The Thai Spirit House stories

          Many Thais believe that the spirits are everywhere. When we build a new house, there is always the possibility that it has disturbed the spirits who live on the property. In order to protect their new home from retaliatory harm or mischief, some Thai families put up a little house for the spirits to live in. The spirit house must be located somewhere on the grounds we believe that if the spirits are provided with such shelters and appeased with daily offerings (food or flowers or phallic symbols), they will protect the house or building, and shield its inhabitants from harm."

Where you can see the Spirit House

The Spirit house can be seen every where at a prominent spot outside every business establishment,hotel,restaurants,hospital,a bar, disco ,inside temples ,outside caves ,in an uninhabited forest You may also see the spirit houses on the road which were built to pacify the tormented spirits of people who have died violent deaths in crashes at that site.Their theory is that if the spirits who haunt the place are given a home they will not spitefully endanger the drivers who must pass this way. In addition, It is common to see spirit house at the yard of every home.

                    Type of the Spirit House

Shrine of the household god(right)  / the spirit house(left)

1. The Spirit House with single pole. This house will be used for guardian spirit or we can call shrine of the household god.

2. The Spirit House for general spirits was build with 4 poles. It is common spirit houses are smaller than the shrine of the household god.

We can have shrine of the household god alone or together with spirit house. We will never build Spirit house with 4 poles alone. Because we do believe that the spirits can be bad spirits and we need the guardian to control those spirits as well.

Modern Spirit house

Modern Spirit house

  
Most of the spirit houses were built in a traditional Thai style houses in order to match Thai house in the ancient time. Nowsday the spirit houses turn to me more modern just to match the building and houses style in present..