A famous resident of Phetchaburi province, Yen Kaewmanee, a Thai-Muslim man well known as Pu Yen (Thai: ปู่เย็น), was found lying unconscious inside his houseboat by his neighbors and rushed to the hospital. Doctors at the Phra Chom Klao Hospital tried to revive him but failed, and at around 11am the hospital announced that Grandpa Yen had passed away from heart failure at 10.40am.
The old boatman shot to fame in 2004, when Khon Khon Khon (Thai: คนค้นฅน) a life documentary program aired the story of his unique and austere lifestyle on Thai television, Channel 9. He had been living alone on his small wooden boat on the river for years to save on rent and mostly lived on fishing. His wife died in 1993, when he was in his mid-90s, and since then Yen had been living in small houseboats in the river.
After his story was aired on Thai TV, Yen was flooded with services and gifts, and Her Majesty the Queen granted a new and lighter fiberglass houseboat for the old man to live on, which provided better protection from sun and rain. The Phetchaburi province also used him as the province's tourism presenter last year.
The well-known elderly man who was much adored by the public was in the news again recently during the floods in Phetchaburi province, when he was spotted by local villagers near his boat in neck deep waters. While they rescued him, he requested them to save his boat which was damaged. Her Majesty Queen Sirikit tasked officials to take good care of him, and have his boat repaired.
Grandpa Yen had been widely known and respected for his self-sufficient and distinctive lifestyle when he decided to live on small fishing boats to save his expenses in his mid-90s.
The fame was not without its down side. Yen had to open a bank account for the first time in his life last year, after thieves stole 70,000 Baht ($2,060) in cash which he had received as donation money from his small boat. Grandpa Yen went to the bank to deposit the remainder of the donation money he had than, about Bt100,000. The incident prompted him to park his houseboat at a safer spot every night for fear of another theft while he was sleeping.
He is going to be missed by all Thais.
