I am visiting Varee Chanvichitr (Pa' Dam), 59, at her stall on Soi Ekamai, where she sells papaya, bananas, chilies and other items she buys early in the morning at the Klong Toey market. She also buys rice and beef or chicken - not for herself but for the dogs and cats she feeds every day.

Surrounded by five or six dogs, she sits at her stall outside the Siam City Bank Ekamai branch. She has a place for charcoal stoves, on which she cooks the food for her animals.

A few metres away from the dogs, several cages house the cats and kittens she has rescued, who are now watched over by other vendors, apparently happy to participate in Pa' Dam's responsibilities.

These are not limited to the Ekamai dogs. After sleeping at her stall for a few hours, she boards a bus, around nine at night, for the area behind Central Bang Na, where even more dogs wait for her food.

She then returns to Ekamai, where she sleeps at her stall until it's time to go to Klong Toey.

It was behind Central Bang Na that Pa' Dam first came to the notice of Khun S.

Driving back from her office on Phetburi Road to Bang Na-Trat every night, S had seen Pa' Dam and the dogs "for years". One evening recently, she finally stopped to talk to her.

S was so moved by what Pa' Dam was doing that she e-mailed me to ask for some kind of help.

Pa' Dam, she told me, has no family except her animals. She won't travel far from them, being worried that no one will feed them in her absence.

The animals under her charge look well fed but scruffy, a few obviously old, some with cataracts. The Soi Dog Rescue people have helped her neuter some of her animals.

In the cats' area, Pa' Dam is keeping three kittens she found in nearby Wat Phasi. These I've taken to my vet, and in a few weeks, when they've been cleaned up, you'll see their photos.

At first, however, Pa' Dam wouldn't let me have them. The "kids" are her responsibility and she wants them to be safe. Finally she said, "Okay, you can take the kittens but not the bigger cats."

Nevertheless, she parted with the kids sadly. They're part of her family, and although she knows it's better to give them up, it's still hard to say goodbye.

Through S's suggestion, Pa' Dam has opened a bank account at the Krung Thai Ekamai branch. If people are kind enough to donate, she'll have more money for her animals.

"You might even have enough to rent a small room nearby," S suggested brightly.

"What for?" replied Pa' Dam. "I already have a place to sleep. I clean up at a nearby petrol station. What more do I need for myself?"

Questions about your pets? Fax (02) 751 4446 or e-mail laurie@nationgroup.com.

By Laurie Rosenthal

The Nation