Fishing Village: Cha-am Thailand

Photos by: angie tan burns Text by: Gregory burns (All rights reserved)

On a languishing stretch of lazy white sand beach, sits the fishing village of Cha-am. Multi-colored boats laden with crab cages or fishing nets neatly tucked beside the banks of the small river that empties into the Gulf of Siam.

Active around the clock, the boats and boys constantly coming or going, feeding the stomach’s of Bangkok’s millions.

Ice is at a premium as boats fill their bellies to keep the nights catch cool until it reaches port and is immediately offloaded into the gaping mouths of waiting cargo trucks.

It’s not necessarily a friendly place, but then sailors have never been noted for their interpersonal communication skills.

But after a few days the locals warm up and seem to all know about the couple with the man on crutches and the woman with the camera. The village has everything one could need from the markets, provision shops, seafood restaurants to the open doors in front of which sit pretty young girls giggling and plucking their eyebrows.

It’s a colorful and active place where even the abandoned cats and dogs dine well on the stray fish that don’t make it to market.

And as long as the sea continues to fill these ships with fish and crab, this village will never know of the economic crisis and stimulus packages that could breach ten Titanics.