Bomb no deterrent for Chinese visitors
Print Edition
TWO weeks on from the Bangkok bombing, the shrine devastated by the attack has lost none of its attraction for ethnic Chinese devotees who have long flocked there hoping their prayers will be answered.
The statue of Hinduism’s four-faced god Brahma is currently shrouded on all sides by a white sheet as workmen restore damage caused by shrapnel from the bomb blast which struck on a busy Monday evening a fortnight ago.
The attack killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese from across Asia.
However, Shen Lin, a tourist from south China’s Guangdong Province, said the attack would not stop him coming to a place he visits every time he passes through the Thai capital.
“People pray for wealth, and some pray to give birth to a boy,” he told reporters as devotees held incense sticks and placed marigolds around the shrine.
Chen Bingbing, a 26-year-old designer from China’s mainland, said her family were anxious about her going to Bangkok. “But I think it’s OK,” she said. “After it happened, they increased security here. And I think each person has his or her own destiny, so I don’t worry too much.”
The Erawan Shrine was built in 1956 to appease superstitious construction workers after a series of workplace mishaps.
It is beloved by locals in a country where the majority Buddhist faith has long absorbed Hinduism’s traditions. But in recent years ethnic Chinese devotees have also flocked to the shrine, partially fueled by celebrities who say the shrine granted them good fortune.
The shrine is so popular with Chinese people that many of the attendants who sweep away the marigolds and incense sticks speak Mandarin and Cantonese.
Chinese worshippers at the shrine said they did not believe they had been singled out. “It’s just a rumor,” said Wu Kun, a mainland tourist.
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