way of life more typically Thai, than the itinerant vendor

carrying his or her wares or services by 'hahp' or

shoulder-pole.

This comprises three separate parts — the 'mai

kahn or pole itself, the pair of stiff triangular rattan

frameworks or 'salaek' which hang from each end, and

the basket {'grajahk'}, portable stove, or other

appliances slung inside each 'salaek'.

Shoulder-pole vendors vary from elderly, wizened

old men and women to slim, attractive young girls in

traditional Thai-style farmer's straw hats. Those whose

wares are heavy are characterized by their peculiar

bouncing, shuffling gait.

The 'hahp' and its 'salaek' are so much a part of Thai

life that there's even a proverb about it: 'bahri dtaek,

damaged or lost; for the moment, anyway, it spells ruin.

The baskets are laden with every sort of food imagin-

able — all kinds of 'khanom' or sweetmeats, savory items

such as 'khanom jeen' or boiled rice-flour noodles mixed

with various curries or with fish soup {'nam-ya'} and

other types of 'gap khao' (food eaten with rice);

vegetables and fruits; equipment for on-the-spot cloth

dyeing; even potted plants from upcountry.

That's one of the advantages of shoulder-poles:

they're compact and handy. They are a common sight at

markets all over the country, and can be transported

easily between one provincial town and another, or

between the provinces and Bangkok. Vendors come to

the metropolis every day by train from as far afield as

wander the city streets selling sticky rice with meat or

yellow fried chicken on sticks, then take the train home

again each night.

If one of those slim young girls sets her shoulder-pole

and its load down on the ground outside a house for a

few moments' friendly chat with the housekeeper or

servants, the inquisitive foreigner living in the house who

squats down, places his shoulder under the pole and then

tries to lift it up to see exactly how heavy it is, may well be

in for a surprise. (The 'salaeks' or rattan frameworks are

so stiff and strong that the whole assembly keeps its

shape when it's rested on the ground, with the pole

remaining horizontal about two feet above the ground).

As often as not, the whole thing is so heavy that it seems

as if it were fixed permanently to the ground!

Then the girl reappears, smiles, bends gracefully

down and effortlessly lifts the shoulder-pole, standing

bolt upright and walking swiftly away with her heavy

load down the lane.

Besides being easily transported by train, the

shoulder-pole assembly has the corresponding advantage

of taking up so little space that it can easily be carried

down narrow alleys and passageways barely wide

enough for two people to pass.

But strong and muscular though these vendors are,

at the end of a long day's work they are certainly tired.

For this reason many vendors use the less tiring pushcart

or the even easier tricycle-cart, which is pedaled just like

a bicycle. The wares sold from these two kinds of

wheeled vehicles overlap largely with those of the

shoulder-pole vendor, but of course this type of

transportation can't be used in the narrow alleys and

tight corners where the shoulder-pole can squeeze in.

Pushcarts are used to sell curries, vegetables, fruit,

the old-fashioned Western-style chimney sweep, with his

or her black baggy clothes, blackened face, and black

wares. Tricycle vendors sell a wide variety of that favorite

Thai dish, noodles, as well as vegetables, ice-cream, iced

coffee in plastic bags with drinking-straws sticking out

known as 'oliang' — and they also buy or barter old

bottles and newspapers like the familiar rag-and-bone

man in Western countries. They also buy or barter for

old copper wire, which is melted down and used in the

manufacture of Thai bronze ware. Some tricycle vendors

also sell flower-garlands.

Tricycle vendors seem to have a relatively easy time

of it compared with their shoulder-pole-toting cousins —

all the householders in the neighborhood. He also cries

his wares in an equally individual way. (It's even possible

to distinguish the loud rhythmic rattle produced by

hitting two pieces of bamboo together, which signifies

the seller of 'ha-mee (thin noodles) from the wooden-

drum rattle of the on-the-spot cloth dyer, according to

the rhythm!)

Pushcarts and tricycle-carts are an accepted part of

the traffic scene even in the busiest streets of Bangkok.

No matter how impatient the driver of a car, taxi or truck

may be with another of his kind who's obstructing the

traffic, these drivers will show unlimited patience, toler-

ance and care in circumnavigating a pushcart or tricycle-

cart. One-way streets and no-parking signs, incidentally,

mean nothing to those who push their wares.

The itinerant vendor is of course not too well-off fin-

ancially. Yet he or she may have a son or daughter who

does brilliantly at school, perhaps wins a scholarship for

further study overseas, and eventually gains entry into a

different world — a world of which his cart-pushing or

shoulder-pole-carrying parents have not the slightest