June 9 2004

Finding love at the World Trade Centre

The sleazy nightspots of Bangkok aren't the most fertile hunting ground for true love so I'm happy to report that the capital now boasts an alternative venue for lonely hearts on the pull. The Trimurti shrine, nailed to a corner of the World Trade Centre (now confusingly renamed Central World Plaza), has, over the last year, become a popular night time meeting place for hundreds of candle-waving young Thais intent on invoking true love from the triumvirate of Hindu gods - Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu.

Encouraged by stories of people meeting their dream partners shortly after visiting the shrine, most of the hopefuls are young women, aged between 18 and 35. Many claim that the god is especially magical in matching Thai women with foreign mates - a fact that won't be lost on Mango Sauce readers.

Worshippers often exchange success stories. "My friend came here before, praying for her boyfriend to return after they had quarrelled. Shortly afterwards, he came back," says Premikha, 28. She didn't reveal whether her friend's wandering lover buggered off again after he got his end away.

"You know, the holiest hours are at night, especially Thursday night at 9:30pm. The god descends to hear our prayers, and wishes then are likely to come true. Wearing red can also earn you special favouritism from the god," says office worker Premikha, who was sporting a red shirt.

The believers say that wishes should be made as specific as possible. "You need to be very precise and detailed. Even better, you should give the god some time frame in which you want your wish to come true," advised Joy, 27. She recalled her wish to meet her soul mate - whom she described to the god as a Caucasian foreigner who was a non-smoker and teetotaller who wanted to settle down in a legal committed relationship - within the space of three months.

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"Now, I am engaged to a German guy who has all qualities I asked the god for," she said with a smile, showing off the glittering diamond ring on her finger. She was at the shrine again to pay her gratitude to the god with offerings of a variety of fruits and beverages - all red in colour.

Taking Joy's advice, I visited the shrine yesterday and made a specific and detailed request that actress Shu Qi and Playboy model Lena Li should meet me in half an hour outside room 45 of the PB Hotel located just off Sukhumvit Soi 3 - but, unfortunately, my girlfriend needed me to collect her from work so I had to stand them up.

Apparently the phenomenon is based on a religious misunderstanding. Brahmin priest, Phra Raja Kru Wamthepmuni, reckons that few, if any, of these young believers really know, or want to know, anything about Hinduism, its gods or its philosophy. He explained that the shrine is in fact a statue of Panja-phak, a five-headed portrayal of the Hindu gods - none of whom answer to the description of a "god of love" except in the most general sense.

Most Thai worshippers said that they couldn't give a toss. Religious hair-splitting wouldn't be allowed to get in the way of their pressing need to find a gullible non-smoking teetotal farang husband with cash, condo and a late-model Toyota.

Credits

The quotes from this piece come from a Bangkok Post article entitled "Looking for love in all the old places" by Karnjariya Sukrung. It was spotted by Mango Sauce reader Stuart.

Finding love at the World Trade Centre

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