Bangkok Postal Boating
Starting up the engine as the rain clouds gather, Nopadol Choihirun steers his old boat through the lock gates trying to keep his treasured mail dry. Getting away from the everyday downpour in rainy season in Thailand is a full time profession for the 55 year old canal mail man. The unassuming postman journeys through the swampy mangroves just outside Bangkok in Bang Khun Thian Province where he delivers mail twice a week – and has done for thirty years. Residents know he is coming from the noise his old rusty engine splutters.
Affectionately coined in the past, “Venice of the East” owing to its extensive network of man made moats and canals, Bangkok is now better known for its immense growth which is slowly making such professions redundant. In the future Mr Choihirun may be known as the last canal postman of the East.
Watch a short video on Bangkok’s postal boating by clicking here.