Down and out in Klong Toey

Klong Toey slum is a desperately poor and run-down area of Bangkok containing an estimated 80,000 residents. It probably also has the city’s largest concentration of drug addicts. The BigChilli recently interviewed three addicts who live and buy drugs in the slum, an area that came into existence almost 60 years ago when rural migrants from various provinces came to Bangkok mostly to work in the port. Many of them decided to stay and settle down in their makeshift community around the port.

SINCE the 1960s the Klong Toey slum community has been a major point of sale for illicit ‘hard’ drugs, first heroin, then ya ba (methamphetamine) pills and recently joined by ‘ice’ (crystal methamphetamine). Marijuana is also available for anyone who knows the ropes. One realiable source estimates there are at least 1,000 drug addicts living in the area. Many of them sell drugs to support their habits, although there are no estimates for the number of pushers.
 
For obvious reasons, those involved in the Klong Toey’s drug scene avoid publicity. The interviews that appear below were arranged and translated by a host whose charitable organisation has been involved with providing assistance for poor and underprivileged slum residents for decades.
 
When the interviewees, one woman and two men, arrived at the designated meeting place on Damronglatta Phiphat Road in Klong Toey with a charity volunteer, it was immediately clear that they were the real thing. Between them they displayed all the tell-tale symptoms of addiction – pale, yellowish skin, red-rimmed eyes with rapid, darting movements and dilated pupils, broken and decayed teeth, skin lesions and open sores. They were all extremely thin. All three said they are HIV-negative.
 
As the interviews progressed their behavior also signaled their affliction, through rambling conversation, grinding of teeth and constant fidgeting. Yet they were friendly as well as open, having been encouraged to tell the truth by the host, who was someone they trusted. None objected to being taped, although they requested that aliases were used. They would not allow us to take their photos.
 
They were asked in turn about their general background and history of their drug usage.

Ae’s Story

‘Ae’ was born 35 years ago in the Klong Toey slum. A single mother with two sons in school, she also supports her elderly mother and two other relatives. They all live together. Every day she sells sweets and other foods outside her home. 

 Ae started taking drugs in her early teens. “My parents had many problems and often quarreled and fought. I couldn’t stand it, so I left the house. I stayed with some friends who were addicts and soon I started taking drugs too. At first I was just sniffing glue, later on I tried ya ba. At that time one pill was cheap, but the price kept going up and I didn’t have enough money, so I started taking fewer pills a day, and still do. Today one ya ba pill costs a lot.

Walk on Bangkok’s wild side

By Maxmilian Wechsler

FOLLOWING the interviews, I was curious to explore the Klong Toey slum and see for myself how people live. Armed with a camera, I spent more than three hours walking around the crowded community. It is a huge area, but seems too small to accommodate 80,000 or more inhabitants.
 
Before entering the slum, a law enforcement officer familiar with the area advised me not to take photos of any people and not to enter any dwelling, even if invited. He said I should speak only in English and if someone made a rude or insulting remark not to respond, just walk away. I followed his instructions and I didn’t encounter any problems.
 
I walked and walked; past hovels inside narrow alleys, their open doors showing people lying on the floor watching television; along the train tracks running beside shacks with piles of rubbish and stray dogs searching for food outside; and by a filthy canal lined by wooden houses standing unsteadily on wooden pillars. All this is only a relatively short distance from modern,
well-kept condominiums, offices and department stores.
 
Most of the people I came across didn’t betray their surprise at seeing a foreigner in the slum. More than anything they watched the camera, and I realized the wisdom of my friend’s advice. Despite this restriction, I was able to take photos that illustrate the atmosphere of the slum. I photographed clothes left to dry placed high above the dwellings, obviously to prevent theft by drug addicts.
 
I saw many skinny, pale-skinned and tattooed characters wandering around, and explored the narrow passage where Ae claimed drugs were for sale. I saw nothing suspicious, but perhaps my presence had scared off the pushers, although I had been told that drugs are sold openly only a few meters from the offices of various charities, religious organizations and NGOs.
 
During the visit to Klong Toey, I saw only one police car opposite a 7-eleven.   
 
It was only the children who spoke to me, mainly in English, asking, “How are you?”, or “What is your name?”
 
Groups of men sat around tables at roadside stalls or inside narrow lanes, eating, playing games, drinking alcohol or just talking, most of them bare-chested and tattooed. Some looked fearsome and did not appear happy to see a foreigner armed with a camera. They said nothing and pretended to ignore me, but after I walked by I could see they were watching me. A ‘code of silence’ clearly exists in Klong Toey.