Whenever he returned to his hometown of Takua Pa, in Phang Nga province, taking a break from his studies, he often wandered the streets taking black and white snapshots of daily life and old buildings.
After graduation, he became a photographer for a Japanese travel magazine, specialising in shooting images for Thailand tourism stories, before later turning to news photography.
This, he reflects, was a changing point for him, both personally and professionally.
“I wasn’t a good speaker, I didn’t really know how to talk to people. But being a news photographer forced me to speak up, because I had to go to people to talk to them”.
A few years ago, he returned home and opened a photography shop in Takua Pa’s Yanyao Market.
The first time Mr Nirut displayed his black and white photos was during the Takua Pa Vegetarian Festival five years ago. He used his grandmother’s old house as a showroom for his photos. He recalls how the reaction was unexpected.
Local people flocked to see the images, appreciating how the photographer had captured their ordinary lives in print. Many commented how seeing the images had created “new feelings” for them.
The feedback he received inspired him to give back to the community. A couple of years ago, fearing that the Takua Pa Old Town was dying and might soon fade away, Mr Nirut was part of a group that approached local authorities with the idea of setting up a weekly Sunday walking street. It opened in 2008.
Mr Nirut said that after the walking street had begun, the local community started to take pride in the identity of their hometown. Now, for one day a week at least, the town has become livelier than ever.
He rents an old shophouse along the route of the walking street, where locals and a smattering of foreign tourists stop to admire his work – which has helped bring life back to this almost forgotten town.
“My photos are not the most beautiful, but they suit the atmosphere and the sense of local community,” Mr Nirut said.
The Takua Pa Walking Street is open every Sunday, from 3pm-7pm.