In latest fad, Thais treat ‘child angel’ dolls like pets

If passengers want seats for their dolls, they must purchase tickets under their names and comply with safety regulations throughout the flight.

Somkiat Thongsri, director of the Supreme Sangha Council’s Secretariat Office, said he has ordered provincial Buddhism offices to investigate a number of reports about monks performing rituals for the dolls.

Cape Town – Due to Thailand’s extremely unusual fascination with scary looking dolls – Thai Smile Airways is now allowing travellers to book tickets for their Luk Thep / Child Angel dolls.

Luckily, Thai Smile knows how to look after all of it’s passengers and says “dolls have to be buckled up like human passengers and will be served snacks and drinks” reports CNN.

Yet, police have warned against letting people carry these dolls aboard planes, because criminals could use them to smuggle drugs. Once the spirit of the angel is believed to be inside the figures, owners dress the dolls in clothes and jewelry and treat them as if they were their real children.

More than 40 passengers have so far turned up at airports with dolls and a restaurant in Bangkok, Neta Grill, has a special offer on meals for the dolls.

Anthropologist Asama Mungkornchai from Pattani’s Prince of Songkla University said the dolls appear to be particularly popular with middle-class women, and could “fulfill the need for motherhood” among such owners.

Superstition runs deep with many fervently believing in ghosts, good and malevolent spirits and that offerings of various kinds will ward off bad luck.

The prices of the dolls start at 1500 baht ($59 AUS) and can fetch prices upward of 30,000 baht ($1180 AUS).

The Thailand Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) is now discussing the issue with aviation agencies to create secure policies and security measures.

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha weighed in on Monday saying people who could not afford to buy the dolls should not do so.

Thailand is predominantly Buddhist and has been modernizing rapidly over the past two or three decades but many people are highly superstitious, their Buddhist beliefs co-existing with notions of animism, astrology and “black magic”.