Sangklaburi is the district in the far NW of Kanchanaburi provinceof Thailand, bordering with Burma (Myanmar). It is a mountainous region,  and sparsely populated.This is the view of the Lake from the balcony of our hotel. We spent this afternoon walking in the intensely humid conditions.  Tomorrow we hope to cake on the lake and then visit the 3 Pagoda Pass area where the Death Railway crossed the border.Sangklaburi city is a quiet and verdant place.

Here is a short video I made of the Drain cleaners in action in our soi [lane].

Convicts from a Bangkok prison pay their way by being part of a team that manually reams out the city's storm-water/sewer drains. They spent the past two days doing their work on/under the lane where I live, so I took the opportunity to document the event, and to attempt a conversation with a couple of them.

Na's dad has been a rice farmer here for more than 50 years,  but has never seen a caterpillar infestation as bad as this. 

If they are caught early, and controlled with insecticide, then it is possible the crop will be as good as usual. 

If not controlled, though, the crop will be gone.

As in most of Bangkok, in our soi (lane) the stormwater drain and the sewer main are one and the same. 

Periodically the buildup of silt and excrement is so great that the waterway must be dredged. In Bangkok this work is performed manually by teams of men who, I am told,  have lodgings in the government's prisons. 

Wherever they live,  it is evident that they are men of humor...on seeing me with tablet-cam primed they were all keen to be in the picture and interested to attempt a conversation.

I would surely look forward to work every day if my Professional Partner had...umh...wings like this...

Its a bit of a shock to see a poster like this on a wall, as Thais tend to be shy and very coy about revealing bare flesh.

Worm-holes to parallel universes can appear suddenly in most unusual places. 

This one seems to have been revealed by a Monsoonal downpour I observed from the verandah.

0600... The first of several mobile supermarkets has already stopped at the front gate and beeped its eagerness to do business.  

You pay a little extra, but the convenience cannot be denied. 

It's surprising what a range of goods can be carried in the tub of a1 ton pickup!

Wat Yannawa's pier pigeons are getting very friendly, as they have realised this is the way to the fish pellets.

The Pigeons on the pier at Wat Yannawa are quite happy to go along with the humans who are playing the merit-making game, and they seem to be reaping a reward of about half of the fish pellets.

at temples it is not uncommon to find large terracotta pots containing exquisite water lilies.  This one was at Wat Yannawa, and it was sharing the pot with some rather pretty fish.