Report: The Transnational Trade of Thai Buddhist Amulets in China and Hong Kong

This report examines the transnational trade of Thai Buddhist amulets in Hong Kong and mainland China as both a commercial market and a process of religious translation. Drawing on interviews with temple volunteers, collectors, vendors, and scholars, as well as observations of Chinese-language online marketplaces and social media platforms, it explores how Thai amulets become meaningful and desirable to Chinese-speaking consumers. Their value, it argues, lies not simply in their circulation as objects, but in the translation of Thai religious narratives and claims of efficacy into Chinese idioms of protection, wealth, attraction, and auspicious power.