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The Generosity Company.

[music playing] 30-plus hours of travel, and it's late.

Really late.

Luckily, we're in Bangkok, Thailand, where time of day is irrelevant.

[music playing] [horn honking] [music playing] I'm Earl Bridges, and that's my best friend, Craig Martin.

And we grew up here in Bangkok.

And we're excited to be back in our hotel.

We're philanthropologists.

What's that?

It's a made up word.

It means that we spend our lives exploring the world to find people who make it a better place.

And we've been doing it a long time.

We've met some really cool people-- [music playing] --everywhere.

[music playing] We want you to meet them too.

And it's not just the usual feel-good stuff.

We want to show you that good happens all over in every kind of way, and Thailand is no exception.

We may live back in the States now, but we thought, where better to start than old stomping grounds?

Which is why we're in it tuk tuk, racing through the streets at midnight.

And he can't help himself.

Because no matter what you're doing in Bangkok, no matter what time you arrive, you start with noodles, and usually a beer.

[theme music] [speaking thai] [laughs] Cheers, brother.

Cheers.

So much has changed since we've been here.

Yeah.

I mean, this is the same.

Right.

All the 20-, 30-, 40-, 50-, 100-story buildings are all different.

I know.

The tallest building when we lived here, 14 stories, or something.

Chokchai Steakhouse.

Chokchai Steakhouse, 14 floors.

I think about my brave parents.

Mhm.

I'm nowhere near, at some point, as brave as they were.

Your parents came on a boat-- They came on a boat.

--from America to Asia.

Yeah.

It's crazy.

Part of it is that Bangkok isn't necessarily what people in America think it is.

Right.

And the biggest danger is you create a travel show that looks like every other travel show.

Yeah.

Leans into the iconic temples, leans into the iconic sex trade, links into the iconic, whatever, economic disasters that are happening in Southeast Asia, and misses the fact that Thailand is as complex and rich as anywhere in the world.

I think it's an idea that is going to resonate with people.

The hardest thing about doing a travel show like this is not to feel like it's contrived.

[laughing] [music playing] Bangkok Central Station.

I know we said we weren't going to do the tourist stuff, but a train ride to Ayutthaya is really cool, and it'll give you a little background on Bangkok.

[music playing] [train rumbling] Sitting in a train that you pay 15 baht-- Which is like, what, 50 cents?

Nickels.

Nickels to go for an hour and 1/2 ride out to Ayutthaya.

This is the thing, the city drops off, and all of a sudden, you're back 40 or 50 years ago to when Tailand looks exactly the same.

You can go from one of the most modern cities in Asia-- Right.

--to suddenly get dropped right off into rural Thailand.

They were saying that this train line is going away.

So this train line has been here for, like, 100 years, or something crazy like that.

So they're doing a new train line.

I think we saw some of the construction out here.

Historically, Thailand's never been-- Yeah.

--overthrown, never was a colony of anybody.

Never was a colony.

Bangkok has influences from the British-- Right.

--influences from the French.

But it's not the dominant-- like if you go down to Singapore, or you go up into Indo-China, it's got either the super-heavy French thing, or the super-heavy British thing.

Yeah.

And Bangkok's kind of its own thing.

[music playing] The kingdom of Ayutthaya was around for almost 400 years before it fell in the mid 18th century.

These are the ruins of its capital, the Bangkok of Old Siam.

The capital was moved to Bangkok not long after the fall of Ayutthaya, and there it has stayed.

Both capitals have something in common, though.

The Chao Phraya River flows through them.

The river was the primary form of transportation for most of Bangkok's existence, and where you'll find most important buildings and Buddhist temples, or wats, as they're called.

[music playing] [grunts] [music playing] Muay Thai, traditional Thai boxing.

It's one of the many youth development programs at the Duang Prateep Foundation.

Craig's Muay Thai lessons aside, the Duang Prateep Foundation's one of the main reasons that we wanted to bring you to Bangkok.

So I took a walk with the founder, leader, and the namesake of the foundation, Prateep Unsongtham Hata.

She took me into Khlong Toui, the community that they serve.

So we are close the school I start with my elder sister.

It was illegal school here for the children who have no legislation.

Oh, OK.

Without legislation at that time, the children wouldn't be able to attend any school.

So this means that they don't have birth certificate, they don't have documentation.

No.

No papers.

Yeah, no papers.

They're Thai.

They were born here, but they just have no papers.

Yes, yes.

So they can't go to any school.

From the rural area, they came without bringing their own document, because they have no house to accept them.

So the people came, and they came from the countryside.

They used to be farmers?

They used to be farmers.

[music playing] During times of drought, people would leave their farms.

They'd come into the city looking for work.

They often couldn't find affordable housing, and they slowly ended up in this illegal community built up around the canals and the waterways, near the shipyards on the Chao Phraya River.

[music playing] [speaking thai] [speaking thai] Khru Prateep knows everybody.

She's not just pushing papers from her office.

She grew up here.

She understands the unique challenges, the vibrancy, and the beauty of the people's way of life.

[laughs] [speaking thai] [speaking thai] I love you!

Ah!

Ah.

[speaking thai] [speaking thai] The Duang Prateep Foundation serves the nearly 100,000-strong population of Khlong Toui in countless ways.

The school you saw earlier is just one of the several that they operate in the area now.

They also have a daycare and a kindergarten program.

They have microfinancing and education resources, a firefighting initiative, and of course, the community center, where I can only imagine Craig is still getting whooped.

[music playing] [ball bouncing] 1.

1.

Yep.

2.

You hold my leg.

I hold your leg?

OK. OK. You see?

You see?

OK.

Traditional muay thai is a little more ornate and intense than my version, but I'm hanging in there.

According to [?

duan, ?]

it provides a great outlet for the kids of Khlong Toui.

It teaches discipline, and helps keep them out of trouble.

[music playing] I was working in the harbor when I was about 12 or 13 years old, because the family, sometimes we have nothing to eat right.

[laughs] Right, yeah.

So we had to-- So you're doing anything to make some money.

Anything to make-- yeah.

So one day while I was working in the harbor, taking out of the [inaudible],, I had to go on the temporarily building.

Right.

And it happened.

My friend fell off, fell down on the floor and hit his head.

Yeah.

And the blood, it go all-- Everywhere.

Everywhere.

I no longer stand this kind of circumstance.

I had to find some way where I could get out of the poverty.

Right.

I'm born with nothing.

I have nothing to lose.

[music playing] This traumatic experience set Khru Prateep down a path that would not only change her life, but also the people of Khlong Toui.

[music playing] She started a daycare center with their sister, one that would act as the seed that grew into what is now the Duang Prateep Foundation.

It was not an easy journey, but she was determined to make a difference in her community.

The reason you have poverty is not because people don't want to work.

Mm.

They want education.

They want opportunity.

But then it takes a few people that believe that they can change.

Yes.

For Thai people, they are generous.

They want to help, want to-- when it comes to the bigger problems, like under conflicts, they step back.

And they'll repeat like a vicious cycle the same, the same, the same.

And the quality of life is come down, come down, come down.

My mom said there are two types of human.

One type, when they are facing problems, just run away.

The second just accepts it.

The third one fights for it!

If you believe that you're doing good, you'll fight for it.

And I believe my mother.

[laughs] Might as well.

Because it's a testament to what the Duang Prateep Foundation has done.

You guys have been doing it for 40 years as the Duang Prateep Foundation.

How do you think that the people view you?

Oh, uh-- [laughs] Ask them.

[laughs] [speaking thai].

[speaking thai] [speaking thai] [speaking thai] [speaking thai] [speaking thai] [laughs] [speaking thai]?

You're part of the community.

I think everyone knows that.

[speaking thai] They look at me differently.

Oh yes.

No, I know.

That's right.

Khlong Toui is a vibrant and unique community, but it's in jeopardy.

Like all of Bangkok, changes come.

And there's currently a government program in the works that threatens their entire way of life.

Even under this shadow, Khru Prateep is committed to giving back to the community that has made her who she is today.

[engine revving] The Chao Phraya River has been the spiritual and practical center of life here for centuries, and even with other ways to get around, it's still a critical part of the city's infrastructure.

There's plenty of terrorists around that take the long boats just for fun.

But there's plenty of people that commute using the same boats.

If you're going to go from one side of the river to the other, we've seen what traffic looks like.

Yeah.

There's what [inaudible] going on down [?

there, all the white ones.

?]

Oh yeah.

[engine revving] Oh see, now they closed the lock.

That's what I was saying.

Now we may have to wait for a minute.

[side conversations] So the east side of the Chao Phraya is where we grew up.

Right, yeah.

And most of the khlongs have-- the canals have all been filled in.

Yeah.

So those are-- over on the western side, it still feels like Bangkok 20 years ago.

Well, and it's amazing, though, that they called it-- I guess they may still call it the "Venice of the East," and all that.

But you can go all the way to our hotel and the bustling downtown area all on boat.

(SINGING IN THAI) (SINGING IN THAI) [laughs] Buddhist wats lined the river, as it was the only way to access them for a long time.

With more infrastructure and the sky train, things are changing.

On the east side, the most famous spots are flanked by tens of thousands of believers and tourists a day.

But on the west side, things are a little different.

[music playing] This is Wat Pak Nam.

It's a modern wat unlike any we've ever seen.

[music playing] This is [?

prapandhi, ?]

a [inaudible] Buddhist monk of British origin who now finds himself in Bangkok.

[music playing] I don't know what this is.

[?

prapandhi ?]

tries to shed some light on this bizarre collection of stuff.

If you think about your attic at home, you have all kinds of junk that you dump in there, right?

Right.

Right.

Well, people come and done junk onto temples, OK?

Uh-huh.

This is like the Goodwill of Bangkok.

I mean, if it's reasonably interesting, it'll get cleaned up and put on display.

Right.

So there's no rhyme or reason.

The teaching of the Buddha was said to be like a drum, because a drum was the instrument that would pass the sound over the entire mountainside, hillside, across the entire valley.

These days, they have loudspeakers that also go right across the entire valley.

[laughing] I was going to show you these little things here.

These are all made by hand from the Thai artisans.

They come and make these by clay.

Leaf by leaf, petal by petal.

[music playing] This particular image, the reason why it's blocked in a bulletproof plastic box is it's actually solid gold.

And thousands and thousands of donors offered rings, and necklaces, and chains and things-- Oh, is that how it is was made?

--all melted down, and then brought here very slowly on the back of a pickup truck.

[laughs] I can-- it's this anachronistic, really big thing, and then a pickup truck.

It's handy.

You know Thais are very practical people, right?

I have to say, this is somewhat asked, even by Thai standards.

This is all made from layers of glass.

So above us, we are seeing 24 different Buddhas.

Mm.

So by legend, before our Buddha, there was 23 Buddhas before him.

Now, when you attain to Buddha-hood, it's the same attainment, no matter who you are.

And that's why each figure is exactly the same.

But each tree that he's sitting under is a different tree.

[music playing] How long have you been working here?

Working?

[laughs] Grappling for enlightenment?

[interposing voices] That's right.

I've been in this temple 18 years.

Even though people will read Buddhism and read a story of recluses doing meditation, battling for enlightenment, but actually, Thai temples are more community centers.

So the temples will organize fairs, and weddings, and celebrations, and New Years things.

They're very busy, lively places.

People seem to think that we should all be sitting in our huts doing meditation, and then-- and not at the computer center.

Yes.

But then they expect to phone you up.

It's disconcerting to see you flying on an airplane.

[chuckles] It is.

It still doesn't feel like you should-- You think we should levitate?

[laughs] Somehow.

I mean, the whole tenets of Buddhism was, it's your choice.

Right.

There is no god that tells you what you have to do.

You can be a good person or a bad person.

It's your choice.

You can do meditation today and rob a bank tomorrow.

It's your choice.

The idea is that one takes responsibility for yourself, and then you will start to improve yourself, change your practice, change your morality, because of the effects it has for you.

Have you ever thought about getting out of the monkisms?

Well, you-- I don't know the right terms, and I apologize.

You think about it.

All of us think about it from time to time, but for me, never seriously.

Mhm.

Most people leave because they want to get married.

Ah.

They want the relationship.

That's the big-- That's because they've never been married.

Exactly.

[laughs] And that's what we tell them.

Over 90% of Thai people identify as Buddhist, and the importance of the temples for worship and community can't be overstated.

To that end, a new government building initiative will create a massive promenade along the river to increase access to the temples, bolster tourism, and cope with increased flooding.

The thing is, people not only worship along the river, they live along the river, and have for generations.

[music playing] 50 kilometers of promenade from that side to that side.

How many kilometers?

50 kilometers.

And all these guys that are living on stilts over the water, that's illegally done.

That'll get ripped out.

Yep.

[music playing] It's kind of interesting to see what they're doing with Friends of the River.

I mean, they're trying to kind of preserve and save the old world, the old Bangkok.

I think he may be up against a giant, though.

I'm not sure.

It's not clean cut, either.

I mean, it's still kind of messy.

There's a ton of people that think that a promenade along the river makes a lot of sense, right?

You've got a defined thing.

You don't have to worry so much about erosion.

Right.

It keeps it-- you can allow for more people to have access to the river.

[music playing] Meet Yos, a spokesperson and founder for Friends of the River, an advocacy group trying to raise awareness about the impact the promenade will have on the people who live along the river.

And we're very close to rainy season.

So in rainy season, is this when we have problems with the flooding?

Yeah.

Basically, the water will come all the way to somewhere here.

So how long has this community been here?

More than 100 years.

100 years.

So we're talking about generations, and generations, and generations.

Many generations.

[music playing] I think the people came to the river because they wanted to see the way of life of the people along the river.

If you want to experience the river, well, what're you going to do?

To get into the boat, and then you can see the change of the way of life along the-- your boat trip.

Right.

And if you want to know about the way of life of the people on the river, you get into their community.

So this community has an asset, in terms of way of life and the knowledge in cooking the Thai food.

So what's the point of coming to Bangkok and seeing this Chao Phraya River without having the life of the people along the river?

I think this is ridiculous.

Yeah.

It becomes very sterile.

Yeah.

It feels very commercial, very contrived.

[music playing] Yos takes us to see one of the river communities that will soon be relocated by the government.

[music playing] Probably this is probably one of the two boat houses left in Bangkok.

Wow.

So basically, a long, long time ago, people lived in this kind of condition.

And then they lift, actually literally lift their boat from the water, and put it on the tall-- Stilts.

Stilts, yeah.

Right.

Since, the government built embankments.

But now this becomes illegal.

Just here-- I mean, you look at here behind us, there's a toilet.

It's outside, the walls are kind of falling down.

Will the option that the government provides them be better or worse for them?

I mean, it's not in a good condition.

We agree that in terms of the hygiene and the way of living.

We used to talk to this community before, and they think that it would be better if they allow the tourists and visitors to visit, because they don't want to be relocated.

The government says this is more like decay, and like a slum.

Right.

They didn't see the hidden that they actually have.

It will die someday, and nobody cares.

[music playing] Yos has been interviewing the people of these river communities to preserve their voice for future generations, but many of them are already gone.

And those that remain have accepted what's coming.

[music playing] If you would, just ask him a little bit how long has he lived here on the river, and in this location.

[speaking thai] [speaking thai] [speaking thai] So he's lived here 64 years.

64 years, right.

64 years.

That's a long time.

[speaking thai] So this is his hometown, so that's why he's very attached to the river and the communities.

But he also understands that the government, that they want to do some kind of development.

But he said the government has already provided a sufficient facility for the communities, like land, and a house.

So if he has to go, he has to go.

[engine revving] Back at his office, Yos recognizes that the promenade is inevitable.

But like Khru Prateep, he's unwilling to give up on the city loves.

You're not going to bring it back anymore, because like you mentioned that once you relocated the people, the culture has gone with the people.

Mhm.

And the relationship between the people and the river is also gone.

What happened is the government announced this project of constructing a promenade at the [inaudible] Road-- Which is the main avenue, the tourist area.

This is the main avenue, and tourist-- yeah.

Everybody jumped.

Everyone will come to the street and-- Protest.

--protest it.

Because our way of life is relating to this road but no longer with the river anymore.

This is not your job.

[laughs] It's not my job, yes.

[laughs] [laughs] What do you do?

And wh-- I mean, you actually run a major design company.

Yes.

I'm running landscape architecture firms, so this is why we care so much about the city.

But partly also because I'm Bangkok, and that's my hometown.

Right.

So I always dream of how we can revitalize and have the best city to live.

You know, a lot of the good that happens in the world is done by people like yourself, who actually are working in a for profit company, doing things.

But then you said, you know, I have this idea to help save the river, and I'm going to make that a big deal.

This is a very powerful story.

Not from myself, but along the way, I get to know a lot of people who share the same spirit and the same vision of contributing to the city, to the society, without getting paid.

I think this is a spirit that brings everyone together as a city.

Partnership is the best thing to build a city.

Stop complaining and go actually do something.

Do something.

And you can do it.

And the small thing, or the bigger thing.

And I think it will lead and become a stepping stone to corroborate the bigger achievement.

[music playing] The spirit of giving back to your home.

We saw it with Khru Prateep in Khlong Toui and the willingness to do something.

And [?

prapandhi ?]

told us you've got to take responsibility for your own actions and choose.

[music playing] We can choose the old or the new, or to complain, or to take or give.

But the River of Change flows on, and even in those crazy waters, we can still make a difference in the place we call home.

[music playing] There is so much more to explore, and we want you to join us on The Good Road.

For more in-depth content, meet us on the internet at thegoodroad.tv.

Hear more great stories, connect to organizations, and make sure you download our podcast Philanthropology.

Funding for the good road has been provided by-- Every road is a good road When you're behind the wheel of a Toyota Hybrid From the Toyota Venza and Sienna to Highlander Hybrid and Rav IV Hybrid And with available all-wheel drive these vehicles are designed to go the distance wether your driving to work, school or down the coast of Tanzania Proud sponsor of The Good Road, Toyota Let's go places Tomorrow's breakthroughs start with the determination and inspiration of today.

AMD helps solve the world's toughest and most interesting challenges by creating high-performance computing technologies.

--and by The Great Courses Plus.

Hundreds of topics from expert instructors to help you expand your knowledge.

Available for streaming anytime, anywhere.

And by Share More Stories, helping companies understand humans one story at a time.

Uncommon Giving.

The Generosity Company.

[theme music]