But the LUK THEP doll is not just used as a lucky charm -- drug traffickers have already started taking advantage of their popularity to smuggle drugs. On Tuesday, one was found inside a black suitcase, filled with 200 tablets of a methamphetamine-based drug named yaba.
Thailand is department of civil aviation (DCA) is also worried that the new policy is not safe and they don't want the dolls brought into the cabin at all. Some police are starting to instruct immigration checkpoints to look out for the Luk Thep dolls, whose sweet faces may be hiding serious contraband.
" How have we arrived at this point? " one local police chief asked to the Straits Times.
He is not the only one confused by the trend. In the post editorial, author Veera Prateepchaikul declared that the Luk Thep doll "makes Thai people appear like they have only half their brain functioning." The trend was started last year by celebrities who, as Veera put it, "may be rich and look great physically but, mentally, they are more often like infants themselves." Those posted picture of themselves with their special companions, and the rest is history.
But the fad may have roots in ancient tradition. The Luk Thep doll is like an ancient household divinity called Kuman Thong --- a child figure containing the remains of an unborn fetus. These "child ghosts" may have just been upgraded to the "digital age," said the country is Mental Health Department director, Jedsada Chokdam.
We all need a mental refuge that we lack. Some people have some worries and they need something that they can rely on."