Baskets, Not Police Station

Stuck in slow traffic as the taxi drove us from one part of town to another, I noticed this basket vendor coming up. I got my camera out just in time to click most of the cart. As I did, the taxi driver informed me in a very Thai non-confrontational yet unapproving way, that I was taking a picture of the Police Station. I quickly tucked my camera away, remembering my friends who were brought in for questioning after they took a picture of the American Embassy. Then I fumbled around trying to explain I was taking a picture of the basket man while my friend in the taxi laughed at me.

Most of the large, flat baskets are used for drying food, fish, peppers, seeds, whatever. The small, round baskets with a lid are for sticky rice after it has been cooked. The cone shaped "hat" is for cooking the sticky rice. The table shaped structure is just that, a table for food when everyone is sitting on a mat to eat. Then there is the large woven dome that goes over the left over food dishes to keep the flies out. I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I recognize.