Continuing our series on ordinary people often overlooked by society, we follow a street sweeper as she makes her early-morning rounds in central Bangkok
4am
Sinuan Cha-ngak's day begins before dawn. The street sweeper is accustomed to working in the darkness of the early morning hours. Dressed in a freshly washed Bangkok Metropolitan Area (BMA) uniform, today she is working a shift on Ratchaprasong Road.
Her shift begins at 5am, but Sinuan arrives an hour early to collect the trash before the garbage collectors. The 51-year-old rides her rickety bicycle from her home on Sathon Road to CentralWorld, where she starts work.
Bangkok-born Sinuan has worked as a street sweeper for 27 years.
"I have found that the public has the impression that street sweepers are lowly, uneducated and poor, and maybe they look down on us. It used to disturb me, but not any more. I have never been embarrassed of my career because I look at myself as a civil servant."
Ratchaprasong is one of the most popular shopping areas in Bangkok. It is the site of the capital's iconic New Year countdown, a place that appears on postcards and in pictures taken by tourists. It was also the area where many of the past year's political protests — both peaceful and bloody — took place.
Sinuan says she is proud to look after the area, where she's worked for close to three decades — she has become attached to it.
"Tourists often ask us directions. Even though I don't speak their language, I closely listen to where they want to go, then just point in that direction."
5am
Dawn is about to break, and the pavement is well-lit by street lamps, which help the short-sighted Sinuan spot rubbish that has accumulated during the night — vendors around the area clear out around midnight.
Six men sit drinking alcohol, intoxicated enough to be unruffled by the rubbish and rodents scurrying around. As she begins to sweep the rubbish around their table, one of them rudely orders her to sweep the trash under their table. Later she tells me that coming in contact with drunks and mentally ill people is common for street sweepers in the area. She usually does not argue with them.
As we walk a few steps further, a rat dashes past with a pineapple skin in its mouth. "They come with the territory," she says, smiling. "I have gotten used to it."
It is slightly after 5am, and the pavement is spic and span. Garbage collectors arrive at the scene and haul the neatly stacked garbage bags into the truck.
We eat breakfast at a curry vendor's pushcart. Sinuan and the vendor seem to know each other. After we pay for our food, the vendor gives Sinuan a free bag of curry.
6am
Sinuan takes a break. We sit in the shade provided by an office building.
A major portion of the junk she collects daily is generated by street vendors, she says.
"For 27 years the amount of garbage has increased. Ever since the BMA allowed a larger number of vendors to open shop in this vicinity, this amount has spiked," she says.
"Trash generated by them can include everything from rotting fruits and food to metal, foam, plastic containers and other recyclable materials, and more. From my observation, I would say 90% of junk comes from the vendors, while the rest is from pedestrians. Back when they were allowed to sell on the bridge overlooking the Erawan shrine, vendors threw trash in the area reserved for flower pots.
"They don't feel it is their duty to get rid of their own garbage. When I once asked a vendor to put her litter in a bag, she refused, saying that it was my duty to sweep the mess because she paid a fee to the BMA inspectors to sell here.
''This is the general mindset. They feel we are their maids. I used to get upset, but ever since I began practicing dhamma, it doesn't bother me. Since then, I take their bad behaviour in stride."
7am
The sun is out and traffic is picking up. The deserted Ratchaprasong of an hour before slowly comes to life with cars and pedestrians. It won't be long before more garbage will litter the street again.
Sinuan says there are more female than male street sweepers, a job for which she earns 10,400 baht per month — an amount owed partly to her long years of service.
In theory, Sinuan does not need to work. Her two children, aged 33 and 28, hold bachelor's degrees and steady jobs. One is an accountant; the other works in an office.
But she prefers to keep working the job that allowed her to put her children through university, and that keeps part of Bangkok beautiful.
"When my children were growing up, I worked my shift as a street sweeper and then took up odd jobs to make enough money to put them through school," says Sinuan, tears welling in her eyes.
"My husband is much older than me, so I could not depend on him. However, I never felt desperate. But it wasn't always easy. There were numerous times I found myself in a financial bind. Once I even thought of committing suicide because I could not find enough money to pay for my daughter's college tuition. But eventually we pulled through."
10am
Sinuan prepares for another round of cleaning before her shift ends at 1pm. The pavement has once again become strewn with rubbish — plastic cups, paper bags and more.
Sinuan bends down to pick up rubbish, despite her weak knees. She does her work without complaining.
After learning about the benefits of recycling, Sinuan has become an advocate — partly because she realised that trash means money.
Separating plastic and glass bottles from paper bags and other rubbish, Sinuan says that the 100 baht or so she makes from selling recyclable materials each day usually goes to merit making. The pull tabs from aluminium cans can be used to make prosthetic limbs, says Sinuan, so she dutifully collects them and delivers them to a hospital twice a month.
Noon
Just before lunchtime, we reach a garbage dump near BTS Chidlom. Sinuan gets to work sifting through plastic and paper coffee cups, fruit peels and loose paper. Trash, Sinuan says, signifies our excessive consumption — how we want more than we need, only to throw it away again after all.
"Being a street sweeper is an honourable job, despite what society otherwise tells you," says Sinuan. "If my broom accidentally brushes against someone, they often get upset. Some of them even don't want to walk close to me because I work with garbage. I don't get offended by this behaviour because I feel I am an integral part of keeping our city clean, so pedestrians can enjoy the time they spend shopping.
"Moreover, I have nothing to be ashamed of because my family is financially secure and emotionally healthy."
It is time for lunch. Despite the differences she might have with some of the vendors, Sinuan says, she gets along with most of them. She has won them over by being honest, dedicated and hard working.
One particular food stall that has known her for close to three decades is run by a Muslim family that sell curry, located behind Big C Ratchaprasong. The elderly owner knows exactly what Sinuan enjoys eating, packing a fried chicken leg, mixed vegetables and fish cakes for her in a foam container. Sinuan thanks her and leaves. She prefers to eat her food near the bus stop where she leaves her bicycle instead of at the restaurant.
1pm
A BMA inspector will soon arrive, so Sinuan makes a final check over the area she is responsible for.
As we walk in the scorching afternoon heat, Sinuan tells me about the highlights of her career.
"As a street sweeper, I get to be where the action is. During the yellow-shirt demonstration, I was here, and during the red-shirt demonstrations and crackdown, I was also here. When a bomb went off near the bus stop in front of Big C department store in 2014, I was not far away. Of course I was scared, but not enough to make me stop what I have been doing for this long.
"Each New Year's Eve has also been special, because I get to watch all the fireworks. Then there have been all the nice people I have come across that have made this journey a most pleasant one, despite the challenges of the job."
Sinuan says it would be nice, however, to have police patrol the area more frequently in the early morning hours, when intoxicated people can often be seen.
2pm
It's time to go home. Sinuan says goodbye and leaves, preferring to have some private time after an often sweaty and exhausting day. She has to get back and go to bed early, she says, before waking up at 3am to return to work, makes sure that this important spot in Bangkok is once again cleaned.
