An estate agent for spirits

In Thailand, intricately designed homes for protective spirits are ubiquitous – and perhaps nowhere are these houses as noticeable as in the capital Bangkok, where they sit alongside a rapidly modernising city. Journalist Teirra Kamolvattanavith explores how the spirit house tradition has been passed down through generations, how it has endured, and how people interpret the tradition differently.

Teirra sets out on a tour of the spirit houses of Bangkok, meeting the believers, spiritual consultants, sellers and manufacturers, to uncover the web of spirituality, the blend of Hinduism and animism (the belief that everything, from objects to places, has a spiritual essence) that underpins this belief in spirits and the existence of spirit houses.

Presenter: Teirra Kamolvattanavith
Producer: Sasha Edye-Lindner

(Photo: A spirit house on the beach front in south Thailand. Credit: Raimund Franken/ullstein bild/Getty Images)

A Novel production for BBC World Service