Phra Phrom , the Thai representation of Brahma the Hindu God of creation resides in Erawan Shrine.
The official name of Erawan Shrine is Thao Maha Phrom Shrine which translates into English as Shrine of Lord Brahma the Great.
This a religious shrine where Thai people come to express their faith for one of their Gods, it’s also a place for curious tourists to take a look at, as long as you do it respectfully.
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Basic Information
- It was built in 1956 as part of the Erawan Hotel
- It was built to eliminate bad Karma around the Hotel premises
- The Brahma statue was built by the Department of Fine Arts of Thailand
- Erawan Hotel was demolished and the Grand Hyatt was built in its place
- Entry fee: None
- Closest BTS station: Chitlom
When it comes to religion Thai people are really intense and cannot stand seeing the figures of their Gods disrespected or worst destroyed.
The Erawan Shrine Vandalism and Death
It was an early morning of March 21st of 2006 when a man, Thanakorn Pakdeepol, destroyed the statue, he grabbed a hammer and broke the statue into pieces.
And just like the statue, his life encountered the same fate, destruction. Thanakorn was beaten to death by bystanders that watched the whole ordeal take place.
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Why did Thanakorn destroy the statue? At first, people thought, due to some Arabic tattoos on Thanakorn’s body, that there was involvement from Muslim extremists
Later it the police proved that such a horrible action was simply the act of a mentally ill person.
A new statue was built and placed in Erawan Shrine on May 21st, 2006.
Erawan Shrine Bombing of 2015
Another unfortunate event taking place in a shrine that’s supposed to be a place of prayers and faith.
It was the evening of August 17th, 2015, at 06:55 pm, when a device made of 3 Kg of TNT inside a backpack exploded Killing 20 people and injuring 125
Among the dead, Thais, Malaysians, Chinese, Singaporeans, Hong Kongese and Indonesians
The Thai police arrested two suspects, one of them confessing to being the bomber. People believe the bombing was a retaliation attack because Thailand deported some Uyghur terrorist to China, instead of letting them go to Turkey to look for asylum.
The investigation never finished, which has made people come up with different theories, including government involvement.
What is Visiting Erawan Shrine Like?
At the beginning of this post, I put a video I made that gives you a good look of what visiting Erawan Shrine looks like.
When you visit, it will be full of locals and some tourists. You’ll see people on their knees around the statue praying to the God of creation and placing yellow flowers on the surroundings of the statue.
There will be yellow flowers all over the place. People put so many around the statue that the staff has to almost immediately remove them.
You’ll also see some elephant statues on the sides of the Shrine premises.
At the back, a group of Thai dancers and musicians playing traditional music and dancing for the one and only God of creation.
People line up to kneel right in front of the dancer facing Phra Phrom and saying a prayer.
Is Visiting Erawan Shrine Worth It?
Totally, plus it’s not gonna take you long to get there and hang out for 20 to 30 minutes. The shrine is located walking distance from Chitlom station and there are 2 malls nearby.
If you’re staying in the Intercontinental Hotel all you have to do is cross the street and you’ll get there.
If you happen to visit Erawan Shrine during Songkran, you’ll even find a whole street food set up nearby.
It’ll be right in front of Amarin Plaza.