The Guy With No Legs Who Crawls Around Sukhumvit...

[NoshowJones]

This guy is known as 'the slug', I think he has one leg, I did read somewhere, but can't confirm it, that he actually walks on crutches when he is not 'working', I have the suspicion that he also works other places, probably with someone who makes money from him, as I see him, or someone who looks exactly like him at our local Sunday market some weeks, which is about 260 Ks from Bangkok.

[HerbalEd]

Mr. Crawly has been working the Soi-7/Suk. area for several years. Don't be fooled, he can easily set upright and does so inside Soi 7/1 when his wife and kids bring him lunch.

Also .... and I swear this is true ... I actually saw him run skillfully and swiftly on one leg. I saw him lying flat on his front-side just inside Soi 7. He sat upright, looked around to see who might be watching, and then stood upright on one leg very quickly. He then actually ran/hopped surprisingly fast on one leg for about 50 feet into an alley beside what is now the tv.com bar/restaurant, where he took a pee.

He then ran/hopped back to the edge of Suk., laid back on his front-side and went back to work.

And for those who question how much money he makes: I don't know any specific numbers but I've watched him many times and I see lots of fooled tourists put many one-hundred baht notes in his dish. Hell, I did it too until I figured out his scam. I'd guess he makes at the very least 1,000 baht per day ... probably more. That's big money in Thailand.

Edited November 6, 2014 by HerbalEd

[HerbalEd]

All these people are mafia related. Most get a bed & food everyday ... dropped off in the morning and picked up at night.

nothing more ... nothing less .......

ALL?? You have no way of knowing that "all" BKK beggars are mafia related. Learn the difference between what you guess is true and what you actually know for a fact.

[mdmayes]

That's the Soi Seven Slider (SSS)

That's where I've seen him wither on the ground. Soi 7.

Edited November 6, 2014 by mdmayes

[kurnell]

I parked my bike in the crack of his azz one day while I stopped to pick up some Viagra at the local drugstore and was a little upset when he moved on causing my bike to fall. I was about to give him a tip.

[Strangebrew]

Firstly I arranged a new chair for him he got and used but begging became harder for him cut his take by 70% I heard so he went back to the body dragging. I think he is doing over 150,000 Baht a month now. Same with the lady with the two kids by Asok MRT and BTS station everyday see new kid with her Does real good when she flops out a tit to breast feed's a street urchin.

[baxter60]

Greetings, this actually my first post.

There is at least 2 of these guys working Sukhumvit. He was crawling around Chitlom. I took a pic discretely from behind him.

I then took the skytrain to Nana. ( I know, am lazy but was a stinky day).

About 10 mins after I exited the station, I saw him crawling along the footpath! How the bloody hell did he get here so quick?

I did a quick review of my pic and saw the second guy was missing the opposite leg!

Edited November 6, 2014 by baxter60

[harrry]

Nice lot you all are....would you like to have no legs. How he handles it is a bloody site better than you morons would.

[realenglish1]

Hey I do give him credit He is one leg up on all of us

[Brock]

I saw a similar scene at the Sai Yok Noi waterfall a couple of years ago, my daughter was about to give him some money when he interrupted his begging to answer a call on the latest Iphone ( or update his F/Book). Needless to say, he got nothing, daughter was most annoyed.

[Jimjim]

One of those farang beggars with the signs about needing money to go home (don't know if there's any around anymore) said he would make about 1000 baht a day, so just imagine how much more these guys who would elicit a lot more pity can make.

[krisb]

Like an Asian version of busking.

[catweazle]

Well known long time beggar. The crawling is his "sales pitch" so to say. Ignore him as there are plenty of disabled Thais who chose to work with missing limbs like for example a motorbike mechanic on Phuket who has no arms and does repairs with his legs and feet. I have strongest sympathy and deepest admiration for disabled people who opt to take life in their own hands, even if they don't have any like Nick Vujicic ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Vujicic ) for example who to me is the greatest man in the world, and he has no limbs at all!

That crawling guy on Sukhumvit could go to and work in a temple or work with his hands, build little motorbikes from old coke and beer cans, sell condoms, sing or whatever to at least show an effort. Instead he opts for crawling through dirty water puddles - so be it, but he won't receive any sympathy from my side, sorry!

[ivan96822]

I don't see much real harm in giving the most derelict of derelict beggars the change out of pocket....

I would also suffice to say that it should NOT be expected of one to do so, especially with so many teeming around the many haunts of Bangkok...

[OmarZaidMD]

As my wife says: "Let him do!"

[Showbags]

I think the guy you're talking about makes 10K THB per day and has been doing this for years.

He also gives a huge amount of money to one of the temples each year. We see that on the TV.

The extra long pants tied at the bottom sure do you look like he has lost limbs,

but he's been doing it for years and that's his "job", everyone knows him, he works hard

for his money and he's far from homeless. You have to give him credit where credit's due.

more like credit for being typically thai..

[anfh]

I've seen this guy on numerous occasions, he has a wheel chair, and his friend brings him to Sukumvit in the wheel chair and drops him off behind Soi 7, then takes the wheelchair away so he can slide around for the evening, then he is picked up later and taken to another area.

[Grindting]

This poor beggar...Can't someone find him a wheelchair?

Why is he reduced to crawling on his stomach? Couldn't he remain stationary and still come across the thousands of pedestrians along Sukhumvit anyway?

Any insight on this?

I saw this guy when I first arrived in Bangkok 10 years ago. I was 20 years old, never been to asia, I was extremely shocked and depressed by this sight.

10 years later and 6 years of those working and living in asia, and he's still there, tourists putting 100 baht notes into his pot every minute, Mafia collecting it at the end of the day. Obviously, I'm no longer shocked

In vienam and Indonesia I've seen many of these limbless guys working in the handicraft industry. Victims of Vietnamese mines and American Agent Orange. They do really lovely pieces. I'm sure it's the same in Thailand for those that want to work.

Some people in this world only care about money, and The suk Slider would clearly prefer to work For the same Mafia groups that run all the other begger and child flower selling rackets, sliding around degrading himself for potentially a bigger pay packet, rather than do an honest day's work and have a product at the end to be proud of like 1000s of others in similar situations manage to do.

I can't imagine the hardship of being in that condition so I don't judge. But it's important to be aware he will be working for a wider network of criminal gangs of pimps, drug dealers, loan sharks and thugs shaking down the honest working thai people. No different to the other 3rd world countries like Indonesia and India. So I refuse to contribute to that system.

Side note: how do you expect any of these poor sods to operate a wheels chair on the streets of Bangkok anyway?! It would take 2hrs to go half a mile trying to navigate around and work your way out of the cracked and crumbling infrastructure

Edited November 6, 2014 by Grindting

[vogie]

^^^^^^^^^

C'mon! How much could he actually make?

Put it this way, I don't think Bill Gates is too worried just yet.

[In Search of Space]

He's been there a million years, crawling around brings maximum sympathy

[Minnehaha]

That's the Soi Seven Slider (SSS)

I think he lives in soi 7. I saw him come out of an apt on Soi 7 with a little help from his friends.... then once on soi 7, he started sliding out to Sukumvit with his cup.

He often looks for a small puddle to spend a bit of time in.

I am not judging or looking down on him or any beggars. In a country that has no laws (or enforcement of laws) for accessibility or awareness about people with disabilities and how many / most can often enjoy productive lives contributing to society, this is what the guy has come up with.

[MrY]

All these people are mafia related. Most get a bed & food everyday ... dropped off in the morning and picked up at night.

nothing more ... nothing less .......

ALL?? You have no way of knowing that "all" BKK beggars are mafia related. Learn the difference between what you guess is true and what you actually know for a fact.

Practically all of these people are mafia related.

There, fixed for you. There may be an occasional outsider once in a while, but from what I've seen if they stick around they will end up paying someone for the privilege. And you've got to define 'mafia' quite loosely, it's not Cosa Nostra. Seem like most of it here is controlled by the Serve and Protect guys...

[lensta]

That's the Soi Seven Slider (SSS)

Ahh, brings back memories Mr Toad :-)

[i claudius]

All these people are mafia related. Most get a bed & food everyday ... dropped off in the morning and picked up at night.

nothing more ... nothing less .......

ALL?? You have no way of knowing that "all" BKK beggars are mafia related. Learn the difference between what you guess is true and what you actually know for a fact.

Practically all of these people are mafia related.

There, fixed for you. There may be an occasional outsider once in a while, but from what I've seen if they stick around they will end up paying someone for the privilege. And you've got to define 'mafia' quite loosely, it's not Cosa Nostra. Seem like most of it here is controlled by the Serve and Protect guys...

As i used to have an office at that end of sukhumvit ,i was once pointed out the guy who "runs" it all along the strip ,to look at him he looked like an ordinary Thai worker not scruffy ,but not the mr big sort ,but as i knew many of the street vendors i was assured he was the man who took a cut from everyone working the pavements.so i assume he got a cut from the crawler as well

[mrtoad]

That's the Soi Seven Slider (SSS)

Ahh, brings back memories Mr Toad :-)

Weren't we talking about him the other week??

[lensta]

That's the Soi Seven Slider (SSS)

Ahh, brings back memories Mr Toad :-)

Weren't we talking about him the other week??

yes, I think he was mentioned a few times

[off road pat]

I Saw these guys in Hanoi Vietnam a few years ago,.......I was intrigued and touched by this spectacle and also wanted to give some money, but decide to watched them for a long time......one of these guys had a good leg,....his wife was walking far behind with his crutches in her hands.....the other guy had a Wheelchair next to a wall nearby.....this is the top of begging..!!!....I saw them every day for one week at least and they made lots of money........they both use children to make more impact.....as close to 90 % of the tourists I saw gave them money!!!

And I saw the wife of the first guy bring him water once and a while.....

Edited November 6, 2014 by off road pat

[kingstonkid]

^^^^^^^^^

C'mon! How much could he actually make?

You would be surprised. This is nothing new it happens in every country. People don't want to work so they beg.

Toronto had a woman that said she was homeles and had al sorts of probelms newspaper followed her found out she lived in a great house and was actually making about 50k a year ten years agio.

Guy in Pakistan used to beg on Monday to friday morning really looked like shit until you saw his driver pull up and he get in car turned out he was the richest man in vilage had a big house and everything.

[bangon04]

Like an Asian version of busking.

Yes you are all quite wrong to keep calling him a beggar - he obviously has more dignity than that.

He is really a highly skilled Street Acrobat, and people are paying to watch in awe as he performs feats of physical prowess most of us would never attempt, even on a clean surface.

[Cypress Hill]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

All these people are mafia related. Most get a bed & food everyday ... dropped off in the morning and picked up at night.

nothing more ... nothing less ....... alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

ALL?? You have no way of knowing that "all" BKK beggars are mafia related. Learn the difference between what you guess is true and what you actually know for a fact.

Look, considering just how lucrative the tourist areas are, do you really think these people can just turn up, sit their butts down, hold out a cup and get to "work"?

No way.

If there weren't lookouts making sure uninvited mouths don't sit down at the table, places like Nana, Cowboy, Asoke and much of Lower Sukhumvit would be awash with beggars.

I live in Asoke so I see 'em every day and trust me, those women and kids working the skywalks at the Asoke intersection have TARGETS!

That's why they're trying to sell frazzled roses to passers-by so they make their quota.

Don't give 'em a bean

Edited November 6, 2014 by Cypress Hill