If possible, I try and visit low income, often poverty stricken residential areas wherever I travel. In other words, I make an effort to spend some time in the slums. These visits not only remind me that I’m better off than most people in the world, they also provide a huge creative challenge to photograph with the heart.

Bangkok has plenty of shanty towns scattered all over the city. The closest one to our hotel lays improbably between wealthy Silom and Sathorn roads – where huge developments are currently eating away at their small patch of makeshift homes.

Today’s visit went to Khlong Toei – a vast area along side the Chao Phraya river and once upon a time Thailand’s largest port. Today, the port is more or less deserted and now serves mainly as a depot for containers.

I don’t know how many Bangkokians live in the Khlong Toei area. My guestimate is 100.000 but it could be a lot more than that. Of all the cities, towns and villages I’ve visited in Thailand, I’ve never seen such grave poverty as I did during this mornings walk.

Having said that, I did not see the kind of social despair as in the Cape Flats (Capetown/SA) or the wide spread abandonment as in the South Bronx (NYC) or the completely rampant poverty of Skid Row (Los Angeles). If anything, my short visit reminded me of the river huts with roofs made of corrugated metal I saw in Tokyo.

Here’s a few photos from the shoot.

The port guards wouldn’t allow me to shoot anything inside the old port but were friendly enough to let me look around.

Narrow alleys connect different Khlong Toei slum areas with each other. Some are in worse shape than others.

Accommodations are minuscule and a sense of despair paints a picture of resignation – if not hopelessness. Funded by a local Rotary group, this recreation center is in dire need of a little re-creation.

The monsoon season hits Khlong Toei and other substandard neighborhoods harder than elsewhere. There is little if any functioning sewage system – leading to increased risk of illness and decease spreading.

Children play at a makeshift daycare outside a snooker hall where drugs and booze seem to be part of an involuntary curriculum.

Some stories are written clearly in the creases and wrinkles of an old and distinguished face. One of many originals in the always inspiring Bangkok.