Praying to the canal gods

Down at the canal, a group of men in their early 20s was playing football in a fenced court area under the bridge. A few children and their grandparents mingled about. Otherwise it was quiet.

I had been sitting on the pier for about 15 minutes when I heard the sound of laughter overhead. I looked up at the overbridge to my right. One head popped up, like a daisy. Then another, followed by another...

A group of five teens was leaning over a large water mains pipe, which runs along one side of the overbridge, looking down at the canal. They were trying to decide if it looked appealing enough for a swim.

Two minutes later, they had joined me on the rickety pier.

I have seen a warning on the pier about safe passenger loads. The sign has long gone now, but from memory it said 20 adults. So, we were still safe.

'Hello,' said a couple of boys, as they stripped off their shirts, jeans and shorts, which they left in a pile on the benchseat next to me.

The air filled with the scent of under-arm deodorant as they took off their tops, and jumped in.

The young men, who were aged 15 or 16, kept me entertained for the next hour or more. As tourists whizzed by in long-tailed boats, they waved and called out.

One cheeky young man with a tattoo on his chest jumped in alongside the boats, in the hope of sending up a plume of water to douse the tourists.

Tourists laughed and waved. Some female tourists wai-ed the boys.

A few male tourists were holding camcorders, filming activity on the bank of the canal. They managed to hold the camera steady in one hand, while waving with the other.

When Mr Tattoo jumped in, divebomb fashion, they hastily pulled the camera back into the boat to avoid getting wet.

Before entering the water, Mr Tattoo, who acted as the group's ringleader, wai-ed the klong (canal) gods, to keep him safe.

The other boys teased him, but one or two followed his example.

When not jumping off the pier, they stood about me puffing on cigarettes aggressively. They lit one cigarette at a time, which had to go around five boys.

When they were thirsty, the boys went off in a group to get a Pepsi, poured into a plastic bag with ice. They ran off wearing just their boxer shorts...no T-shirts, no flip-flops on their feet.

They did not bring much money. As they were taking off their jeans, one lad lost a 10-baht coin, which set off a mad scramble as his friends tried to grab the coin before it fell through the cracks of the old wooden pier into the water. Plop!

I suspected that might have been this young man's bus fare home, so I gave him 10 baht of my own, while pretending I found it under the benchseat.

The young men wai-ed me in thanks - then raced off to spend the money on cigarettes.

For the ultimate challenge, these young daredevils climbed the steps next to the bridge, and jumped off the water mains pipe down into the canal below.

It must have been much higher up there than it looked from the pier, as they were nervous.

They slid gingerly over the pipe, one at a time, until they were sitting, side by side, along the side of the bridge, waiting for a chance to jump.

If a long-tailed boat was coming, they would have to wait.

However, if they saw a boat coming, they would call out, in the hope of getting the tourists' attention, so they could give them a wave.

One young man, who did not want to jump, stayed on the pier, and called out when the coast was clear.

Before jumping, I saw Mr Tattoo give the river another wai. For goodness sake, man - you went up there to jump, so jump!

Sploosh! He jumped, and the others followed, while being careful to avoid the tangle of overhead power lines which cross the canal at bridge height.

When they clambered back onto the pier, they teased each other about how scared they had been. 'He was shaking,' said Mr Tattoo, about one of his friends.

They pushed each other off the pier in the water, then helped each other back up again. One young man was much bigger than the rest - fat, to speak plainly - and needed help pulling himself back on to the pier. The others gave him a hand.

After more than an hour of play, I heard a few say they were tired. 'I did not bring any dry clothes. When the farang goes, I will get undressed,' said Mr Tattoo.

When I heard that, I left. I didn't want to spoil their fun.