Vacation with the Family

We were recently honored to host Katie's younger brother Michael here in the Kingdom. After some marathon travel MJ got off the plane looking pretty ragged, luckily we found some northern style food and Leo's to help his sleep pattern. We explored Bangkok for a day, including negotiating the hordes of Chinese tourists at the Grand Palace, and a walk down Khao San road before jumping on a sleeper train south. Our plan was to stay in Railay for a few nights and then head up to Ayutthaya, then split ways in Bangkok (I had to go back to work). A few highlights of the trip included beach time, a bit of climbing, and of course some food poisoning. 

Eating on the islands or off the mainland is a bit of a gamble over here, and as such we all suffered from varying degrees of sickness, MJ having the worst bout. Ha, and of course this all started taking place as we rode in a jet boat out to Khao Phi Phi. At one point we stopped for some snorkeling. Nothing like looking over and seeing the woman you love bobbing up and down in a beautiful tropical paradise, and then proceeding to vomit into the deep blue (the fish were happy to be fed though!)

classic Thailand

one of my most serious vices

hydration station

maybe some metaphors in there

Thai Ronald

Grand Palace - you can't see the 8 million Chinese people that were there

big buddha

Railay

Phranong peninsula

dick shrine

After the trip tot he south we headed back up to Ayutthaya to explore the ancient city. The city was once the capital of Siam, and was ransacked by the Burmese around 1767 and subsequently abandoned. Thai people are still bitter about the invasion and will rarely admit they were defeated. It turned out to be a badass little city, with tons of temples, palaces, and old architecture. As it turned out the king was released after a multi year admittance to the hospital, in true Thai style they threw days of celebration, and it made the trip a bit more memorable. 2 days then back to Bangkok. Katie and MJ headed back to Chiang Mai while I had to pick up my last ISV group of the season.

Ayutthaya

My last ISV group of the season went really well. We were able to complete a shrine that the monk had been working on for awhile and we also helped get a garden ready for some robust grasses that were to be planted by the Royal Project. Evidently the grasses are grown and then transplanted to steep areas of deforestation to help combat landslides. Tough work but we finished it all up.

working with the monk, you dig?

robust grasses

Back at the Elephant Nature Park we did the same old work - shoveling shit, cutting grass, etc. etc. Overall a great group of students.

butts

We have decided to downsize our lives a bit and move to a smaller, more manageable house near Chiang Mai University. The owner is the same woman, P Baet, who I feel is one of the last hold outs to "Thai progress." She has been keeping and restoring classic northern style Thai houses for the last 10 years and refuses to sell them out so that big companies can tear them down to build apartment buildings. The new place is actually an old rice barn that was converted into a house, and it comes with a huge enclosed green space. Only bad part is we moved 2 days before I left for the states........good thing for friends with cars (Thanks Jens!)

Ban Unrak

I recently led a group to  Ban Unrak Children's Home located in the small border town of Sangklaburi.
This area has been historically a very strategic and important area for both Burma and Thailand. Three Pagodas Pass, which is very close to Sangklaburi, is a natural weakness in the giant limestone cliffs that make up the surroundings.

Ok, sorry guys but a short history lesson is need here. It may not be accurate, or in depth, but is a general idea of what the area has been going through.

It is thought that Buddhist teachings originally entered Thailand from India via this pass. Militarily this pass was also used by the Burmese to invade Thailand and vis a versa, which still has deep resounding effects on the Thai psyche.Thai people will not admit that they were once invaded and have an unhealthy depiction of Burmese people.

During the time of British colonialism in Burma World War II erupted. The Japanese saw an opportunity for expanding the borders of their small island and started invading mainland Asia. As such, the Japanese used forced laborers to build a railway line from Bangkok, over  Three Pagodas Pass, and to Rangoon. Often referred to as the Death Railway, the track was built by POW's of many nations including Australian, Dutch, English, and Malay. This railway was most famously put to film in the "Bridge of the River Kwai," which depicts the building of the railway over the Mae Kwai River.

The British enlisted an ethnic group known as the Karen to help combat the Japanese invasion. They promised to give the Karen lands and political positions as a reward for their help, however when the British left the country abruptly in 1948 none of these promises were kept by the ethnic Burman majority. Ever since the Burman's took power there has been an influx of violence towards other ethnic groups, primarily the Karen and Wa. There have been a number of human rights violations attributed to the Burmese government. Below is a great short film about the region.


Phew. So, to make a long story short there are a number of displaced children on the Burmese / Thai border. They are sometimes refugees with family still in Burma, orphans, come from very poor families that can't take care of them but still love them, and a wide range of other places. Ban Unrak serves as a refuge for some of these children, however the approach is much different than say an orphanage. Didi, the founder, will only accept children if they are approved by both the local military outpost and village head. Furthermore, she always tries to take in the mothers as well as the children if possible. The mothers become mothers too all and are provided room and board for their labors.

bridge over the river Kwai (cue the whistling)

3 Pagodas Pass

Japanese tunnels

Our goal on this trip was to help the home with their sustainable agricultural projects, general maintenance, and helping the kids with their English skills.

the ride

gardening

Ban Unrak

English lessons

picking long beans

dead snake the locals were about to eat

Traditionally a river ran through Sangklaburi, however a years ago a development plan was put into effect to dam the river. The Mon people, another large ethnic minority in the region, had to be relocated to the hills above the proposed waterline. Effectively this created a natural rift between the Mon and Thai sides of Sangklaburi. With the support of a local monk a bridge was built to connect the two sides again, which in effect created the longest wooden bridge in Thailand. Have to say the construction does not instill confidence, but hey it support my weight for two crossings.

epic wooden bridge

low level lake

The last day of the trip we had a great conversation with Didi about how she founded Ban Unrak and the neo-humanist movement she is apart of. It was a very moving discussion for everyone. Though there were many subtleties to the philosophy, including vegetarianism , the main point was that to be a good person we must accept every thing in the world as part of  universal family. By acting, saying, and thinking positive thoughts and emotions people can create happiness from everything around them.

Great trip and couldn't have asked for a better group of students to work with.




P.S. This video was also brought to my attention during my time at Ban Unrak, choice.