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How Thailand’s ‘Egg Boy’ statue became a tourism phenomenon Tens of thousands of people are flocking to a provincial southern temple, seeking hope in tough times. Visitors to Wat Chedi, a temple in southern Thailand, have donated countless chicken figures to honor Ai Khai (or Egg Boy), a statue housing the spirit of a boy said to bring good luck.Photograph by Amanda Mustard, National Geographic ByAustin Bush Email When the coronavirus pandemic closed borders, Thailand’s massive tourism industry—more than 20 percent of its GDP, by some calculations—ground to a halt. Within months, ...

Photograph by Amanda Mustard, National Geographic Yet it’s hard to imagine that Por and his fellow monks aren’t at the very least overwhelmed by the estimated 8,000 visitors the temple is thought to receive on an average weekday. The parking lot that can now accommodate as many as 6,000 cars, and the ceaseless expansion of the temple grounds leaves much of Wat Chedi feeling like a vast construction site. Despite the boomtown feel, this isn’t the first time that Nakhon Si Thammarat has found itself in Thailand’s spiritual spotlight. Hinduism is thought to have reached the area as early...

How Thailand’s ‘Egg Boy’ statue became a tourism phenomenon Austin Bush © Photograph by Amanda Mustard, National Geographic Visitors to Wat Chedi, a temple in southern Thailand, have donated countless chicken figures to honor Ai Khai (or Egg Boy), a statue housing the spirit of a boy said to bring good luck. When the coronavirus pandemic closed borders, Thailand’s massive tourism industry—more than 20 percent of its GDP, by some calculations—ground to a halt. Within months, word spread that the spirit of an 18th-century statue in southern Thailand, known as the E...