About Thai Spirit Houses

In the hotel, very close to our room and facing the ocean, I was surprised to see a nice house painted in white and yellow. In the begining I thought it was there for children to play with because it also had little figures inside, but then someone told me that it is a Spirit House (san phra phum).

That sounded pretty scary but then I realized that it is actually a good thing. Spirit Houses are very common here in Thailand and people have them everywhere (in the houses, offices,...). They ask a Brahmin priest what is the best place to put it and then they decorate it and make food offers so that the spirits stay in the house. This way, spirits will be happy and will not make mean things to them.

You see the picture? is not that my parents wanted to offer me as food for the spirits... the truth is that I just wanted to grab the coconut !

But tomorrow, when we go for breakfast... I am planning to take one of this small cute bananas and I will bring it to the house so that the spirits are happy and don't get into my room at night. Just in case...