Spirit Houses

For just about every building, there is a mini building. These are spirit houses, and their purpose is to keep away bad spirits from the buildings. This one in front of my apartment keeps me safe while I sleep. My landlady makes an offering to the spirit house each morning. So when I step outside to go to work, I see a new array of gifts for the spirit gods. Candles, incense, fruit, pre-packaged baked goods from 7-11, even drinks. The nicest part is that she opens the bottle of orange soda or whatever and puts a straw in it. The spirit gods must appreciate convenience. They might be thirsty after warding off some evil and need a drink stat! I walked by a new restaurant that opened recently near my apartment, and they had a monk come out and bless the place and shoo any evil spirits. Spirits are a big deal, and asking a Thai person if they believe in spirits or not may confuse them because it's not a question at all. Of course they do. Land for sale or apartments for rent will go untouched if there are bad spirits, and the Thai people have a special way of asking to be sure. I don't know all the secrets about it, but my biggest question is where do all the fruit and offerings and orange soda go at the end of the day?? Does someone take it? Do the animals get to it? I've asked around and haven't found an answer. Until someone tells me, I'm going to assume that's where my security guard gets his caffeine kick to stay up all night. Although, I haven't had any bad spirits come my way...