The fishers of Vũng Tàu mend their nets in their thung chai, the ubiquitous round boats of Vietnam, as they wait for the tide to rise. Although round basket boats known as coracles have been used in Great Britain for centuries, Vietnamese fishermen turned to them after the former French colonial government began taxing more traditional vessels. What started as woven bamboo baskets covered in ox dung and tree resin have evolved into motorized fiberglass saucers that are stable, seaworthy, and can operate in shallow coastal waters. They are primarily used for nearshore net fishing, although some are used to work rice paddies or serve as life rafts in flood-prone communities. Some families even put sails on them and used them to escape the North Vietnamese army after Saigon fell in 1975.
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