“Pavement Party” Photograph

This photograph was taken around four o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and there were already several groups of young Thais sitting around on this pavement beside Chatuchak market drinking Chang beer (cheap and strong). Perhaps the aim is to finish earlier so they can get home for a good night’s rest and make the best use of their Sunday. Although, I suppose it’s also possible that they just want to get drunk quickly and to hell with tomorrow.

Photograph taken beside Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Pocketman” Photograph

Not only can this guy make the back of a motorbike look as comfortable as a hammock he also has a belt-bag with at least a thousand pockets, which when combined with his jacket make him extremely well-pocketed. Perhaps he could have lent a few to the lady in the background who has just kicked over her bag of eggs.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Market Stripper” Photograph

Having stripped by the side of the road and started to put on a shirt he was interested in buying, this man was informed that he wasn’t actually allowed to try on the clothes being sold. He thought he’d already checked but he or the sellers had misunderstood. Given that it’s a crowded, busy market in the middle of the afternoon on a hot day in Bangkok you can understand why the sellers are not keen on sweaty customers trying on their shirts but I’m sure they could have stopped him sooner if they’d wanted to as I can’t imagine what else they thought he was going to doing.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Wake it Up” Photograph

I’m not quite sure what he is trying to say here. He could be telling me to “wake up, for fuck’s sake” but equally he could be saying “The Fuck needs waking up, would you mind doing it?” or even “I’d be so grateful if you could awaken the Fuck Up”. The coloring of the words suggests that this last interpretation is probably correct in which case my advice would be that it’s usually better to let sleeping Fuck Ups lie.

I was tempted to ask him exactly what he was trying to say but was worried that he might find such a question from a complete stranger a little rude. I’d hate to be considered rude in public.

Photograph taken at Chatuchak Weekend Market, Bangkok, Thailand

“Silversmith Onlooker” Photograph

As a follow-on from yesterday’s photo of a silver relief from one of the Wua Lai Road temples here is a man making one along the Saturday Walking Street market whilst being studiously watched. The tap, tap, tap of the silver artists is an ever-present background sound in this part of Chiang Mai.

Photograph taken at “Saturday Walking Street”, Chiang Mai, Thailand

“Silver Panel” Photograph

The Wua Lai Road area in Chiang Mai is famous as a silver-smithing part of the city with numerous silverware shops and local temples that include a lot of decorative silverwork. This photograph is not exactly a street photo but this silver relief does depict a rural street scene and I post it as a “tip of the hat” from me as I have just moved away from the area after enjoying living there for almost three years.

Thank you Wua Lai.

Photograph taken at Wat Muen San (temple), Wua Lai, Chiang Mai, Thailand