According to the Bangkok Post, a hotel in Bangkok was fined for a statue of a deity demanding sacrifices.
It is reported that a hotel in Bangkok paid a fine of 1.3 million baht ($38,000) for installing a large “half-divine and half-demonic” statue.
A giant statue of the deity Khru Kai Keo (Teacher Kai Keo), twice the height of a man, was dismantled from the square in front of The Bazaar Hotel.
The installation of the figure caused a wide public outcry, people called it “un-Buddhist and scary” and recalled that some adherents of the Khru Kai Kaew cult collect kittens, puppies, and rabbits for a sacrificial ceremony at the statue in Bangkok. The sacrifices’ purpose was to obtain the winning numbers in the weekly state lottery.
However, the hotel paid the fine not for this, but because according to Thai law, installing structures without permission on territory owned by a government organization, in this case, the State Railways of Thailand (SRT) is prohibited. The land on which the hotel is built, as well as the surrounding area, is leased by the hotel operator from SRT, and the installation of the structure under a commercial agreement between the hotel and the owner of the statue is, in fact, a sublease of state property.