Dancers and musicians aboard a converted rice barge now used for dinner cruises on the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok

Military guard at the Grand Palace, Bangkok

Installing new bargeboards and traditional Thai birdlike finials called chofa, Wat Pho, Bangkok

Wood sculptor at Prasat Sutja Tum, the Sanctuary of Truth, Pattaya

Carving a life-size wooden head at Prasat Sutja Tum, Pattaya

Wood carvers, Prasat Sutja Tum, Pattaya

Wood carvers at Muang Boran, the Ancient City, in Samut Prakhan

Carver at work on an elaborate scene with elephants

Wood carver at work on another intricate scene, near Bangkok

Ceramist at his wheel on Koh Kret, a small island in the Chao Phraya River near Bangkok

Silk spinner in the village of Bung Boon, Isaan

Silk weaver at her loom, Bung Boon

At Baan Nong Yai in Isaan’s Sisaket Province men labor in an intense tropical heat heightened by the fires of their forges—cutting, hammering, fashioning, and polishing knives for the marketplace.

More metalworkers at Baan Nong Yai

Harvesting rice by hand, Rasi Salai, Sisaket Province

Rice harvesters, Rasi Salai, Sisaket Province

A rice farmer and two of his charges, Sisaket Province

A farmer takes to his boat to traverse flooded fields during the rainy season at Rasi Salai, northeast Thailand.

Hand-harvesting rice, Sisaket

Lone rice harvester, Sisaket

At the start of the rainy season in lower Isaan’s Sisaket Province, a farmer uses a traditional water-buffalo-pulled plow to prepare his rice fields, taking advantage of the early morning's wet soil following a night of heavy rain.

Farmers at work in Khon Kaen, central Isaan, transplanting young rice shoots that have been started in seed beds, thrusting them into the mud of the paddy.

Gardeners at the Royal Agriculture Station Inthanon on the slopes of Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain, northern Thailand

In southern Isaan (northeast Thailand), chili farmers pick some of their crop—an essential ingredient in Thai cuisine.

Workers taking a lunch break near the ruins of Wat Khao Suwankhiri, a spot that enjoys a sweeping view of the countryside from high above Si Satchanalai, central Thailand

Boatman at Muang Boran, Samut Prakan

Dusting the Buddhas, Muang Boran, Samut Prakan

Street sweeper, Ao Nang, southern Thailand

Tuk-tuk driver and his vehicle, Ayutthaya, central Thailand

Tuk-tuk driver, Nakhon Phanom, northeast Thailand

Portrait sketch artists on a street in Chiang Mai. They work from photos or from live subjects.

Ice cream vendor on the beach at Rayong, on the Gulf of Thailand

The owners of the Mekong Vienna Coffee Shop in Mukdahan, northeast Thailand

Proprietor of a shophouse coffee-and-beverage stand in Nakhon Phanom, northeast Thailand

Along the shores and on islands in the Andaman Sea on the west coast of southern Thailand, the so-called sea gypsies—chao lae, or “people of the sea,” to the Thais—live largely on what they are able to harvest from the ocean. Several different ethnic groups are frequently classed together under the broad term sea gypsies.

Among the so-called sea gypsies are those who belong to the Moken ethnic group, whose Malayo-Polynesian language is part of the Austronesian language family; others belong to the Urak Lawoi ethnic group and speak a Thai-influenced language closely related to Malay.

Members of a sea-gypsy family who live along the waterways at Krabi, on the Andaman Sea, southern Thailand

The chao lae have managed to make a living by fishing, diving for oysters and other shells, and by harvesting the edible birds nests, considered a delicacy in Chinese cuisine, that are found on limestone cliffs in oceanside caves along the shores of the Andaman Sea. However, commercial trawling has depleted areas where they used to fish, their diving areas have been placed off limits in marine national parks, and environmental laws have placed a ban on collecting shells and coral, making survival hard in attempting to pursue their traditional ways of life,

A peddler of what the Thais call “roasted” eggs carries his wares on his shoulder as he traverses Nopparat Thara Beach at Ao Nang, southern Thailand. The boiled eggs are kept warm by the charcoal burner under the wire rack they're on.

Family picnic on the shore of the Andaman Sea and the beach at Ao Nang

Relaxing on the beach at Ao Nang, southern Thailand

Beachgoers enjoying Nopparat Thara Beach, which abuts the Phi Phi–Hat Nopparat Thara Marine National Park in the Andaman Sea off Thailand's southern peninsula

More beachgoers enjoying the vista at Nopparat Thara Beach, Ao Nang

On weekends and holidays, the beaches along the bay at Ao Nang undergo a transformation as droves of local residents and visitors descend on the area to get together with friends and family—eating and singing or simply relaxing and enjoying the ambiance of the lovely tropical setting.

Snorkeling among the fishes at Ao Ling, “Monkey Bay," off Phi Phi Don Island, southern Thailand

Longtail-boat operator who guided me among the waterways at Krabi, southern Thailand

Muslim family at dusk on the beach at Ao Nang