Thursday, December 15, 2011

People Here Much Poorer Than Thais

Traveling from Thailand to Cambodia the first thing you notice is the increased poverty, the moment you cross the border there is a dramatic drop in the quality of the buildings, the roads, the way people dress etc.

In Bangkok I had to make a special trip across the city for 1 hour to photograph in Klong Toey slum. In Poipet the whole town is basically poor and slum like, you have a few nicer buildings, guesthouses and hotels but for the most part the entire town is impoverished, most of the town is a slumlike worse than anything I saw in Klong Toey.

Just like Klong Toey , maybe even more so, I found the people of Poipet extremely friendly and outgoing, they want to talk to you, say hello, smile and wave, they offer you a drink or a place to sit near them, they make you feel welcome.