Story behind the ‘curse’

Story behind the 'curse' - December 3, 2003
Wire reports are carrying the story of the German tourist cursed by picking up a shard from a temple (such as in the Sydney Morning Herald, 'Curse of the emerald shard', December 1, 2003). It is reported as another completely true, but weird, story from Thailand.
It is interesting to note that the Thai-language press treats this as more of a publicity stunt and The Nation, as usual, gives some further background: The leader of a tour guide association yesterday said that tour guides were not to blame. Authorities normally treated fragments chipped off historical structures as scrap, said Thailand Guide Association president Charupol Ruengkate. He did not think it was illegal or immoral to pick up a glass fragment from the ground, Charupol said. If the German tourist had not picked up the glass shard, it would have been thrown away, he added. "I do believe the story, but I don't understand what the TAT's purpose is in disclosing the information," he said. ('German tourist picks up bad karma' Dec 01, 2003).