Bangkok Blog
Bangkok Blog
(But don’t forget that you did get an extra flood entry yesterday. So, no complaints please.)
Just near the hospital, there is a small laundromat that is used by the local community folks. The washing machines sit outside, which is typical in Bangkok, and people can come, insert their coins and get their clothes washed. I have mentioned this place before. The owners of this small enterprise, we have discovered, have a tiny Spirit House, almost invisible behind some foliage, set on a pedestal just at the corner of the building. There are tiny spirits in this house and lots of offerings of water, food and incense to keep then happy and secure.
I have walked by this little house many times and this is the first time I have actually seen it. Perhaps the bushes around it had recently been trimmed. Or perhaps, in the past, I had just walked by too quickly and not paid any attention. Maybe the spirits called out to me on this particular day. For whatever reason, the tiny house, with its tiny spirits, finally revealed themselves to me.
This Spirit House is truly diminutive, but it is beautifully crafted in teak, the small roof tiles all perfectly formed. The street that day was quiet and serene, the motorcycle guys, perhaps taking a bit of a break while we admired the tiny home.
While some Spirit Houses in Bangkok are enormous and impressive, gilded with their gold foil and crystals, it is these small Spirit Houses, in the little neighborhoods, that impress me the most. They speak of faith and belief. They are well tended and show community concern. They might be tiny, but they are as large in meaning as any Spirit House Mansion in Bangkok.
Tiny Spirits
Sunday, November 15, 2009