What if the amulet bubble bursts...?
Jatukarms, sacred art objects or speculative assets?
By Jon Fernquest[Vocabulary|Reading Questions]
 |
This year's Jatukarm craze may end up becoming a speculative bubble much like speculative bubbles in real estate and the stock market.
Typically, in a speculative bubble prices start out normal but are soon driven higher and higher by dreams of ever higher prices and future profits.
Like a soap bubble, a speculative bubble gets larger and larger as you blow air (your money) into it until it finally bursts (you lose your money).
The initial price of Jatukarm amulets usually ranged from 200 to 1000 baht.
They were originally bought for their value as sacred religious objects with supernatural powers.
People also began to appreciate the aesthetics of the amulets, seeing them as beautiful works of art and sometimes as stylish jewelry.
Some people even wore two amulets at once, one on the front and one on the back, for extra power and style.
|
Prices of many amulets rose sharply depending on factors such as the age of the amulet, authenticity, materials used in production, as well as the reputation of the producer.
People quit their job, invested their life savings in an inventory of Jatukarms, and set up shop, some with a small shop by the side of the road, others in modern air-conditioned shopping malls. Some even founded Jatukarm companies with large marketing budgets.
Jatukarm amulets eventually became so popular that you could buy them at 7-11 or bookstore chains in shrinked-wrapped packages.
Jatukarm production costs have always been low compared to the costs of marketing needed to promote a new line of amulets and make them popular.
Nielsen Media Research reports that advertising expenditures in their "sacred objects" category jumped to 465.78 million baht for the first seven months of this year from 69.35 last year.
Advertising expenditures for this growing category were 14 times higher this July than last July.
The heavy influx of traders into the amulet sector seeking a livelihood and the promise of getting rich quick led eventually to oversupply and falling amulet prices.
Becoming a mass-market commodity so quickly might have been the undoing of the Jatukarm.
Now that demand for Jatukarm amulets has dropped drastically many vendors are selling off their stock at bargain prices.
The Jatukarm amulet market has become a buyers' market unlike the market for more traditional Buddha amulets which has always been a sellers' market.
In the end, all the supernatural powers and beauty of the Jatukarm will probably still be there.
The amulet probably just won't be worth as much.
(Top Photo: Blood donor receives Jatukarm amulet as gift, Bottom Photo: A group of concerned Jatukarm collectors read about false Jatukarm advertising)
(Based on Bangkok Post articles: "Jatukarm...what goes up...", page 14, 15-08-07; and "Jatukarm good news for papers," B1, 10-08-07)
Reading Questions
Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):Comprehension Questions
1. What kinds of markets are speculative bubbles commonly found in?
2. What drives prices higher in a speculative bubble?
3. What was the original reason why people bought Jatukarm amulets?
4. What features increased the value of Jatukarm amulets?
5. Where can you buy Jatukarm amulets?
6. How important is marketing in the market for Jatukarm amulets?
7. What has happened recently to the Jatukarm amulet market? Why?
Open Ended Discussion Questions
1. Do you like Jatukarms?
2. What do you like about Jatukarms?
3. Would you consider buying and wearing a Jatukarm?
4. What about more traditional Buddha amulets, did you ever wear them?
5. Do you have any friends or family who wear Jatukarm?
6. Do you like the smaller or larger models of Jatukarm?
7. What kind of case and chain would you like for your Jatukarm?
8. Do you think Jatukarms have supernatural powers?
9. If so, what kind of supernatural powers do they have?
10. What kinds of supernatural powers would you like your Jatukarm to have?
Vocabulary (in discussion above)
an amulet - an object that protects a person from trouble, usually worn around the neck on a chain
Jatukarm amulets - the popular amulet that large numbers of people are wearing around their neck nowadays
a craze - very popular for a very short time, a fad
a speculative bubble - when prices of assets rise far above what they are actually worth
sacred - holy, believed to have a special connection with god or the supernatural
sacred religious objects - objects such as a Buddha image or a cross that have special meaning in a religion like Buddhism or Christianity
supernatural powers - forces that people believe in that are beyond scientific laws
aesthetics - beauty or art-value
aesthetics, aesthetic appreciation - appreciation of beautiful things and art
works of art - individual pieces of art done by an artist (paintings, drawings, sculptures)
momentum - moving more quickly and becoming more difficult to stop
gather momentum - move faster and faster
caught on - became popular
authenticity - being the real thing, genuine, not a fake
reputation of the producer - whether the producer is known and remembered by people as being good or bad
shrink-wrapped - sold in a tight covering of thin plastic that allows the customer to see the product before they buy it
Nielsen Media Research - an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio and newspapers, best known for the famous Nielsen Ratings
influx - arrival of large numbers
a livelihood - a source of money and income such as a job that allows you to buy the things that you need in life (food, clothing, shelter)
a commodity - a good for which every unit produced is the same and not different from others
their undoing - their failure
a buyers' market - market with oversupply where buyers' have more power in determining prices (overstocked sellers try to sell off excess supply cheaply)
a sellers' market - market with excess demand and undersupply where the sellers have all the power
