Lee Craker Thailand

From My Blog – Thailand in Focus –The Spark & The Flames...

The monsoon rain clouds come and go in Thailand. It’s seldom an all day or all night rain, more of a quick heavy downpour, then the storm cell moves on, leaving in its wake the soft light of a cloudy day. As a photographer I keep my rain gear handy during the monsoon season. My Leica and lenses in a water-repellent wotancraft trooper camera bag, and I keep a plastic bag in my rear pocket always…

From my Blog - The Week in Images 09-14-2019.

When I was in high school we spent a lot of time just driving in our cars. The destination was never as important as the journey. I had a friend, Cito, who would occasionally focus on some older people driving along and he would shout out “hey people, straighten up”. It was obvious that his parents must have said those words to him many times. It was his way of saying no, I’m not going to…

Blog Post - Mother's Day in Rural Thailand, 2019.

Mother’s Day was first introduced to Thailand on 15th April, 1950. In 1976, Mother’s Day was changed to 12th August to commemorate the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, celebrated as the Mother of all Thai people.

Gammy. A Thai Girl, dancing at a Mother’s Day celebration in rural Nayok, Thailand, Aug 09, 2019.

The Thai queen was born on August 12th, 1932 and married HM King Bhumibol…

Walkin an Talkin 06.08.19 Morning Photo walk in rural #Thailand

A Neighbor Preparing Her Home Diner for Breakfast in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand

On my morning walk this AM, I stopped to say hello to a neighbor up the way. She has a small diner in front of her home, which is very common in Thailand. It’s a way to hopefully add a small income to the household. There is one table with two seats and no menu. If you are hungry and like the dish she has prepared, you…

Songkran in rural Thailand is much different than the “Largest Water Fight in the World” as it is billed in Bangkok. I think it is way better, has more meaning and is actually more fun.

But, first things first, many of my friends asked “What is Songkran?” Simply put, it is Thai new year. This is where it gets a little more complicated. Thais do celebrate western new year on January 1st, just…

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Making Kathrongs in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand,

Kathrongs in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand,

Making Kathrongs in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand,

Making Kathrongs in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand,

Making Kathrongs in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand,

Kathrongs in Nakhon Nayok, Thailand,

Processing Rice: The Bicycle Wheel

This short video clip is part of a much larger project I’m doing on rice farming, done mostly by older women, in rural Thailand.

In this video Siri, a Thai woman farmer, is removing rice grain from the plants using a small electric motor and a bicycle wheel. Only 3 years ago this part of the rice processing was done by pounding the freshly harvested rice with a long stick. The motorized bicycle…

How to Kill an Artist – With Instructions

Want to kill an artist? Don’t like their work or have a personal beef? — Or maybe you could care less if they live or die, so long as you get something you want and in the process and they slowly die, but … who cares, right?. Well good news, I’m going to tell you how to do both.

The first method is quick but usually messy, and if you are caught, you will spend years in prison or perhaps be…

Rambutan – Making Ends Meet

Farmers know that anytime you can sell something, it is a good day. So here on the farm in rural Thailand, bushes and trees are not planted in the yard for their beauty, vegetation is planted to provide food, either for just the family, or if there is enough, to sell to friends or at the local markets. The amount of fruit and herbs varies from year, last year it was mango’s, the mango trees…

June 02, 2018 – It’s the Little Things.

It’s the slow time of the year here in rural Thailand, the beginning of the rainy season. Not quite ready for planting season to begin, and the photogenic harvest season is several months away. It’s a good time to catch up on some reading, and watching documentaries. One I just recently watched is on William Eggleston, the great color photographer. the youtube links is: https://youtu.be/3jZ_HkaTX…

Visakha Bucha Day, May 29, 2018

I had a pretty busy day yesterday. In the morning I was out documenting the 2018 planting season, and in the evening I was at the local Buddhist temple photographing the most important Thai Buddhist holy day of the year. The former was a piece of cake, the later was a nightmare.

In the part of rural Thailand I live in the fields are plowed when the ground is soft enough for the machinery to till…

May 28, 2018 – Tending the Garden

Today the morning was perfect for photography. At 5AM we had a light rain, and at 7AM it was still quite overcast, which is a great light – early and soft. My first shot of the day was of some bananas in the front area of my home. They caught my attention because the bunch was growing in a circular pattern. There are many types of banana trees that grow in Thailand. The bananas I saw were not my…

Thai Spirit House Blessing 2018

The annual spirit house blessing is a relatively big deal in rural Thailand. Spirit houses are built as a home for the spirits, as well as  to ask permission to use of the land. The spirits are provided the house to live in, so as not to live in the home. Each year in the 6th month (lunar) or May in western systems, the spirit house is given a cleaning and a feast is prepared for the spirits.…