In Thailand, the last boatmen

in thailand •  7 years ago 

At the first raindrops, Nopadol stops the engine of his small boat under a bridge, to protect his precious load: letters that this Thai postman delivers to the inhabitants living on the banks of the canals.
In this trade, "I have to be very attentive to the clouds", especially in these monsoon times, explains Nopadol Choihirun, who uses a banana leaf as a makeshift umbrella to protect parcels and bags of letters placed in his wooden boat lacking roof.
Like him, they are still a handful to deliver mail by boat to the remaining channels in the Bangkok area.
At the age of 55, Nopadol toured twice a week on this canal in the province of Bang Khun Thian, a coconut producing region.
In the center of Bangkok, the canals have been filled for decades: the mopeds of the streets, which have taken the place of the canals of the one that was once called the "Venice of Asia" because of its aquatic arteries .
But in Bang Khun Thian, only one hour from Bangkok, there are still many people living in wooden houses beside canals. And they still travel by boat - motorboats or even simple boats.

Here, many of them do not have a letterbox or bell, so Nopadol must hail the locals to hand them their mail.

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