I
f the ol
d man i
sn’
t up to the j
ob, maybe
a vi
si
t here wi
l
l hel
p thi
ngs al
ong?
Swi
ssotel i
s l
ocated next to Khl
ong Saen Saep, whi
ch i
s a canal that runs
through Bangkok, and i
t i
s sai
d that a Thai busi
nessman cal
l
ed Nai Lert
found a spi
ri
t house fl
oati
ng i
n the canal someti
me around the begi
nni
ng
of the 20th century. Nai Lert rescued thi
s spi
ri
t house and pl
aced i
t i
n hi
s
garden next to the canal
.
No-one knows how the phal
l
i
c symbol
s
came to be pl
aced there, but they are
popul
ar i
n Thai cul
ture and are someti
mes
l
eft at spi
ri
t houses. Peopl
e started
l
eavi
ng the phal
l
i
c symbol
s and over the
years 100s have been l
eft.
The offi
ci
al name of the shri
ne i
s Chao Mae
Tupti
m, a Southeast Asi
an tree spi
ri
t. The
tree spi
ri
t i
s bel
i
eved to bl
ess those that
worshi
p at the shri
ne.
Nowadays, women come from al
l over Thai
l
and to worshi
p at the shri
ne. Many of these
women are hopi
ng to get pregnant, as the phal
l
us i
s a symbol of ferti
l
i
ty. Wo men from other
countri
es i
n Southeast Asi
a have al
so been known to come to the shri
ne for hel
p wi
th thei
r
ferti
l
i
ty i
ssues.
The shri
ne i
s pretty easy to get to, as i
t’
s onl
y around a 5-10 mi
nute wal
k from Phl
oenchi
t
BTS stati
on. Leave the stati
on and head towards Wi
rel
ess Road. Turn ri
ght i
nto Wi
rel
ess
Road and keep wal
ki
ng unti
l you see Swi
ssotel Nai Lert Park Hotel on your l
eft. The shri
ne
i
s at the back of the hotel
. Just ask one of the guards how to get to i
t.
Average Peni
s Length
4.
8”