Thailand is a country of buddhists. Around 95% of the thai people are buddhist. And this of course also reflects in the all day life of the people, on the streets and in the houses. When people are building houses, they give a new house to the spirit that used to live there. The size of the spirit house depends on the size of the land that the building was build on. The bigger the land is, the bigger the house shall be.
But it doesnt stop with the house. Its the duty to feed the spirit daily or give presents in order to please him. This may be anything from fruits or vegetables, drinks or flowers. And in many cases: Red Fanta.
Seeing the shrines on the streets, with Red Fanta and a straw in front of it was really unexpected for me. But after looking out for it, I saw more and more shrines decorated with red lemonade.
After doing a bit of research, the reason for this seems to be unclear. However, one guess could be that Red is the color of blood, and it is supposed to give vitality to the spirit. The obvious question what the spirits drank before Coca-Cola invented Red Fanta remains unanswered.
Still, a fascinating sight in a fascinating country.
Yours
Crazy Ivory
BTW: The best way to follow my photos, travel route and stories is the Asia Adventure Page.