| Chow Yam-nam | |
| Native Name: | Thai: กิมน้ำ จิรรัตนพิเชษฐ์ |
| Other Names: | Bak Lung-wong (Chinese: 白龍王) |
| Birth Date: | 19 June 1937 |
| Birth Place: | Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand |
| Children: | 4 |
Chow Yam-nam (; Thai: กิมน้ำ จิรรัตนพิเชษฐ์; 19 June 193717 August 2013),[1] [2] known publicly as Bak Lung-wong, was a Thai Taoist and living saint.[2] He was known especially for his alleged ability to bless people into becoming highly successful celebrities in Hong Kong.
Chow was born to Chinese parents in Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand on 19 June 1937. His ancestors came from Chaozhou, Guangdong, China.[2] [3] Prior to his religious work, he reportedly repaired electronics, fixed bikes, and was a hawker.[2]
Most sources say Chow saw the spirit of a white dragon king when he was 13, while other stories point to a nearly fatal car accident when Chow was in his 20s or a dream when he was in his 40s[2] as what set him on his spiritual path. Regardless of its origins, Chow, a disciple of Daode Tianzun, whose mount is a white dragon,[4] reportedly received the dragon king's enlightenmenment in the 1980s.[2] He subsequently took on the name Bak Lung-won (literally "the white dragon king") and was thereafter regarded as a living saint.[2]
Chow taught himself palmistry, fung shui, and soothsaying and built up a following. In the 1990s, he received a donations from two Hong Kong businessmen, allowing him to build the Bak Lung-wong Temple in his hometown of Pattaya in Thailand.[2] The temple, where he would spend the rest of his life, opened in 2007. Hundreds of people, all wearing white in a show of respect, began queueing outside the temple beginning at 4am in the hopes of witnessing Chow's prayers. After burning 17 sticks of incense, visitors were permitted entry.[2] [4] One-on-one meetings were rare and short, oftentimes only 5 minutes, but his disciples could join him in group prayer in 15-minute sessions.[5] [4]
In addition to giving important spiritual guidance, Chow also gained the reputation of being able to bless people into becoming successful celebrities in Hong Kong. Among those who met with him were Jackie Chan, Richie Ren, Shu Qi, Andy Lau, Leon Lai, Carina Lau, Wong Jing, Sammi Cheng, Miriam Yeung, Show Lo,[2] [6] and Peter Lam. Tony Leung, Eric Tsang, and Shu Qi[7] are known believers of Chow.
Upon request, Chow blessed the 2002 film Infernal Affairs and advised the crew to change the name from The Departed to something using only three Chinese characters (Infernal Affairs in Chinese is Chinese: 无间道). Prior to the start of production for Infernal Affairs II, he recommended moving filming up to August rather than early September.[8] In 2003, singer and actor Leslie Cheung requested an audience with Chow but was rejected, as it was "not the right time." Following Cheung's suicide, Chow expressed his sadness as well as his belief that Cheung was possessed by ghosts and was unable to fight them off.[9] In 2008, Edison Chen and Gillian Chung separately approached Chow for guidance following the anonymous release of sexual photos.[10] [11]
In 2010, Chow was admitted to a Bangkok hospital[2] [5] with influenza-related pneumonia. He died from bronchitis on 17 August 2013.[12] [13] He and his wife had 4 daughters.[9] Chow's daughter Pet succeeded him and took on the name Yellow Dragon King.