Khune Sum R--

Arrived at Klong Toey today around 130pm another late start. I walked in a different direction from the Mercy Centre in search of the Chao Phraya River (never found it). About 10 minutes later I came upon a large old slum house with a man laying down watching TV. I went up to the door said hello and waied the man. I asked permission to take a photo, then asked permission to come into his home. I photographed and talked in the mans house for maybe 30 minutes and learned about the lives of the people who lived there.

The man on the floor was named Sum R--, 55 years old he had 4 children. One of Khune Sum Roo-ai's children was in jail for sniffing glue, he was picked up and the family could not pay the bribe so son was in in jail. I was told the way the bribe system works depends on age, younger children might only pay a 200 baht bribe to the police(100 baht = $3.30 CAD), the older and taller you get the more the bribe costs, 400 baht, 1000 baht, adults pay upwards of 2000 baht. The jail time also depends on your age, sniffing glue/doing drugs might get you 14 days in jail if your a child but 1 year if your an adult (if you do not have the money to pay the bribe to police).

Khune Sum R-- makes his money collecting bottles on his motorbike, he would travel around working for 8 hours or so collecting and make 100 baht or so in profit. I hope the photographs help tell his lifes story.