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Every Thai house or Thai building has a
house of spirits. The spirit house size is related to
the owner's house. The biggest it is, the biggest the spirit house
shall be.
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| Spirit House |
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Every morning the owner of the house shall feed the spirits. It was mandatory to install a spirit house when building a new house. In fact the house is made for the spirit of the land. It calms the spirit and assure good blessings for the owner of the house.
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Everywhere in Thailand, spirit houses can be seen. Everywhere means
individual houses, factories, hotels, restaurants, temples and even along
roads where deadly crashes happened.
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| Spirit House |
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Flowers, food, drinks and also little figurines representing servants, dancers,
elephants, horses, cars are given to the spirit of the land. The dancers
shall entertain him. The elephants and horses shall transport him.
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| Spirit House |
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A spirit house must not be in the shade of the main building.
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Everywhere in Thailand, shops sell spirit houses and shrines to embed
ancestors' ashes.
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| Spirit House |
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Such small houses can also be found in Thai Buddhist temples. When raising a new building, the old building must be destroyed. In such case, the old spirit house is sent in a Buddhist temple.
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In Thailand, many villages have also their spirit house dedicated to the whole
village. The spirit for a whole village is called "CHAO PHO" -
เจ้าพ่อ.
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| Spirit House |
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In locations where traffic accidents has caused deaths, Thai people
also install spirit houses. A red flag is sometimes also erected on the
accident spot.
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| Spirit House |
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Once a year the village spirit "CHAO PHO"
(เจ้าพ่อ) is offered food. Villagers together
offer food such as chicken, cookies and sweet desserts.
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| Spirit House |
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In 2006, airports of Thailand held a religious rite at the new Suvarnabhumi airport to ward off evil spirits. The religious ceremony was overseen by 99 monks chanting to improve the luck of the new airport. A man showed up claiming to be "POO MING" a guardian spirit of the land partially developed into the airport. The man said a proper spirit house must be built at the airport to allow for its smooth operation.
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Thai homes and buildings traditionally erect shrines for their resident deities
known as "PHRA PHUM" (พระภุมูมิ) and "CHAO THI"
(เจ้าที่). Spirit houses prior to the economic boom in the 1960s
were simple wood or concrete structures. Since then they have become significantly larger
and more ostentatious.
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Gerally located at the edge of the forest, the village spirit house is usually a simple hut of wood and bamboo built on stilts. Yearly sacrifice to the ancestral spirits are done by all the village households.
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The village spirit "CHAO PHO" (เจ้าพ่อ)
may live in a large tree outside the temple fence or at the village periphery.
People visit the village spirit to try to repel misfortune, the bad death brought
by traffic accidents or diseases.
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| Spirit Houses |
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| Home > Religions > Animism > Spirit houses |
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