Borneo River, 1993
I used to live in Pontiank, West Kalimantan, and when I had some free time from my work, I would cruise around, following the jungle paths to see where they would go. I would always cause quite a scene when I arrived in some small village. I'm sure the sight of a Westerner on a motorbike riding through their village was about the last thing they would ever dream of.
Netfishing in a drainage canal, Chiang Mai, 1996
This man would come out with his family to find food. The father uses his net, the kids look under sudmerged rocks for crabs or snails and the mother would pick greens from along the canal banks.
Washing clothes, Mae Ai, Thailand, 1996
Most of the rivers in Thailand are brown due to the heavy soil run-off from the watersheds being destroyed through logging. This particular river is just inside the Thai border from Burma. The Burma side has few people due to the difficulty of access, so this woman is able to get her clothes cleaner than many people
Old man repairing nets, Songkhla, Thailand, 1997
I was coming back from Samui island and I saw this old man repairing nets by the side of the road. He is 92 years old and used to be a fisherman, but for the last 20 years, he has not been physically able to go out on the boats, so he helps his sons, grandsons and great-grandsons by repairing their nets.
Some friends in Chiang Mai, 1996
These are some friends that used to work with me at a school. The day this picture was taken, we were at a promotional lunch to get more students. Just after I took this photo, I had someone take mine. As I was standing with a line of people, someone said to me in Thai,'Ajarn Lawrence, there's a SCORPION on your shirt!' I looked, and there, near my collar, was a scorpion getting his picture taken. Well you don't just brush a scorpion off with your hands, so I asked someone to take it off. No volunteers. So I took off my shirt (carefully) and shook it off outside. Many people who were not aware of the situation I'm sure thought I was nuts.I didn't care- I was just happy it wasn't on my pants!!
Neighbor kids, Borneo, Indonesia, 1993
My favorite pictures of Borneo had lots of kids in them because they were so natural and relaxed when having their picture taken. I was the first Westerner any of these kids had ever seen, and at first, they ran away in fear. They had seen Westerners in movies, but these were usually grade-B horror flicks with lots blood and eating of people. I guess they weren't sure if I wanted to be friends or to have them for lunch. Not enough meat on 'em to eat, so we became friends.
Hmong hilltribe wedding dinner, Chiang Mai, 1996
I was very happy to get an invitation to a friend's wedding, but when it came to eating the wedding dinner, I had some problems. The main course was 'muu saam yang', which is the three layers in a piece of pork- the meat, the fat and the gristle. It was boiled a little bit but basically it was a thick piece of fat with a very thin layer of meat on one side and a layer of leathery rind on the other side. I did make a stab at eating it, but I couldn't force a smile no matter how hard I tried.
Hmong woman doing her needlework, Chiang Mai, 1997
Most Hmong women spend their free time doing needle point, which is either for sale or for their daily clothes. The Hmong also use needle work to make huge wall-hangings that tell stories of Hmong life.
Muser Dam woman with her baby. Chiang Dao, 1997
I was cruising as usual when I ran into this Muser village. While stopped to rest and drink some water, villagers came over to check me out. When I said something in Thai to them, They realized that they could communicate with me. They asked a million questions about me, thai food, my country- anything that came to their minds. It seemed like they had been saving up questions for a long time, waiting for a foreigner who could speak Thai or Muser.
Ladda and the coconut man, husking coconuts for copra, Koh Samui, Thailand, 1997 I used to live on Samui and I actually learned how to husk coconuts without spearing myself, but this guy was amazing. What took me a minute to to do, he did in 5 seconds. He said he could do about 700 a day before he collapsed from exhaustion. The dried meat, called copra, is used to make oil for cosmetics, cooking, food additives or for foreigners basking on beaches.
Ocean near Koh Samui, 1997
Just a nice shot off the ferry from Samui to the mainland.
My wife Laddawan on Phuket posing with a monkey- no, it's not me!
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