In the very heart of Bangkok, there is a railway section whose adjacent area is lined with makeshift shacks and huts of peculiar shapes along with regular houses. This is where I headed to catsplore recently.

On March 19, 2024, I got off the old rattling bus at the 7-Eleven store. It was a long ride from Bangkok's outskirts and I needed to recharge my body's battery. A spicy fat rice with pork, heated in a store's microwave, and a taro bun served well.

According to the old tradition, I ate standing on the street next to the store.

After the meal, I returned to buy a cold energy drink that flows in the veins of tuk-tuk drivers instead of blood.

It was not my first time on this adventurous route [1], [2]. So, I quickly found a hidden pathway down to the rails, passed by that gorgeous lagerstroemia entwined with monsteras:

and started an exploration.

At that area, I had seen an amazing couple of cats but they were too far for my 50mm.

This time, I had a 70-300mm lens mounted on my full-frame DSLR but the cats were absent. 😐 But I wasn't surprised, that's how things work.

Pigeons are such pigeons... Some guys said they are a symbol of peace. I'd say they are the walking logo of existential crisis.

They even make cars depressed. It is not surprising the whole world is in crisis.

That was where I was heading: this bridge over a canal.

Views from the bridge are tempting for a photographer...

but you can't take your time there - no pathway for walkers there, and, if a train appears, you'll have to quickly jump over bridge crossbars to survive.

And at last:

Klong Som Poi Neighborhood, I had chosen for catsploring.

I would keep taking lovely images of houses but I spotted an amazing cat I called the Brave Nose.

The Brave Nose

Judge for yourself: to wear such a nose, you must have courage:

After all, many can look back and say, “What kind of nose is that person wearing? Isn’t that too much?”

But true fashion fans will, of course, be delighted.

So did I. If I was a king, I would wear this cat as a living crown.

Impeccable sense of style!

To Preserve This Amazing Gene Pool

I departed with the Brave Nose and kept walking along the railways in search of other felines.

In an alley, I found that unusual feline person, and sneaked a pic:

Another wonder I found by a house by the rails:

Bangkok is the world's treasury of cats...

Yes, sterilization of stray animals is important, but... it would be great also to preserve this amazing gene pool of house and street cats.

I was taking images of cats in alleys and yards adjacent to the railway but I also wanted to photograph a feline walking along rails.

And thanks to Bastet, I witnessed such a scene.

Orange Cat with Particular Job

Yes, don't feel surprised, that cat patrols the rails.

He sometimes finds a fishbone thrown from a train by an irresponsible passenger and takes care of it. If he encounters a pest, he cleans the rails off it. And other works connected to eco- and security issues...

Who is this hooman? Is he a security issue?

But no.

Rather a fren.

My walk continued with photographing the young generation (of the local people) and discovering an amazing loving couple (of cats). I will talk about this in the story in the next post! 😎

More images and stories from Southeast Asia are ahead! Check out the previous ones on my personal Pinmapple map.

I took these images with a Nikkor 70-300mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on March 19, 2024, in Bangkok, Thailand.