This past week I had the chance to ride a boat down the middle of Bangkok. The city used to be known as the Venice of the East because of the numerous canals, but now almost all of them have been filled in with cement to make way for the 10 million plus residents here. Interestingly, the road system is still based the method for city rivers. Over a hundred years ago Bangkok was navigated by main canals with sois or small, dead-end small creeks branching off each main canal. This little sois were like little water alleys that led to more residential neighborhoods. Now, these sois are filled with cement and make for terrible traffic—imagine a huge city of millions with thousands of dead end ‘soi’ streets that don’t lead anywhere. It is certainly more difficult to navigate than the grid streets of Salt Lake City, but I digress.
Anyway, I rode with Mot and her friend Jaan in the middle of a boat. The boats leave every fifteen minutes are filled with at least fifty people. When we finally started to leave the dock, a guy with a bike helmet held on to the side of the boat and collected each person’s fare. The boat is so crowded that there is no other way to collect money but by hanging off the side of the boat and walking/ balancing your way around the outside of the boat. The helmet, I was informed, was to protect him from low hanging bridges—which are everywhere.
The boat ride was novel, but we traveled pretty slow—I could run faster than we went. The view would have been more scenic except that the water was incredibly dirty. Pieces of dead plats and floating garbage filled my view as I watched out the side of the boat. Perhaps more dangerous were the unseen chemicals in the water. As we passed by a cement factory, I saw colorful chemical waste flowing into our river. Sadly, some of the poorest people live near the river and use the water to wash clothes and items. Now I understand firsthand how water sources can be a major detriment to health for a city’s population. 
Anyway, I rode with Mot and her friend Jaan in the middle of a boat. The boats leave every fifteen minutes are filled with at least fifty people. When we finally started to leave the dock, a guy with a bike helmet held on to the side of the boat and collected each person’s fare. The boat is so crowded that there is no other way to collect money but by hanging off the side of the boat and walking/ balancing your way around the outside of the boat. The helmet, I was informed, was to protect him from low hanging bridges—which are everywhere.
The boat ride was novel, but we traveled pretty slow—I could run faster than we went. The view would have been more scenic except that the water was incredibly dirty. Pieces of dead plats and floating garbage filled my view as I watched out the side of the boat. Perhaps more dangerous were the unseen chemicals in the water. As we passed by a cement factory, I saw colorful chemical waste flowing into our river. Sadly, some of the poorest people live near the river and use the water to wash clothes and items. Now I understand firsthand how water sources can be a major detriment to health for a city’s population. 
No comments:
Post a Comment