A dog’s life: Bangkok street sweeper carries pet canine to work every day

A street sweeper in Thailand has become an internet sensation after a picture of her carrying her dog on her back while sweeping the streets of the Thai capital went viral. Mazda, a year-old Poodle-Shih Tzu mix is seen calmly hanging in a vest attached to the back of his owner like a backpack while she sweeps the street in a Bangkok suburb, not bothered by passersby and the traffic.

“I asked my boyfriend to buy me a dog to keep me company,” Mazda’s owner, Thitirat Keowa-ram, 28, said. “My boyfriend agreed under the condition that I bring it to work,” she said.

Thitirat Keowa-ram, Bangkok's street sweeper, working while carrying her 1-year old poodle. (REUTERS)

Thitirat has kept her promise and carried the fluffy black and white dog to work every day for a year now, not bothered by the almost 10 kg (22 lb) of weight in the pooch pouch on her back.

A bring-your-dog-to-work trend has been gaining popularity in Thailand in recent years particularly in firms with irregular work hours that see the dog-friendly policy as a way to alleviate employee stress.