John Le Fevre’s 2010 FCCT photo competition entries
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Category: Human rights photo essay entry #2
Subject: Regarded as one of Thailand’s playgrounds for tourists and raking in millions of dollars a year in foreign currency, the name “Pattaya” instantly conjures up images of beaches and the city’s notorious and seedy nightlife.
Interspersed among the multi-million dollar hotels and condominiums on vacant land with no running water, no electricity, and no bathrooms, hidden from view by towering trees, are the poor, infirm, and elderly who eke out a subsistence living collecting recyclable goods or working as casual day labor, while others survive on the generosity of others, being too old, frail, or ill to even forage.
Living in shacks constructed from discarded sheets of tin nailed to timber off-cuts with weathered tarpaulins as a roof, comfort in the slums of Pattaya is measured by whether there is a well to draw “fresh” water from, to whether heavy rain will see a river flowing through where you are sleeping.
Another risk, the sudden appearance of construction crews who arrive unannounced and commence leveling these shanty towns to make way for a new development project.
Obscured mostly by trees, residents of this Pattaya apartment complex remain oblivious to the living conditions of the people next door
No electricity, no running water, no bathroom
Hidden from view by towering trees it is doubtful if guests at the hotel in the background even see this shanty home
No water, no bathroom and living in a home made from discarded furniture while surrounded by multi-million dollar developments is what Pattaya means to this man
Water from a well is a “luxury” for people living in Pattaya’s slum
Too old to forage: this 103-year-old woman sits in front of her shantytown home relying on the kindness of others for meals and personal needs
With scavenged cardboard and tin for a roof and walls this family of five live in this tiny room surrounded by multi-million dollar developments
Surrounded by scavenged recyclable items, this man and his son have little time to contemplate Pattaya’s attractions
A 103-year-old woman living in the shadows of a multi-million dollar hotel peers out of her ramshackle dwelling
A box of milk and packet of snacks from visiting charity workers is a weekly “luxury” for this child living in Pattaya’s slums
A weekly food package from a local Christian outreach programme gives this man in his wall-less home in central Pattaya hope for the future
A scholarship from a local Christian outreach programme keeps this boy in school while his parents worry about finding the $US20 needed to pay for electricity and rent in one of Pattaya’s shanty towns
The photos from this series were first published on CNNGo on August 24, 2010.
Subject: From March 14 to May 19 2010 hundreds of thousands of red-shirt protesters rallied in the heart of Bangkok for what they claimed were much needed political reforms and the end of double standards in legal, medical and education areas.
This photo essay attempts to capture the 65-days in 12 images – from the festive atmosphere surrounding the start of the protests to the bloody ending 65 days later.
Red-shirt protesters converge on Bangkok by boat to circumvent government road blocks setup to try and prevent the red-shirt rally from taking place
Monks donate blood to symbolize the willingness of protesters to spill their own blood in an attempt to bring about political reform
Songkran 2010 was hardly the Thai Army’s finest hour abandoned Armored Personnel Carriers destroyed by the hands of red-shirt protesters
This red-shirt protester demonstrated her willingness for a protracted stay by erecting a bamboo house in the heart of the Bangkok shopping and business district
Daily pre-dawn entertainment performances saw red-shirt protesters and Bangkok residents dancing in the streets at Ratchaprasong for 45-days
As the Thai government continued to threaten to bring the red-shirt protests to a violent end UDD leaders such as Veera Musikhapong sought guidance from higher powers
Two children mourn their fathers, killed in clashes between red-shirt protesters and the Thai Army on April 10, 2010 at Si Yak Kok Woe intersection
A red-shirt protester waves a Thai flag in defiance at government troops on the other side of a “life fire zone” in Rama IV, Bon Kai
A red-shirt protester prepares to launch a home-made ping-pong bomb in the direction of Thai army troops more than half a kilometer away in Bon Kai
In the wake of the military assault and collapse of the red-shirt protests Central World was torched, severely damaging one of Southeast Asia largest shopping malls
Thai forensic pathologist Dr Porntip Rojanasunan exams red-shirt protesters and medical workers allegedly killed by Thai Army soldiers while sheltering at Wat Pathum Wanaram.
Subject: In Thailand bling is in. Even the country’s coach owners are ordering lavish custom paint jobs on their buses, before finishing them off with rows of floodlights, shiny reflectors, and external speakers that turn some into large, colorful, mobile discotheques.
The artisans who apply these intricate paint jobs are like bands of journeyman from the past, plying their skills primarily in the town of Bang Len in the central Thailand province of Nakhon Pathom, about 50 kilometers west of Bangkok, finishing one job and then moving on to the next at one of the towns numerous bus building and repair workshops.
Intricate artwork such as seen on the side of this bus in Jomtien Beach is de rigueur for buses in Thailand as owners bling out their vehicles
Bling is not reserved for luxury tourist coaches. This fairly standard model bus sports a high quality Disney Cinderella theme
Small workshops such as this one in Nakhon Pathom are typical of those responsible for Thailand’s uniquely blinged out buses
The Mee Saeng Bus Body Co., in Nakhon Pathom, turns out more than 100 coaches a year with a bling paint job adding about Bt90,000 ($US3,000) to the cost of a coach
Modern-day airbrushing techniques make extensive use of stencils which can take up to two days to apply to a bus depending on the complexity of the design
The airbrushing of this Japanese manga theme is almost complete
The partially completed artwork on the side of a Thailand coach
Intricate blending of colors and complex designs mean good airbrush artists have a constant backlog of work
At the Mee Saeng Bus Body Co., in Nakhon Pathom Krisanapong Sathasooth (Shane) and his team of four painters custom paint over 100 buses a year
Somchai Taveesabchai (Toan) claims to have been the first person in Thailand to adopt stencils for airbrushing and has been painting buses for almost 10 years
Fine droplets of paint flow from the airbrush of Mr. Somchai Taveesabchai (Toan), who says he paints every bus differently even if the theme is similar
The ultimate in blinged out buses. This charter coach uses more electricity for its banks of lights and speakers than many small villages and is no-doubt a terrifying sight for oncoming vehicles at night
