Foreigner’s spirit house snack stop amuses, divides Thai netizens
A foreign man was caught on CCTV footage taking food and drink offerings from a spirit house outside a home in Phuket, prompting mixed reactions online.
The Phuket spirit house theft was shared by Facebook user Bank Marlboro, who posted CCTV footage last night, August 5. He said the incident took place outside a friend’s home in the Kata area of Karon subdistrict.
The video shows the foreign man walking along the street before changing direction towards the spirit house. After appearing to check that no one was watching, he approached the shrine and removed several offerings.
The man was seen taking a small plastic tray containing food and what appeared to be a bottled drink. He then walked to a second spirit house nearby but left after finding no offerings there.
In the footage, the foreigner was wearing a purple-and-orange long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark blue shorts, glasses and trainers while carrying two plastic bags.
The incident prompted mixed reactions online. Some social media users described the act as theft, regardless of the value of the items taken, while others suggested that giving food to someone in need could itself be considered an act of merit.
Many netizens responded with humour, joking that the spirits would follow the foreign man home to reclaim the offerings.
The incident is the latest involving foreign visitors and Thai spirit houses. In a previous case in Bangkok, a foreign man attracted attention after stripping naked and defecating in a small pool in front of a spirit house.
In May 2022, a foreign woman went viral after mistakenly using a table in front of a spirit house as a place to rest, unaware it was intended for offerings.
Another incident in May 2023 saw a foreign tourist criticised after using a spirit house outside Chiang Rai’s White Temple as the backdrop for a Barbie doll photoshoot.
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