Photos. Not only can the photos be faked, but having lived here in Thailand for five years, I can tell you that when I look at charms just half an inch from their surface with a jeweler’s loupe, it is often impossible for me to tell if the charm is what it is. I’m seeing is it a copy or real. Photos are useless when it comes to assessing the value of the amulet being depicted.
• The materials from which the amulet is made do not make any difference in relation to whether or not it is a fake amulet. Gold, silver, brass, copper, bronze, clay, plastic, wood, stainless steel, pewter, pewter, bone, ivory—I think I’ve seen amulets made of every kind of material on the planet. Each one of them they can be easily counterfeited.

The problem is that faking the authenticity of the Thai amulet is an easy and profitable feat. Very few experts can distinguish each fake amulet, so other criteria must be taken into account when evaluating a fraudulent authenticity claim. The following are soft criteria that you can use as advice to help you decide whether or not the seller is authentic. These have more to do with getting to know the seller than any kind of analysis of the truth of the charms he or she is selling.

• Does the seller reside in Thailand? The seller of authentic Thai amulets is almost certainly still living in Thailand. He can almost immediately rule out anyone who is not physically residing in Thailand at the moment. If his charms aren’t shipped from Thailand, there’s an even higher chance that he’s not getting genuine items.
• Is the seller of the charms selling hype or does it seem like the seller is just listing the charms so that others can share their beauty by purchasing them? Thai charm sellers are often in business for a couple of simple and sincere reasons. The first reason is that they are Buddhists and want to share the amulets with other Buddhists around the world. The amulets do not command a high price tag, more than $100 USD, and there are no outrageous claims about the magical powers of the amulets.
• Is the salesperson trying to sell you emotions? I mean, is the Thai amulet seller trying to get you really excited about having to buy this amulet to make you happy or to get a fortune of good luck? Exaggeration in all its forms is often contrary to how well-intentioned and genuine Buddhist amulet sellers present themselves.

There are many Thai charms being sold every day online. A very high percentage of these charms are non-original charms and generally worthless. I have found bronze and copper charms for 4 cents each in bags of 500 pieces in Chinese stores in Thailand that I have later seen sell for $19.95 on Ebay. Are you also buying four hundred amulets for 500 times their value?

Find a Thai charm vendor that doesn’t sell with fanfare. Find one who physically resides in Thailand and can take photos of an amulet you want to buy along with today’s Bangkok Post or The Nation to prove to you that the amulet actually exists. Order an inexpensive charm or two as a test before spending over a hundred dollars on a large order. Can you deliver? What is the quality of the Thai amulet that the seller sells?

Thai charm fraud is rampant. Don’t be fooled by your hard earned money. Use the link in the author’s signature paragraph to find our Thai charm shop and buy something small. See if the quality is what you need. Then buy other charms. This is a great way to build a relationship with a Thai amulet vendor selling 100% guaranteed authentic Buddhist amulets from Thailand.