THAILAND — Times change and so do cultural sensibilities and tastes. Gone, at least for now, are the days when an everyday walker could ponder, admire, and quietly celebrate the beauty of the human form, including its fun and potentially reproductive bits.This is the sad truth that a Thai spa has learned after facing outraged locals who were offended by the shape of its property defining fence.
Located near a small village and a popular tourist beach on Phuket island, the Sappaya Spa was shocked to have community outrage directed its way after builders completed the erection — so to speak — of 18 Hindu Shiva Lingas (penises) as part of the fence surrounding the spa’s grounds.
Thaichart Intararit, chief of Phuket’s culture office, told Reuters that “People couldn’t stand them, so they called us for help.”
With the majority of Thailand’s 64 million citizens embracing Buddhism and many more also honoring Hindu gods and their rituals, it is understandable why the spa’s owners thought the ancient symbol of Lord Shiva’s copulatory powers might have been appropriate for display.
Unfortunately, weeks of wrangling have shown the faithful Hindu spa owner otherwise, and he has agreed to change the shape of the sculptures he hoped would bring him good fortune in his profession.
According to Thawichart, “He promised to have workers use cement to re-shape them into lotus flowers,” which are Buddhist symbols for purity of the mind, body, and speech which rise above the muddy waters of desire and attachment.
