Every day, good stories emerge, as evidenced by the following:
Meet ‘Garbage Man,’ the Trash Disposer, Street Sweeper, Earth Defender, and Mom Protector. He’s got a Climate-Control Helmet, a Grime Eye-scanner, High-Visibility Anti-Car Body Armor, and a Nano-broom for Super-Quick Cleaning. He’s not Ultra Man, Iron Man, Super Man, or any other imaginary superhero — he’s a ninth-grader named Pornchai “Pon” Sukyod, and he lives in Bangkok.
Pon became famous on the internet in 2013 after photos of him assisting his mother at her street cleaning work went viral. The fact that Pon’s mother works every day at a low-paying, labor-intensive job and was struck by a car on one of those days is, unfortunately, normal in this scenario.
The fact that young Pon, realizing that life is transitory and that people you love might be taken away at any time, changed into his own superhero – enter Garbage Man – is very amazing.
Garbage Man has made it his duty to alleviate the anguish of his hardworking mother by summoning abilities that most grownups would never possess. Garbage Man sets aside his Nano-broom when the pain becomes unbearable and rubs ointment into his mother’s hurting knees, which have never fully recovered from the injury.
Garbage is unafraid to be garbage. Man gets dressed and goes to work that many deem unsightly because it is more essential to him than his image or what his friends think of him. It’s a question of life and death for him.
We all know that a daily commute through Bangkok’s streets is nothing short of a death trap. However, we must not forget that there are silent teams of industrious people, like as Pon and his mother, who risk their lives to keep our streets clean.
Check out this short film by Thai Life Insurance about Pon’s story to rekindle your faith in humanity – and remember Garbage Man and his mission the next time you’re on the road.