The Gypsy Divers

followed the Gypsy Divers as they dive under

Chao Phraya River in search for antiques.
 Right under Krung They are one of the oldest This career has fed gen-
Thon Bridge, located old neighbourhood that still erations of people in the
locals known as Mitrkh- remains to this day. community. And as many of
ram, the neighbourhood “There, you see? There’s a them grew up on it, eventu-
resided on the side of diving bell sitting on almost ally it became a part of who
Chaopraya River for over every boat in this neigh- they are.
a century. bourhood.”

“You know with a glance at their

house if they have friends or not”
Building a house on the side of the river is hard. You need help from friends to level the house upright.
So if the house stands up straignt and seems stable, might mean that they have a lot of friends who helped them with
it.
After finding the right spot, “You can’t keep
they dropped the anchor and things you found
began preparing for the dive. for long, you have
to sell them right
“How do you know where to away.”
dive?” ________________
“It was told by our ancestors.
They taught us where the spots “How so?”
are. It is usually in the area that “Or else it will hold
used to be markets, community, you back on your
church, or busy piers” next dive, you
won’t find any-
Before every dive, it is their thing good.”
ritual to kneel down and pray ________________
to Hua Kru. Hua Kru is what
they call their diving bell, which “You also can’t
they believe to be sacred. place Hua Kru up-
side down, you just
Certain rules are complied to can’t, it’s the rule. ”
honour their Hua Kru and to ________________
make sure they don’t disrespect
the sacred. “And if you caught
a fish or shrimp
“There are many. It’s not writ- during your dive,
ten or anything, we all knew it you have to let it
by experience.” go. It’s not good to
harm life when you
“Like what?” are divers.”
 The diving
bell made of
steel, weigh
over
20 kilograms,
connected
with air tube,
Each boat always
have two divers on it.
When one goes div-
ing, the other one will Placed over
hold on to the tube
waiting to take turn.
the diver’s
Divers, with Hua Kru
head as he
on their head, plas-
tic sack tied to their
descended
waist, bare hands, into the
and bare feet, slowly
crawl through the water.
surface underneath
Chao Phraya River.
“It’s pitch
black
down On the bottom
of the river, the land-
“Believe it or not, just
the touch and I can
there, scape varies. There’s
mud, a giant pit, tree tell if the thing is real
you are trunks, piles of trash, or fake. You name it;
basically and much more. They
use their hands dig-
diamond, gold, pearls,
and even coins.”
a blind ging into lumps of dirt
until they found the
man.” right one. Then they
scrape that part out
from the big lump and
put it in their sacks.

Each time they rely

mainly on their touch
and senses since the
eye can’t see without
any lights beaming
through.
“Pulling the tube one
time means that the
anchor is too short,
loosen it.
Two times mean that
the diver should pack
up the stuff, we are
about to go.
Three times mean dan-
gerous, come up.

And if someone keeps

pulling non stop,
it either means that
they are lost,
or extremely danger-
ous, come up immedi-
ately.”
 When they come up,
they move all the stuff in the
sack onto the strainers. Then
they begin to wash out all the
dirt and look for anything
that has value in it.

The stuff they found usually

comes from King Rama V
era (1853-1910 CE) or old-
er. They explained that in
the past people travel and
trade through water. It was
the easiest way around since
there were no cars or roads.
Because of that, it was com-
mon for things to fallen into
the river, then it just remains
there because no one would
dare to dive down to the
bottom of the river.
“ It’s important
to keep them
wet in the water.
If you let them
dry, they’re go-
ing to crack. ”
 In a while, this community will have to move
somewhere else. The government recently approved the
project to create river side pathways as a landscape devel-
opment to the city. Many of them already left, scattered
around the suburban area of Bangkok. While the rest
of them still remain there, waiting for the day that they
eventually have to leave.

“Even if I moved, I might still come back here and dive

again. Maybe take a bus to the city and get on the boat or
something. I really don’t know how things going to turn
out. But I only know that this is the only thing I’ve ever
known to do my whole life. Been in the water since I was
born and I’m sure don’t want to leave. Now my scale’s
going to dry. ”
 EDITORS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS

Saam Kung Yatt Boh

53 years old. 27 years old. 48 years old. 46 years old.
Started diving at 13 Started diving at 17 Started diving at 18 Started diving at 16
and continue diving been doing it ever (around the same and was taught by
Design Aries
until now, around 40 since, around 10 years time as Boh). his father. He’s been
Ratirat Paphassa
years. now. doing it ever since,
Pipatkulcheewin Kumsin
Saam was his mentor. around 30 years now.
90610139 90610090
“I was very strong”
he said.
“40kg of steel is a
piece of pie. But now,
I can barely lift a
20kg.”
“why’s that?” I asked.
“Maybe all the wa-
ter pressure got me
shrinking.”