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Thailand: A floating market with vendors selling corn cobs, Siam, late-19th century.

Thailand: A floating market with vendors selling corn cobs, Siam, late-19th century.

At the turn of the 20th century, the vast majority of Siamese were rice farmers who lived and worked along waterways. Fishermen, too, lived close to or on the rivers and canals. Every household had a boat, an estimated 600,000 of which navigated the canals and rivers of Bangkok. Rowing was done from the back of the boat. Most houses were made from wood and bamboo, and were built on stilts with a ladder running to the water. Corn was mostly grown in the mountainous north of the country, often by ethnic hilltribes peoples.

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