Thursday, March 23, 2006

How not to use a hammer in Bangkok

Smashing idols may be hazardous to your karma:

Worshippers at a famous shrine in an upmarket shopping district of Bangkok beat a 27-year-old man to death yesterday after he destroyed a statue of a Hindu deity with a hammer.

Thanakorn Pakdeepol, who police said had a history of mental illness, was killed by worshippers after he broke into the Erawan shrine and used a hammer to shatter a four-headed statue of Brahma.

The shrine, covered in gilt, is popular with tourists and with Thais, with thousands visiting every day to seek favours and good fortune.

I'm wondering whether Pakdeepol was snuffed out in pretty much the same way he killed the statue because of the desecration or because he dealt a mighty blow to the community's tourism industry.

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