Banned and Beautiful! Two Thai Rice Paper Rubbings – As part of their pilgrimage, devotees of Rama would rub charcoal on any material over the temple carvings of this famous epic to keep as their souvenir of this particular symbolic journey. We believe these rubbings are original and are no longer allowed in Thailand. In the late 1960s or early 1970s, the Thai government outlawed and banned the practice of producing rice paper charcoal rubbings from the temple walls in order to preserve the detail and original beauty of the temple carvings.