Our new location in Prachinburi has received a San Phra Phum—a Spirit House.

A custom we were happy to follow

Anyone traveling through Thailand sees them everywhere: small, meticulously maintained shrines next to houses, shops, and factories. A San Phra Phum, or Spirit House, provides a dwelling for the protective spirits of the land so that the people living and working there can do so in peace.

When a new site is built, the shrine is set up in a ceremony led by a Brahmin priest at a time determined to be auspicious. Offerings are prepared, candles and incense sticks are lit, and the land is blessed before work truly begins. For a company building in Thailand, participation is not a formality. It is a matter of respect—toward the place and toward the people who will work there.

The ceremony in Prachinburi

Our management, our Thai colleagues, and the construction teams who have been working on this site for months stood together for the blessing. The offering tables were set, the Bai Sri arrangements were carried to their places, and the protective figures were placed on the shrine in the order prescribed by the ceremony. Flowers were laid at the base stone, candles were lit, and the grounds were blessed.

It was a hot morning, and it was a good one. Many of the people around this shrine did not know each other before this project—Austrians, Thais, engineers, contractors. On this morning, they were simply the people building this plant.

Why this is important to us

AGATEX has been a family business since 1921, now in its fifth generation. We tend to think in decades rather than quarters—and that is exactly how we think about Thailand. Prachinburi is not just an address on an invoice; it will become our home in Asia.

Building a plant in another country is never just a technical project. It means understanding how things are done there—and participating instead of standing on the sidelines. The Spirit House is a small thing on the scale of a construction site. But it is the kind of detail that shows our Thai colleagues and neighbors how we intend to be present here.

One step closer

With this blessing, we are one step closer to our goal of producing for our customers in Asia. In the future, fiber, nonwoven, pulp, and paper manufacturers in the region will be supplied from Prachinburi—with shorter delivery times, local inventory, and on-site application technicians who can run trials on your equipment instead of describing them from Europe.

Our thanks go to everyone who participated in the ceremony and to the teams who have brought this location so far.

Tell us about your fiber, your equipment, and your target values—we’ll take care of the rest. Samples, trials, and joint development are possible at any time. Write to us at salesFC@agatex.at.