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Spirit Houses of Phang Nga

Locked cemeteries led me instead to explore the meaning behind the shrines that dot Thailand's roadsides. Here, a sampling from a local province.

By The Taphotourist

My heart, sacrificed to its grave, gains unworldly powers;

the spirit flies to lands of dreams

the far side of the sky.

― Angkarn Kanlayanapong

Spirit Houses are found near homes and businesses to provide spirits with shelter. Some hold ancestor ashes while others are devotional symbols to the guardians of the land.

Ladders allow the spirits in and out of the shelter and food is left on nearby tables as offerings. The size and style ranges from humble to grand, topped with prang-style spires, and sometimes are as large as an actual walk-in building.

Neglected Spirit Houses are never to be thrown away but are instead collected in sacred areas or recycled to make new ones. Collections of discarded Spirit Houses make up their own kind of “graveyard”. New owners of a location sometimes don’t keep the prior owner’s Spirit House while other House inheritors will ask the local guardian spirits for protection and blessings. The method of caring for the Houses varies widely.

Each Spirit House takes on characteristics of its intended spirits and votives of all kinds are left to it, including cigarettes if those commemorated liked to smoke. Fruit is common as are elephant figures to represent safe otherworldly transfer.

Figurines sometimes representing grandparents and married couples can be found, though aside from this the Spirit Houses are anonymous in nature. One cannot divine who they are for in particular just by looking at them.

Sometimes, Spirit Houses are placed at dangerous intersections and blind corners to help ward off vehicle accidents, though it is also said that the presence of a Spirit House actually represents the place of a prior fatal accident. Spirit Houses are generally safe to photograph and there are possibly millions in Thailand waiting to be documented. However, never touch a Spirit House or loiter around it, especially when people are praying or replacing offerings.

Footnotes

I have a great love for cemeteries and the various kinds of graves around the world.

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FootNotes

I have a great love for cemeteries and the various kinds of graves around the world.

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