The weekend of December 5th we combined "business" and pleasure when we went to deliver 4 commercial grade sewing machines to 3 villages located north of Thaton. Kids Ark applied for a grant and was awarded 30,000 baht (US $900) which was used to buy the sewing machines. We drove up on Friday in a rental truck so we could continue to explore the area on Saturday/Sunday since Rita needed to return to CM that day.
The villages were very interesting to visit - 1 was red Lahu and the other 2 were black Lahu; there is at least one woman in each village who knows how to sew, and in each village there is a group of women who want to form a sewing cooperative so that they can earn money in between the rice growing/harvesting seasons when there is no work. At one of the villages the women would like Resa to come and teach more of them how to sew and we are going to look for funding for that project; in another of the villages they had already gotten orders for blankets and had to borrow a machine ( which broke), so at that village we delivered 2 sewing machines. There are 6 women in that village who work together - 2 cut, 2 do the preparatory hand- sewing and then the other 2 use the machines - before we left they were already trying out the new machines. For each blanket they make they earn 70 baht ( about $2).
At all the villages the women were dressed in their traditional Lahu costumes which were just beautiful, and we had lunch at one of the villages - the one where we delivered 2 machines. The villages are all off the main roads and even though they have electricity there is not much else in terms of services for them.
After that Rita, Cado and Resa returned to CM, but Tom and I stayed in Thaton and went to visit Ban Pak Qui, one of the villages we assist. House of Hope 2 is based there and we went to see what had changed since we were there last April. Ban Pak Qui is right on the Burmese boarder and has a shortage of water in some seasons, no electricity, and very few toilets. We found that since we were there the school teacher's friends had some volunteers from Singapore build 2 toilets, a shower stall and a canteen/school room. Other groups have also promised to help them but so far it is just talk.... The classrooms were all painted and now have new desks and chairs.
Here are some pictures of the school:
Here are some pictures of the villages where we took the sewing machines. Notice some of the villagers' costumes are more red and others black - hence Red Lahu and Black Lahu ethnic minorities.
On Saturday we drove to Mae Salong, which was the last hold-out of the Kuomintang army. We stopped at an orange plantation along the way - it is a beautiful drive along mountainous roads, and 30 years ago not accessible by car. We looked for and found the guest-house we had stayed there when we had made the trip on motor-bikes! it made for some very bitter-sweet memories of those days. We also visited Khun Sa's old head-quarters - Khun Sa was the notorious drug-lord who was wanted by the Americans for many years, and who is now dead. 30+ years ago the tea- plantations were poppy fields!
Phra Boromathat Chedi is a chedi built on a hill near the village, in honor of the late Princess Mother, Srinagarindra. There is an excellent view of the Myanmar frontier from the top, an area that was off-limits when it was under the control of the warlord Khun Sa.
Here are some pictures of Doi Mae Salong:
Here are some articles about Khun Sa
Article about his life and death and another article
http://www.burmainfo.org/regional/lintner200202g.pdf
http://www.asiapacificms.com/articles/golden_getaway/
Monday, December 8, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A village funeral
On Thursday, Nov 4th we went to the last day of the funeral rites for Ya's mother in her village about 3 hours south west of Chiang Mai. Ya manages the House of Hope in Sansai and also oversees the House of Hope in Ban Pak Kwee. We left CM around 8:30 AM with Dang, Bev, Resa, Kado, and Kado's girl friend. Resa manages all the sewing, weaving and handicraft production for KA, and in the 9 years has worked long hours to train the villagers and the HIV womens' cooperative how to create high quality products. She spends time in many of the villages and has established a good rapport with the women in several villages. Dang was the first KA employee and most recently was responsible for the 2 year Red Lahu Reproductive Health Initiative. She worked with a team of young Lahu to visit the villages and teach about reproductive health issues in the Lahu language. We hope she can lead the clean water project that will train the villagers about hygiene and sanitation, and how to use the bio-sand filters.
On our way to Ya's village we heard from Ya that so many people had come the night before that we better eat before arriving, so we had lunch at a road side restaurant at 10 am! Ya's village is a relatively large village close to the road between Hod and Mae Sariang.
View Larger Map
Once you leave the Chiang Mai valley the lime stone mountains are steep and covered with bamboo and other trees, with farms mixed in between. Ya's village is next to two other villages and I would guess 200+ houses and 3 temples - 1 for each village.
Thai Buddhist funeral rites usually last from 3, 5 or 7 days, depending on the wealth and status of the family. They are not usually somber events; many, many friends and acquaintances of the deceased and the family come together and spend the time eating, playing cards, etc. throughout the days and the nights.
In the slide show note the tables and chairs on the casket - these will be left at the temple after cremation.
The "little house" is a replica of Ya's house and the items inside will be used by the monks after the cremation. The model house is not burnt.
One side story from our trip was that on the Wednesday night a person from the village drowned, and there is a tradition in the village that if someone dies after the person who is being mourned that person should be cremated first. Since this would disrupt the cremation plans for Ya's mother the solution was to keep the body at the hospital, thus not bringing the body to the village until Ya's mother's cremation was complete.
On our way to Ya's village we heard from Ya that so many people had come the night before that we better eat before arriving, so we had lunch at a road side restaurant at 10 am! Ya's village is a relatively large village close to the road between Hod and Mae Sariang.
View Larger Map
Once you leave the Chiang Mai valley the lime stone mountains are steep and covered with bamboo and other trees, with farms mixed in between. Ya's village is next to two other villages and I would guess 200+ houses and 3 temples - 1 for each village.
Thai Buddhist funeral rites usually last from 3, 5 or 7 days, depending on the wealth and status of the family. They are not usually somber events; many, many friends and acquaintances of the deceased and the family come together and spend the time eating, playing cards, etc. throughout the days and the nights.
In the slide show note the tables and chairs on the casket - these will be left at the temple after cremation.
The "little house" is a replica of Ya's house and the items inside will be used by the monks after the cremation. The model house is not burnt.
One side story from our trip was that on the Wednesday night a person from the village drowned, and there is a tradition in the village that if someone dies after the person who is being mourned that person should be cremated first. Since this would disrupt the cremation plans for Ya's mother the solution was to keep the body at the hospital, thus not bringing the body to the village until Ya's mother's cremation was complete.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Politics Thai Style - New developments 12-2-2008
I am basically posting two articles that describe the situation. Many people have contacted us and are concerned about the killings. Please don't worry. All of the deaths have occurred in the political rallies and protests and there is no danger of us joining in that yet :-)
Hot off the Press - The PAD will leave the airports tomorrow by 10 am our time! Their goal of getting rid of the prime minister was accomplished by the Thai courts! Just added another article from Reuters at the bottom....
The first editorial was from Bloomberg and the second from the BBC
COMMENTARY - Philanthropist Thaksin wants to shape Asia's future
William Pesek
Move over Nelson Mandela. Step aside Bill Clinton. You, too, Bill Gates. Make room for a new thought leader and philanthropist: Thaksin Shinawatra.
That's not a joke, even if it does have TheOnion.com written all over it. Feel free to check for yourself at just how serious the ousted Thai leader is about his fitness to nurture the next generation of Asia's business and financial leaders and help draft development policy in the region.
Thaksin's Building a Better Future Foundation will have offices in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. That may be where extradition officials can find the man facing jail-time back home for a corruption conviction.
Give the man points for thinking big. He has already helped bring a nation to its knees and took on Europe as owner of soccer team Manchester City. (The UK recently revoked his visa.) Shaping Asia's future seems as big a goal as any for this self-made billionaire.
Thaksin is a better example of how not to lead or inspire Asia's future. Just as few would seek the advice of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on political correctness or US President George W Bush on diplomacy, Asians shouldn't look to Thaksin for pointers on building their future.
Look no further than the wreckage he left behind in Asia's eighth-biggest economy. It's disingenuous to blame Thaksin alone for Thailand's political crisis. Thaksin was elected and then went about bastardising Thailand's democracy over a five-year period. He was sentenced to two years in prison for helping his then-wife - the couple divorced last month - buy land from the government. And now he won't go away.
It would have been better if Thaksin had been removed by democratic institutions in 2006 rather than in a coup. And the leadership of the generals who grabbed power was just as opaque and unpredictable as Thaksin's.
More than two years later, the nation's power structure has devolved into a farce. Thailand is awash in the kind of political chaos observers said had become a thing of the past. Protesters have taken airports in Bangkok; Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is Thaksin's brother-in-law, is on the defensive; grenades are going off in the capital; and investors are left with a stark question: Why bother?
The impact to the economy will be pretty severe, says Euben Paracuelles, a Singapore-based economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
The only winners are Indonesia, Vietnam and other developing Asian economies. Thai leaders and the protesters fighting them are seeing to it that investors and corporate executives who planned to bet on Thailand look elsewhere in Asia instead.
It's not that Thailand's $246 billion economy lacks potential, or that great things shouldn't be expected of its 66 million people. Five years ago, Thailand was more of a success story than a cautionary one. Living standards were rising, stocks were buoyant and neighbouring leaders envied Thailand's progress.
That is a distant memory now.
Choosing Mr Somchai as prime minister in September was an act of provocation. It also solidified the view among opposition forces that Thaksin was a shadow leader.
One reason the People's Alliance for Democracy wants PM Somchai to resign is concern that Thaksin is plotting a return to power.
Many see Thaksin's new foundation as an attempt to counter his enemies' portrayal of him as a corrupt leader, says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
Leaders in the capital and the protesters garnering global attention are unwittingly achieving the same goal: knocking the economy off the global radar screen and undermining the very people they purport to be looking out for.
The protesters claim they are the champions of average Thais and yet are trampling on the democratic process, blocking roads and forcing businesses and schools to close. By grabbing Bangkok's airports, they are killing key foreign exchange-earning industries such as tourism.
Most Thais will be worse off five years from now. Government leaders, meanwhile, are in over their heads. Their response to Thailand's worsening crisis has been unsteady at best. It's hardly an inviting environment for investors.
One has to be an extreme optimist to expect a more stable political situation in the short run.
Thais are anxiously awaiting Dec 4, when His Majesty the King will address the nation on the eve of his birthday. He is revered as a symbol of stability in a country that has endured more than 10 coups since ending absolute monarchy in 1932.
The timing of the latest dust-up couldn't be worse. The global credit crisis is infecting Asia with intensifying force. As governments try to shield households from the crisis, Thai leaders are distracted by chaos in the streets.
Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvej said the turmoil may cause damage of about 100 billion baht this quarter.
No single person gets all the blame for where Thailand is today. Yet the leaders of tomorrow should think twice before tapping Thaksin for insights. That is, unless one is looking for examples of how not to run a country.
William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
-------------------------------------------------------------
This is from the BBC describing the latest developments 11/2/08 - today
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Thai court bans ruling party
Thailand's constitutional court has dissolved the governing People Power Party and two of its coalition partners for fraud during the last election.
The parties' leaders, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, were banned from politics for five years.
But under the constitution, most MPs can keep their seats under another party name, and have promised to form another government.
Earlier, an anti-government protester was killed at a Bangkok airport.
Local television reported that a grenade had been fired at Don Mueang airport, the capital's domestic hub, which has been occupied by the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) since last week.
PAD supporters accuse Mr Somchai's administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and want the entire government to resign.
They also accuse Mr Somchai of being a proxy of his brother-in-law, exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Somchai said he accepted the court's verdict.
'Political standard'
Earlier on Tuesday, a protest by hundreds of red-shirted government supporters forced the constitutional court to move its final hearing to Bangkok's administrative courthouse.
After fewer than three hours in session, the head of the nine-judge panel, Chat Chonlaworn, announced that the court had found the People Power Party (PPP), the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of vote-buying, and unanimously agreed to disband them.
Dozens of the PPP's executive members, including Mr Somchai, were also found guilty of personal involvement and banned from politics for five years.
Judge Chat said that he hoped the ruling would "set a political standard".
Outside the court, where a large crowd of pro-government activists had gathered after learning of the relocation, there was a furious reaction.
Prime Minister Somchai's supporters accused the judges of sabotaging democracy and going against the people's will.
Despite the presence of a large number of riot police, the protesters soon blocked all access to the building and vowed not to let the judges out.
One former minister said members of the PPP who had escaped the political ban imposed on its leaders would regroup and form another coalition government.
"The verdict comes as no surprise to all of us," Jakrapob Penkair told the Reuters news agency. "But our members are determined to move on, and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have."
Other PPP members said they would seek a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister on 8 December.
The BBC's Jonathan Head, outside the courthouse, says the court's ruling will provoke anger right throughout the heartland of the government's supporters in the north and north-east.
Shortly after the ruling, the government announced it was postponing a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, due for mid-December, until March.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thai court disbands ruling party
Tue Dec 2, 2008 7:49am EST
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was banned from politics for five years and his party disbanded on Tuesday, plunging the country deeper into chaos and raising fears of a violent backlash by government supporters.
Party members vowed to "move on" and vote for a new prime minister on December 8, setting the stage for another flashpoint in Thailand's three-year old political crisis.
First deputy prime minister Chavarat Charnvirakul would take over as interim prime minister, a government spokesman said.
Unexpectedly, anti-government protesters who had blockaded Bangkok's two airports for the past week said hours after the Constitutional Court's rulings that they would end all their rallies on Wednesday.
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leader Sondhi Limthongkul told a news conference the protesters would start pulling out of Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports on Wednesday.
The PAD had refused to negotiate until Somchai steps down. They accuse him of being a puppet of his brother-in-law, ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
On Monday, the PAD began reinforcing their airport blockades with thousands of supporters moving from Government House, ending a three-month occupation of the prime minister's offices.
The court also disbanded two other parties in Somchai's six-party coalition for vote fraud in the 2007 general election and barred their leaders from politics for five years.
The rulings seemed to raise the risk of clashes between red-shirted government allies, who rallied outside the court as the verdicts were read, and thousands of yellow-shirted PAD protesters who have blockaded Bangkok's airports in a "final battle" to oust Somchai.
Hours before the court decisions, one person was killed and 22 wounded after a grenade was fired at protesters besieging the domestic Don Muang airport.
Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has intervened in previous political crises during his six decades on the throne, made no mention of the country's troubles during a short speech at a Trooping the Color military parade in Bangkok.
The annual ceremony, in which the king speaks about the need for military probity, was a picture of tradition and serenity in marked contrast to the chaos elsewhere in Bangkok.
STRANDED TOURISTS
Around 250,000 foreign tourists have been stranded by the week-long sit-ins at Don Muang and the bigger Suvarnabhumi international airport, which officials said will stay closed until December 15, eating into the key Christmas holiday season.
"The rally has caused massive damage to the country. We will try to open the airport as soon as possible," said Serirat Prasutanond, acting head of Airports of Thailand, before the surprise PAD announcement.
There was some good news for the air cargo industry which ground to a halt during the blockades, costing Thailand hundreds of millions of dollars.
A cargo flight bound for Kuala Lumpur left Suvarnabhumi on Tuesday, a welcome sight for a tourist- and export-dependent economy already suffering from the global financial crisis.
A senior airport official earlier said cargo flights could resume as soon as shippers and airlines were ready.
Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech told Reuters on Monday the economy might be flat next year, or grow by just 1-2 percent, after earlier growth forecasts of between 4-5 percent.
The travel chaos worried neighbors due to attend a regional summit in Thailand in two weeks, prompting the government to postpone the meeting until March 2009, a spokesman said.
The Thai baht edged up against the dollar and the stock market rose on optimism that political unrest might subside after the ruling, but shares soon fell back again.
"It's positive short-term as the government term has ended and the PAD may stop its protest," said Nuchjarin Panarode, an economist at Capital Nomura Securities.
"But in the longer term, there is still uncertainty as we need to wait for a new government and see its policies."
NEW PARLIAMENTARY VOTE
All six parties in the coalition government vowed to stick together and seek a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister on December 8, setting the stage for another potentially violent confrontation in the country's three-year-old political crisis.
Lawmakers who escaped the political ban would move to new "shell" parties to form another ruling coalition, a former minister said.
"The verdict comes as no surprise to all of us," said Jakrapob Penkair, a close associate of Thaksin, who was removed in a bloodless 2006 coup and is now in exile.
"But our members are determined to move on and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have," he told Reuters.
Only a handful of PAD members remained at Government House, where sandbag bunkers and car tires stacked two meters (six feet) high stood around makeshift tarpaulin tents.
Carefully manicured lawns and gardens were hidden by a sea of wooden pallets and cardboard sleeping mats.
PAD supporters left with no hint of remorse or regret.
"We need a new, clean government. We don't want corruption," said Tae Saekuay, a toothless, hunchbacked 67-year-old as he carried a plastic sack of clothes and bedding through the mess. he said.
Hot off the Press - The PAD will leave the airports tomorrow by 10 am our time! Their goal of getting rid of the prime minister was accomplished by the Thai courts! Just added another article from Reuters at the bottom....
The first editorial was from Bloomberg and the second from the BBC
COMMENTARY - Philanthropist Thaksin wants to shape Asia's future
William Pesek
Move over Nelson Mandela. Step aside Bill Clinton. You, too, Bill Gates. Make room for a new thought leader and philanthropist: Thaksin Shinawatra.
That's not a joke, even if it does have TheOnion.com written all over it. Feel free to check for yourself at just how serious the ousted Thai leader is about his fitness to nurture the next generation of Asia's business and financial leaders and help draft development policy in the region.
Thaksin's Building a Better Future Foundation will have offices in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. That may be where extradition officials can find the man facing jail-time back home for a corruption conviction.
Give the man points for thinking big. He has already helped bring a nation to its knees and took on Europe as owner of soccer team Manchester City. (The UK recently revoked his visa.) Shaping Asia's future seems as big a goal as any for this self-made billionaire.
Thaksin is a better example of how not to lead or inspire Asia's future. Just as few would seek the advice of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on political correctness or US President George W Bush on diplomacy, Asians shouldn't look to Thaksin for pointers on building their future.
Look no further than the wreckage he left behind in Asia's eighth-biggest economy. It's disingenuous to blame Thaksin alone for Thailand's political crisis. Thaksin was elected and then went about bastardising Thailand's democracy over a five-year period. He was sentenced to two years in prison for helping his then-wife - the couple divorced last month - buy land from the government. And now he won't go away.
It would have been better if Thaksin had been removed by democratic institutions in 2006 rather than in a coup. And the leadership of the generals who grabbed power was just as opaque and unpredictable as Thaksin's.
More than two years later, the nation's power structure has devolved into a farce. Thailand is awash in the kind of political chaos observers said had become a thing of the past. Protesters have taken airports in Bangkok; Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who is Thaksin's brother-in-law, is on the defensive; grenades are going off in the capital; and investors are left with a stark question: Why bother?
The impact to the economy will be pretty severe, says Euben Paracuelles, a Singapore-based economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
The only winners are Indonesia, Vietnam and other developing Asian economies. Thai leaders and the protesters fighting them are seeing to it that investors and corporate executives who planned to bet on Thailand look elsewhere in Asia instead.
It's not that Thailand's $246 billion economy lacks potential, or that great things shouldn't be expected of its 66 million people. Five years ago, Thailand was more of a success story than a cautionary one. Living standards were rising, stocks were buoyant and neighbouring leaders envied Thailand's progress.
That is a distant memory now.
Choosing Mr Somchai as prime minister in September was an act of provocation. It also solidified the view among opposition forces that Thaksin was a shadow leader.
One reason the People's Alliance for Democracy wants PM Somchai to resign is concern that Thaksin is plotting a return to power.
Many see Thaksin's new foundation as an attempt to counter his enemies' portrayal of him as a corrupt leader, says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University.
Leaders in the capital and the protesters garnering global attention are unwittingly achieving the same goal: knocking the economy off the global radar screen and undermining the very people they purport to be looking out for.
The protesters claim they are the champions of average Thais and yet are trampling on the democratic process, blocking roads and forcing businesses and schools to close. By grabbing Bangkok's airports, they are killing key foreign exchange-earning industries such as tourism.
Most Thais will be worse off five years from now. Government leaders, meanwhile, are in over their heads. Their response to Thailand's worsening crisis has been unsteady at best. It's hardly an inviting environment for investors.
One has to be an extreme optimist to expect a more stable political situation in the short run.
Thais are anxiously awaiting Dec 4, when His Majesty the King will address the nation on the eve of his birthday. He is revered as a symbol of stability in a country that has endured more than 10 coups since ending absolute monarchy in 1932.
The timing of the latest dust-up couldn't be worse. The global credit crisis is infecting Asia with intensifying force. As governments try to shield households from the crisis, Thai leaders are distracted by chaos in the streets.
Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvej said the turmoil may cause damage of about 100 billion baht this quarter.
No single person gets all the blame for where Thailand is today. Yet the leaders of tomorrow should think twice before tapping Thaksin for insights. That is, unless one is looking for examples of how not to run a country.
William Pesek is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
-------------------------------------------------------------
This is from the BBC describing the latest developments 11/2/08 - today
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Thai court bans ruling party
Thailand's constitutional court has dissolved the governing People Power Party and two of its coalition partners for fraud during the last election.
The parties' leaders, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, were banned from politics for five years.
But under the constitution, most MPs can keep their seats under another party name, and have promised to form another government.
Earlier, an anti-government protester was killed at a Bangkok airport.
Local television reported that a grenade had been fired at Don Mueang airport, the capital's domestic hub, which has been occupied by the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) since last week.
PAD supporters accuse Mr Somchai's administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and want the entire government to resign.
They also accuse Mr Somchai of being a proxy of his brother-in-law, exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mr Somchai said he accepted the court's verdict.
'Political standard'
Earlier on Tuesday, a protest by hundreds of red-shirted government supporters forced the constitutional court to move its final hearing to Bangkok's administrative courthouse.
After fewer than three hours in session, the head of the nine-judge panel, Chat Chonlaworn, announced that the court had found the People Power Party (PPP), the Machima Thipatai party and the Chart Thai party guilty of vote-buying, and unanimously agreed to disband them.
Dozens of the PPP's executive members, including Mr Somchai, were also found guilty of personal involvement and banned from politics for five years.
Judge Chat said that he hoped the ruling would "set a political standard".
Outside the court, where a large crowd of pro-government activists had gathered after learning of the relocation, there was a furious reaction.
Prime Minister Somchai's supporters accused the judges of sabotaging democracy and going against the people's will.
Despite the presence of a large number of riot police, the protesters soon blocked all access to the building and vowed not to let the judges out.
One former minister said members of the PPP who had escaped the political ban imposed on its leaders would regroup and form another coalition government.
"The verdict comes as no surprise to all of us," Jakrapob Penkair told the Reuters news agency. "But our members are determined to move on, and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have."
Other PPP members said they would seek a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister on 8 December.
The BBC's Jonathan Head, outside the courthouse, says the court's ruling will provoke anger right throughout the heartland of the government's supporters in the north and north-east.
Shortly after the ruling, the government announced it was postponing a summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, due for mid-December, until March.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thai court disbands ruling party
Tue Dec 2, 2008 7:49am EST
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was banned from politics for five years and his party disbanded on Tuesday, plunging the country deeper into chaos and raising fears of a violent backlash by government supporters.
Party members vowed to "move on" and vote for a new prime minister on December 8, setting the stage for another flashpoint in Thailand's three-year old political crisis.
First deputy prime minister Chavarat Charnvirakul would take over as interim prime minister, a government spokesman said.
Unexpectedly, anti-government protesters who had blockaded Bangkok's two airports for the past week said hours after the Constitutional Court's rulings that they would end all their rallies on Wednesday.
People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leader Sondhi Limthongkul told a news conference the protesters would start pulling out of Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports on Wednesday.
The PAD had refused to negotiate until Somchai steps down. They accuse him of being a puppet of his brother-in-law, ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
On Monday, the PAD began reinforcing their airport blockades with thousands of supporters moving from Government House, ending a three-month occupation of the prime minister's offices.
The court also disbanded two other parties in Somchai's six-party coalition for vote fraud in the 2007 general election and barred their leaders from politics for five years.
The rulings seemed to raise the risk of clashes between red-shirted government allies, who rallied outside the court as the verdicts were read, and thousands of yellow-shirted PAD protesters who have blockaded Bangkok's airports in a "final battle" to oust Somchai.
Hours before the court decisions, one person was killed and 22 wounded after a grenade was fired at protesters besieging the domestic Don Muang airport.
Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has intervened in previous political crises during his six decades on the throne, made no mention of the country's troubles during a short speech at a Trooping the Color military parade in Bangkok.
The annual ceremony, in which the king speaks about the need for military probity, was a picture of tradition and serenity in marked contrast to the chaos elsewhere in Bangkok.
STRANDED TOURISTS
Around 250,000 foreign tourists have been stranded by the week-long sit-ins at Don Muang and the bigger Suvarnabhumi international airport, which officials said will stay closed until December 15, eating into the key Christmas holiday season.
"The rally has caused massive damage to the country. We will try to open the airport as soon as possible," said Serirat Prasutanond, acting head of Airports of Thailand, before the surprise PAD announcement.
There was some good news for the air cargo industry which ground to a halt during the blockades, costing Thailand hundreds of millions of dollars.
A cargo flight bound for Kuala Lumpur left Suvarnabhumi on Tuesday, a welcome sight for a tourist- and export-dependent economy already suffering from the global financial crisis.
A senior airport official earlier said cargo flights could resume as soon as shippers and airlines were ready.
Finance Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech told Reuters on Monday the economy might be flat next year, or grow by just 1-2 percent, after earlier growth forecasts of between 4-5 percent.
The travel chaos worried neighbors due to attend a regional summit in Thailand in two weeks, prompting the government to postpone the meeting until March 2009, a spokesman said.
The Thai baht edged up against the dollar and the stock market rose on optimism that political unrest might subside after the ruling, but shares soon fell back again.
"It's positive short-term as the government term has ended and the PAD may stop its protest," said Nuchjarin Panarode, an economist at Capital Nomura Securities.
"But in the longer term, there is still uncertainty as we need to wait for a new government and see its policies."
NEW PARLIAMENTARY VOTE
All six parties in the coalition government vowed to stick together and seek a parliamentary vote for a new prime minister on December 8, setting the stage for another potentially violent confrontation in the country's three-year-old political crisis.
Lawmakers who escaped the political ban would move to new "shell" parties to form another ruling coalition, a former minister said.
"The verdict comes as no surprise to all of us," said Jakrapob Penkair, a close associate of Thaksin, who was removed in a bloodless 2006 coup and is now in exile.
"But our members are determined to move on and we will form a government again out of the majority that we believe we still have," he told Reuters.
Only a handful of PAD members remained at Government House, where sandbag bunkers and car tires stacked two meters (six feet) high stood around makeshift tarpaulin tents.
Carefully manicured lawns and gardens were hidden by a sea of wooden pallets and cardboard sleeping mats.
PAD supporters left with no hint of remorse or regret.
"We need a new, clean government. We don't want corruption," said Tae Saekuay, a toothless, hunchbacked 67-year-old as he carried a plastic sack of clothes and bedding through the mess. he said.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Day trip to Lampang
One Saturday we rented a car and took a day-trip to Lampang, an ancient town about 60 miles south or Chiang Mai. It dates from the 7th C., and was originally a Mon fortified town with the traditional oval moat and city wall fortifications located on the Wang River. In addition it had four strategically fortified outer settlements [ wiang ]. Lampang formed part of the Haripunchai Empire. During the 19th and 20th Centuries it was an important center for the teak trade, and the British-owned timber companies brought in many workers from Burma. Hence, the style of the temples seen in Lampang show Burmese influence in their design.
The most impressive site is Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. The Viharn is reported to be the oldest existing wooden building in Thailand and was built around 1476. This was one of the four wiangs and the site of numerous battles. It became a Burmese garrison in 1729. The Viharn was originally constructed in the 13th C and rebuilt in 1802 and the Chedi was enlarged in 1449 and 1496. Both are spectacular and are set in a walled wiang, high on an earthen mound of medieval appearance. The Lan Na art and architecture is outstanding and the fortification remains of three ramparts and two moats are impressive as well.
Wat Chedi Sao, the temple of 20 Burmese chedis, was peaceful and interesting too.
Temples in Thailand seem to collect all kinds of statues and other gifts so you might find anything around the temple. There was also a small temple with a solid gold Buddha statue in the grounds.
We enjoyed a nice walk through the Saturday market on the Old Market Street. Lots of beautiful old houses and guest houses,made of wood and decorated with lovely carvings,lined the streets.
Lampang is now a "sleepy" town with not the development seen in Chiang Mai and it made a lovely day-trip.
The most impressive site is Wat Phra That Lampang Luang. The Viharn is reported to be the oldest existing wooden building in Thailand and was built around 1476. This was one of the four wiangs and the site of numerous battles. It became a Burmese garrison in 1729. The Viharn was originally constructed in the 13th C and rebuilt in 1802 and the Chedi was enlarged in 1449 and 1496. Both are spectacular and are set in a walled wiang, high on an earthen mound of medieval appearance. The Lan Na art and architecture is outstanding and the fortification remains of three ramparts and two moats are impressive as well.
Wat Chedi Sao, the temple of 20 Burmese chedis, was peaceful and interesting too.
Temples in Thailand seem to collect all kinds of statues and other gifts so you might find anything around the temple. There was also a small temple with a solid gold Buddha statue in the grounds.
We enjoyed a nice walk through the Saturday market on the Old Market Street. Lots of beautiful old houses and guest houses,made of wood and decorated with lovely carvings,lined the streets.
Lampang is now a "sleepy" town with not the development seen in Chiang Mai and it made a lovely day-trip.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Red shirts VS yellow shirts
Politically things are crazy but we are fine. Airports closed etc but life goes on. Went to a New Years celebration for a ethnic group called the Thai Yai or Shan who live in Burma and NW Thailand. The Shan are fighting the Burmese military to have their own land but are out gunned for sure. More Shan links Here and Here. We were going out for Thanksgiving dinner with friends when we found out that the people we were sharing a ride with were going to a temple where the Shan new year celebration was taking place. So after our Indian curry and garlic nan Thanksgiving dinner we went back to see what was going on. They sure didn't seem to be worrying at their temple fair! We had to buy a 90 cent entry ticket and the police were frisking for, I assume, alcohol at the gate. There were many, many, many food booths and also people selling Shan clothes, music and video CDs. There was a live stage show with modern Shan and traditional dances. The competing sound systems were deafening and unintelligible. (All of the announcements etc were in the Shan or Burmese language - I think - I know it was not Thai) This was all taking part in a Shan temple which we will revisit as it looked very interesting and had an unusual stupa. Lots of candles and offerings all around the stupa too.
The political situation is another matter; the politicians,their parties and followers are all jostling for power. Basically there are two players: the PPP - People Power Party or red shirts (the supporters of this party wear red T-shirts) who support the current government. This government is the remnants of the over thrown government from the last coup and which the opposition says is a puppet of the former prime minister, Taksin. He is in exile both because of the coup and because he has been convicted of tax evasion. The first prime minister of this government was forced to resign because he was guilty of working privately while in office. The job he had was doing a cooking show on TV. The current prime minister is the brother-in-law of Taksin.
On the other side of the ring is the PAD - Peoples Alliance for Democracy or the Democratic party. They are the yellow shirts. They have been demonstrating for months to try to get the current government to call a new election. They have been trying to bring down the government by occupying the parliament and other tactics. The government has tried to crack down and a month or so ago very ineptly sent in riot police and used excessive force and 7 people died. This has only increased the determination of the PAD to force a new election. Since the government couldn't work at the parliament they moved to a temporary location at the old airport. The current tactic of the PAD was to demonstrate at both airports to again try to force a new election. However, the PPP or current government closed the airports, probably to create a crisis, and to allow the police and military to clear the demonstrators. The PAD claim they were demonstrating and there was no need to close the airports. Closing the airports is causing huge financial losses both for the airlines and the tourism business which is already down due to the negative news from here.
There have been some incidents of grenades lobbed into the PAD demonstrations and people have died as a result. The PAD claim they are shot from the police head quarters and there is some reason to believe this.
On Thursday the prime minister returned from Peru to Chiang Mai (his home town and Taksin's too) and had a cabinet meeting here instead of Bangkok. Now he has declared a State of Emergency at both the Bangkok airports to give the police and some military the power to end the demonstrations.
There is a lot that we don't know and lots and lots of rumors flying everywhere. I guess the advantage of being an expat is our ignorance and detachment from the political process. Our Thai friends have hardly slept the last month following the situation. It has affected us in that we had planned to go to Bangkok to a funeral of a good friend who died suddenly last Sunday. We had air tickets :-(
Well that is all for now. We are well and volunteering at Kids Ark and many of you will get a "appeal" request for Kids Ark this year as we are setting up a 501c3 foundation so donations will be tax deductible.
Help if you can - that is all anyone can do.
Tom and Bev
The political situation is another matter; the politicians,their parties and followers are all jostling for power. Basically there are two players: the PPP - People Power Party or red shirts (the supporters of this party wear red T-shirts) who support the current government. This government is the remnants of the over thrown government from the last coup and which the opposition says is a puppet of the former prime minister, Taksin. He is in exile both because of the coup and because he has been convicted of tax evasion. The first prime minister of this government was forced to resign because he was guilty of working privately while in office. The job he had was doing a cooking show on TV. The current prime minister is the brother-in-law of Taksin.
On the other side of the ring is the PAD - Peoples Alliance for Democracy or the Democratic party. They are the yellow shirts. They have been demonstrating for months to try to get the current government to call a new election. They have been trying to bring down the government by occupying the parliament and other tactics. The government has tried to crack down and a month or so ago very ineptly sent in riot police and used excessive force and 7 people died. This has only increased the determination of the PAD to force a new election. Since the government couldn't work at the parliament they moved to a temporary location at the old airport. The current tactic of the PAD was to demonstrate at both airports to again try to force a new election. However, the PPP or current government closed the airports, probably to create a crisis, and to allow the police and military to clear the demonstrators. The PAD claim they were demonstrating and there was no need to close the airports. Closing the airports is causing huge financial losses both for the airlines and the tourism business which is already down due to the negative news from here.
There have been some incidents of grenades lobbed into the PAD demonstrations and people have died as a result. The PAD claim they are shot from the police head quarters and there is some reason to believe this.
On Thursday the prime minister returned from Peru to Chiang Mai (his home town and Taksin's too) and had a cabinet meeting here instead of Bangkok. Now he has declared a State of Emergency at both the Bangkok airports to give the police and some military the power to end the demonstrations.
There is a lot that we don't know and lots and lots of rumors flying everywhere. I guess the advantage of being an expat is our ignorance and detachment from the political process. Our Thai friends have hardly slept the last month following the situation. It has affected us in that we had planned to go to Bangkok to a funeral of a good friend who died suddenly last Sunday. We had air tickets :-(
Well that is all for now. We are well and volunteering at Kids Ark and many of you will get a "appeal" request for Kids Ark this year as we are setting up a 501c3 foundation so donations will be tax deductible.
Help if you can - that is all anyone can do.
Tom and Bev
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Loy Krathong 2008
We had Loy Krathong celebrations for the past 3 nights, Nov 11-13. A Krathong is a circular boat made of banana leaves and decorated with flowers, candles, and incense in it. They can be of all sizes, and last night we went to see the parade of the "big" krathongs. These are the floats and they were amazing. The traditional ones made of leaves and flowers were beautiful, but they were some fancy huge ones with built in lights and a generator for the lights and a sound system that leaves you deaf. Those were not really beautiful - just garish! See the video below to see what we mean. This time in the parade there were lots of traditional drummers which was fun, and a lot of floats being "pulled" by boys.
This is a big holiday here with fireworks and firecrackers all over the place for much of the day and night! People line the streets with small candles lit in front of their stores or homes, and the night sky is full of small hot air type cylinders glowing in the sky - very very beautiful, though dangerous for aircraft. The flame is created by a circle of wax-coated cardboard that will burn for quite a while
Actually these "kum loys" are not so small -2-4 ft high and 2-3 feet in diameter. Sometimes fireworks are also attached to the launch, and there is a "competition" to see how many can be attached. If you attach too many you get "failure to launch" and things start exploding on the ground! You will see this in the first section of the video.
The sights and sounds of the parade are a challenge to the senses - sometimes very bright and flashy floats, and at other times, dark but exotic designs using plant leaves and flowers etc. The huge sound systems assault the ears with music or an announcer describing the theme of the float. Oh! and let's not forget the fire crackers that are being exploded in the side streets and temple grounds. People here are much more willing to have them explode at their feet than we are! Also we see quite young kids being allowed to "play" with them.
Photos of the event below
Videos from the parade
This is a big holiday here with fireworks and firecrackers all over the place for much of the day and night! People line the streets with small candles lit in front of their stores or homes, and the night sky is full of small hot air type cylinders glowing in the sky - very very beautiful, though dangerous for aircraft. The flame is created by a circle of wax-coated cardboard that will burn for quite a while
Actually these "kum loys" are not so small -2-4 ft high and 2-3 feet in diameter. Sometimes fireworks are also attached to the launch, and there is a "competition" to see how many can be attached. If you attach too many you get "failure to launch" and things start exploding on the ground! You will see this in the first section of the video.
The sights and sounds of the parade are a challenge to the senses - sometimes very bright and flashy floats, and at other times, dark but exotic designs using plant leaves and flowers etc. The huge sound systems assault the ears with music or an announcer describing the theme of the float. Oh! and let's not forget the fire crackers that are being exploded in the side streets and temple grounds. People here are much more willing to have them explode at their feet than we are! Also we see quite young kids being allowed to "play" with them.
Photos of the event below
Videos from the parade
Monday, October 27, 2008
West heading East 2008
We are leaving for Thailand today so I am restarting the blog. I will try to make it as interesting as possible but you get what you pay for!
It is getting COLD in New hampshire and we are looking forward to seeing everyone at Kids Ark Thailand and of course eating Thai food. We hope to visit some sponsored children, Bev is planning to teach knitting and I am hoping we can explore putting biosand water filters in some homes in the villages to make sure the water is clean.
This summer we have almost finished setting up Kids Ark USA as a 501c3 organization and that will allow people in the US to get a tax deduction when contributing.
Below are some fall pictures from the west and the east to get a feeling of the fall colors which were particularly good this year! (Do we say that every year?) Finally fun/funny pictures and video of a Trebuchet or Catapult.
Northern Arizona Fall pictures from my sister Duffie and Flagstaff, Arizona (West)
New Hampshire Fall pictures from New Hampshire around Hancock, New hampshire (East)
All about Catapults (trebuchet)
http://www.yankeesiege.com/
Each fall a garden store in a town near Hancock shows their catapult in action to attract customers. This ancient tool of war which used to heave rocks or buring bombs over castle walls now throws 10 lb ( 4 kg) pumpkins at a castle for fun not warfare! They also travel and compete with other crazy people in a national contest.
Here are some photographs of this huge toy and then a video below. It takes them a half an hour to wind up the weight before they can shoot it so it is not a rapid fire device! The counter weight is 12,000 pounds or 5500 kg and throws the pumpkin 2100 feet or 640 meters
Pictures:
Video of it working:
It is getting COLD in New hampshire and we are looking forward to seeing everyone at Kids Ark Thailand and of course eating Thai food. We hope to visit some sponsored children, Bev is planning to teach knitting and I am hoping we can explore putting biosand water filters in some homes in the villages to make sure the water is clean.
This summer we have almost finished setting up Kids Ark USA as a 501c3 organization and that will allow people in the US to get a tax deduction when contributing.
Below are some fall pictures from the west and the east to get a feeling of the fall colors which were particularly good this year! (Do we say that every year?) Finally fun/funny pictures and video of a Trebuchet or Catapult.
Northern Arizona Fall pictures from my sister Duffie and Flagstaff, Arizona (West)
New Hampshire Fall pictures from New Hampshire around Hancock, New hampshire (East)
All about Catapults (trebuchet)
http://www.yankeesiege.com/
Each fall a garden store in a town near Hancock shows their catapult in action to attract customers. This ancient tool of war which used to heave rocks or buring bombs over castle walls now throws 10 lb ( 4 kg) pumpkins at a castle for fun not warfare! They also travel and compete with other crazy people in a national contest.
Here are some photographs of this huge toy and then a video below. It takes them a half an hour to wind up the weight before they can shoot it so it is not a rapid fire device! The counter weight is 12,000 pounds or 5500 kg and throws the pumpkin 2100 feet or 640 meters
Pictures:
Video of it working:
Friday, September 26, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Emma Huckabone's blog of her first over night with her NH grandparents
Well my mom and dad are going away from Thursday Aug 28, 2008 to Sunday to celebrate my dad's birthday and so I am going to stay with my grandparents in Hancock, New Hampshire.
On Thursday grandpa and I left from East Haddam and drove non-stop to Peterborough, NH. I slept about an hour of the 2 and a half hours. To kill time I played with my water bottle and emptied most of it on my car seat and my dress. It was lots of fun! Granny met us in Peterborough for lunch and grandpa tried to make me eat ice cream for lunch but I insisted on eating soup and some egg salad sandwich.
After lunch we went to Hancock where I will stay until Sunday....So far so good
Well I wasn't so tired so I went for an afternoon nap but just played in my crib. So after that we played and then grandpa cooked tofu with green beans from our garden and carrots. It was good and then granny made me some yummy fruit salad. Once again grandpa tried to get me to eat just ice cream for dinner!
After dinner we played a little but I was tired at 7:30pm and went to bed.
On Friday I slept until 7:30am. At breakfast I once again had to refuse the ice cream and had some great oatmeal with dates, walnuts and apricots and some great fruit salad again. I love those blueberries!
After breakfast we all went for a long walk. First we walked to Kin's garden and then walked back by the house and down "heart break hill", past 137 to Old Mill Road to Long view road and then back to 137 to town and then up Norway hill. I slept for over an hour so I missed some of the scenery. Both granny and grandpa had to push me up Norway hill and they looked HOT!
When we got home I had a surprise for them in my pants so after a little clean up I had a fun bath. See the video below......
Here are some pictures too:
For lunch we had bean soup that granny made but the sausage was too spicy for me! I won't even tell you what grandpa tried to fool me to eat! After lunch I had a great nap and slept over 2 hours. When I woke up guess what grandpa tried to feed me! He just doesn't learn! Anyway I had some yogurt which looked like ice cream. Then we went for another short walk to pick up some eggs from Kin and take some more garbage to the compost pile. Granny pushed my stroller and grandpa went on his segway helping to push as we came back up the hill. We also looked in the chicken coop at Kins house too!
For dinner Mary Hofheimer came over but Laura didn't come so I was stuck with the "old folks" (that's why Laura didn't come). I was quite shy with Mary but had a good dinner of corn, barbecued chicken and bok choy (which was too green for me) and rice. Guess what I had for dessert? ....... Ice Cream ........ not really it was Granny's fruit salad again!
After Mary left we played with blocks and tug of war with grandpa and then hit the sack at almost 8:30! (Hey I had a long nap!)
to be continued on Saturday ....
Well Saturday was BUSY! I slept until 7:30am and after ice cream omelet and some fruit salad we went to the Hancock dump which grandpa says was a fun place to go but I didn't really understand his enthusiasm! Then we went to the farmers' market and bought some fantastic cinnamon bread and more of my favorite fruit - blueberries!
Then we went home for a while and then headed to Peterborough. Grandpa had to buy a new router - what ever that is - and then we went to the Peterborough play ground. It has a huge sand box with some great trucks that would make my dad proud. Then I tried the slide and was really getting good at sliding down as long as grandpa lifted me to the top. I tried a swing but that was too scary and also did some "parallel play" with some other kids. It was a fun place but all good things must come to an end so we headed back to Hancock and I fell asleep on the way there. Grandpa took me up for a nap and I slept for about 1 1/2 hrs.
When I woke up grandpa made me some lunch and we hung out playing while granny watched tennis. She really gets excited about it! At about 3pm we decided to go walking again as the sun was trying to come out. As we drove by Kin's the chickens were out so we stopped to watch them but we couldn't get too close. It was fun to watch them. Then we drove down to the elementary school and I got into the carriage and we walked to the store and had a little snack at Fiddleheads. Granny wanted to have ice cream so we all shared one scoop of chocolate. It was gooooood!
After the ice cream we went to the Hancock play ground and I tried their slide but I didn't have my jeans on so sliding didn't work too well, and anyway it started to drizzle so we went home.
At about 6pm we got dressed up to go out for dinner at Granny and grandpa's friends Paul and Joan. Marsha and Ed Morrow and another couple were there too. Thank goodness they had hummus for snack because I was getting hungry! Paul was cooking really slowly so luckily granny brought leftovers from lunch and fed me before the old folks ate!
When the grownups finally ate I sat at the table and tried a few things but I was basically full until dessert arrived. Luckily, the special dessert compartment that I inherited from Mom was ready for... ice cream and brownies! I figured it was OK since I had resisted all the other offers from Grandpa! Granny and Grandpa shared their plates with me so I didn't eat too much!
Paul and Joan's house was fun because they have thick carpets and a rocking chair in a room near the dining room. I had a great time running back and forth and screaming which made everyone laugh and say I was "cute".
We finally left at 9 pm and I talked all the way to Hancock. Boy was I wound up. Anyway Granny read me a book and I went out like a light! Tomorrow mom and dad come to pick me up!
Below is a slide show from today.
Well Sunday should be fun. There is the annual Antrim road block party in the afternoon. I will report more news tomorrow.
Sunday August 31st
I woke up at about 8 am and had oatmeal with yogurt as my first breakfast. Then we got ready for a walk and I made sure they put on my jeans so we could go to the slide! So we walked down heart break hill, through the woods (a very bumpy trail) to the cemetery and then to the Hancock playground. The slide was wet so we had to wait a while to use it, so I wondered around trying some other challenges. This playground is for older kids so there are not so may things for me to do there. Anyway we did have some good runs on the slide and then off to get the Sunday paper and for Grandpa to have his weekly dose of "Messy Eggs". I was waiting for him to offer me ice cream but all he would do is share some of his potatoes and toast. The eggs looked way too messy for me! Then we headed up Norway hill. I seem to be getting them in shape as they didn't seem as hot this time. Then we went and had an outside shower on the deck. I can see why my great grandmother like outside showers! After getting dressed I went in for a nap at about 11 am. After lunch we went to the Friendly Farm in Dublin and fed and pet the animals. It was lots of fun but sometimes the goats and sheep were kind of pushy!
Well I had a great surprise because my Mom and Dad came back and we all went to the Hancock block party. I have added a few pictures to the slides below.
All in all I was a great guest - of course I am unbiased - but my Grandpa and Grandma said I was great and lots of people said I was cute so there!
Here are some pictures from Sunday below:
I was so busy I am going to need a vacation when I get home!
Sincerely,
Emma Mei Huckabone
August 31, 2008
On Thursday grandpa and I left from East Haddam and drove non-stop to Peterborough, NH. I slept about an hour of the 2 and a half hours. To kill time I played with my water bottle and emptied most of it on my car seat and my dress. It was lots of fun! Granny met us in Peterborough for lunch and grandpa tried to make me eat ice cream for lunch but I insisted on eating soup and some egg salad sandwich.
After lunch we went to Hancock where I will stay until Sunday....So far so good
Well I wasn't so tired so I went for an afternoon nap but just played in my crib. So after that we played and then grandpa cooked tofu with green beans from our garden and carrots. It was good and then granny made me some yummy fruit salad. Once again grandpa tried to get me to eat just ice cream for dinner!
After dinner we played a little but I was tired at 7:30pm and went to bed.
On Friday I slept until 7:30am. At breakfast I once again had to refuse the ice cream and had some great oatmeal with dates, walnuts and apricots and some great fruit salad again. I love those blueberries!
After breakfast we all went for a long walk. First we walked to Kin's garden and then walked back by the house and down "heart break hill", past 137 to Old Mill Road to Long view road and then back to 137 to town and then up Norway hill. I slept for over an hour so I missed some of the scenery. Both granny and grandpa had to push me up Norway hill and they looked HOT!
When we got home I had a surprise for them in my pants so after a little clean up I had a fun bath. See the video below......
Here are some pictures too:
For lunch we had bean soup that granny made but the sausage was too spicy for me! I won't even tell you what grandpa tried to fool me to eat! After lunch I had a great nap and slept over 2 hours. When I woke up guess what grandpa tried to feed me! He just doesn't learn! Anyway I had some yogurt which looked like ice cream. Then we went for another short walk to pick up some eggs from Kin and take some more garbage to the compost pile. Granny pushed my stroller and grandpa went on his segway helping to push as we came back up the hill. We also looked in the chicken coop at Kins house too!
For dinner Mary Hofheimer came over but Laura didn't come so I was stuck with the "old folks" (that's why Laura didn't come). I was quite shy with Mary but had a good dinner of corn, barbecued chicken and bok choy (which was too green for me) and rice. Guess what I had for dessert? ....... Ice Cream ........ not really it was Granny's fruit salad again!
After Mary left we played with blocks and tug of war with grandpa and then hit the sack at almost 8:30! (Hey I had a long nap!)
to be continued on Saturday ....
Well Saturday was BUSY! I slept until 7:30am and after ice cream omelet and some fruit salad we went to the Hancock dump which grandpa says was a fun place to go but I didn't really understand his enthusiasm! Then we went to the farmers' market and bought some fantastic cinnamon bread and more of my favorite fruit - blueberries!
Then we went home for a while and then headed to Peterborough. Grandpa had to buy a new router - what ever that is - and then we went to the Peterborough play ground. It has a huge sand box with some great trucks that would make my dad proud. Then I tried the slide and was really getting good at sliding down as long as grandpa lifted me to the top. I tried a swing but that was too scary and also did some "parallel play" with some other kids. It was a fun place but all good things must come to an end so we headed back to Hancock and I fell asleep on the way there. Grandpa took me up for a nap and I slept for about 1 1/2 hrs.
When I woke up grandpa made me some lunch and we hung out playing while granny watched tennis. She really gets excited about it! At about 3pm we decided to go walking again as the sun was trying to come out. As we drove by Kin's the chickens were out so we stopped to watch them but we couldn't get too close. It was fun to watch them. Then we drove down to the elementary school and I got into the carriage and we walked to the store and had a little snack at Fiddleheads. Granny wanted to have ice cream so we all shared one scoop of chocolate. It was gooooood!
After the ice cream we went to the Hancock play ground and I tried their slide but I didn't have my jeans on so sliding didn't work too well, and anyway it started to drizzle so we went home.
At about 6pm we got dressed up to go out for dinner at Granny and grandpa's friends Paul and Joan. Marsha and Ed Morrow and another couple were there too. Thank goodness they had hummus for snack because I was getting hungry! Paul was cooking really slowly so luckily granny brought leftovers from lunch and fed me before the old folks ate!
When the grownups finally ate I sat at the table and tried a few things but I was basically full until dessert arrived. Luckily, the special dessert compartment that I inherited from Mom was ready for... ice cream and brownies! I figured it was OK since I had resisted all the other offers from Grandpa! Granny and Grandpa shared their plates with me so I didn't eat too much!
Paul and Joan's house was fun because they have thick carpets and a rocking chair in a room near the dining room. I had a great time running back and forth and screaming which made everyone laugh and say I was "cute".
We finally left at 9 pm and I talked all the way to Hancock. Boy was I wound up. Anyway Granny read me a book and I went out like a light! Tomorrow mom and dad come to pick me up!
Below is a slide show from today.
Well Sunday should be fun. There is the annual Antrim road block party in the afternoon. I will report more news tomorrow.
Sunday August 31st
I woke up at about 8 am and had oatmeal with yogurt as my first breakfast. Then we got ready for a walk and I made sure they put on my jeans so we could go to the slide! So we walked down heart break hill, through the woods (a very bumpy trail) to the cemetery and then to the Hancock playground. The slide was wet so we had to wait a while to use it, so I wondered around trying some other challenges. This playground is for older kids so there are not so may things for me to do there. Anyway we did have some good runs on the slide and then off to get the Sunday paper and for Grandpa to have his weekly dose of "Messy Eggs". I was waiting for him to offer me ice cream but all he would do is share some of his potatoes and toast. The eggs looked way too messy for me! Then we headed up Norway hill. I seem to be getting them in shape as they didn't seem as hot this time. Then we went and had an outside shower on the deck. I can see why my great grandmother like outside showers! After getting dressed I went in for a nap at about 11 am. After lunch we went to the Friendly Farm in Dublin and fed and pet the animals. It was lots of fun but sometimes the goats and sheep were kind of pushy!
Well I had a great surprise because my Mom and Dad came back and we all went to the Hancock block party. I have added a few pictures to the slides below.
All in all I was a great guest - of course I am unbiased - but my Grandpa and Grandma said I was great and lots of people said I was cute so there!
Here are some pictures from Sunday below:
I was so busy I am going to need a vacation when I get home!
Sincerely,
Emma Mei Huckabone
August 31, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Yikes we are back in the US !
Well we have been back in the US since 15th of April. The last 2-3 weeks before we left Thailand were very busy as we left Chiang Mai on April 4th and then spent 10 days in Bangkok. We attended almost 6 days of Dhamma discussions with friends, some of whom came from Hong Kong, Canada and Australia. There is a whole cadre of friends who studied Abidhamma with Ajahn Suchin 30 years ago who seem to be coming back to these meetings.
The final weeks in Chiang Mai were very hectic because we wanted to finish some of our projects. One thing we have not done in the Blog was to talk about Kids Ark Foundation where we volunteered most of the time. One way to learn about Kids Ark is to watch the presentation we did for the princess of Sweden who came on behalf of a charitable group.
You can watch it on-line (You may need to download a viewer program so click whatever you need to do; it will prompt you once you click the link below)
The address is: http://www.kidsarkfoundation.org/kafen.html
We could not have found a better organization to work with! The founders, Rita and Allan from Sweden, our friend Ron from New Hampshire and the Thai staff are all a great team. Kids Ark is a very busy organization that does many things to help poor children receive the education they need so as to be able to escape the cycle of poverty. Most of these children are from ethnic minorities (hill-tribes); their parents have died of Aids, so to encourage school-attendance and to enable them to stay with their extended families instead of being sent to orphanages, Kids Ark has a sponsorship program for the children.
Funding for Kids Ark comes from Swedish donations, sponsors for children and grants. We are planning to setup a Kids Ark USA 501c3 foundation so people here can make tax deductible donations and sponsor children. In fact, have brought back some student profiles to look for sponsors here. All of the students we brought back were initially sponsored, but for various reasons their sponsorship stopped. If any of you are interested in "picking up the ball" please, please contact me. Kids Ark does a very thorough job of monitoring the students school attendance and performance. The staff visit the children 4 times a year, and 2 times a year reports are sent to the sponsors. The 5 person staff of Kids Ark do almost 1200 visits a year! Many students live over 3 hours away in villages which are not always easily accessible. Visiting the students, their relatives/care givers and teachers is a time consuming task. They interview the student, caregiver and teachers to make sure there are no problems at home or school.
Some of the other projects we worked on were: Updating the website to better describe Kids Ark (still in progress), redoing their brochure in English and Thai - Done! Created a slide show for visitors, and helping Red Lahu ethnic minority villages that Kids Ark supports with various projects. Tom also helped with some IT issues with their network and hopefully instituted a backup regime. We also created a database of sponsors, students and the other needed information, and taught the staff how to extract that information for reports, letters, labels etc. Not everything we wanted to accomplish was finished, and, as Beverly remarked towards the end of our stay, "Gee, we are working more hours here than we did at Compucare!"
On our return it took about a week to get our sleep patterns back to normal. A few days after returning we went to the taping of a radio show Wait Wait Don't Tell Me in Hartford CT with Amara. It was interesting and fun to be in the audience at the taping of a radio show. The host Peter Sagal is very funny and the jokes about Bush meeting the Pope were fantastic. You can listen to the show by clicking the link above. On our return, we welcomed Danny, a Rotary exchange student from Indonesia, to stay with us until the end of June . He has survived a long and very snowy winter! When we arrived home most of the snow was gone and the daffodils and crocus were blooming. Now the forsythia is in full bloom so we know spring is here, even though we still think it is too cold!
It has been fun seeing friends and just doing projects we have been meaning to do for 20 years :-) Going to the supermarket still seems like going to another planet but we are settling back in quite well.
We do plan to return to Chiang Mai and Kids Ark Foundation at the end of October for another 6 month stint but also plan to do more traveling in the region.
It has been fun writing the "Blogs", we will see if we can continue in Nov 2008 when we return.
tom and bev
The final weeks in Chiang Mai were very hectic because we wanted to finish some of our projects. One thing we have not done in the Blog was to talk about Kids Ark Foundation where we volunteered most of the time. One way to learn about Kids Ark is to watch the presentation we did for the princess of Sweden who came on behalf of a charitable group.
You can watch it on-line (You may need to download a viewer program so click whatever you need to do; it will prompt you once you click the link below)
The address is: http://www.kidsarkfoundation.org/kafen.html
We could not have found a better organization to work with! The founders, Rita and Allan from Sweden, our friend Ron from New Hampshire and the Thai staff are all a great team. Kids Ark is a very busy organization that does many things to help poor children receive the education they need so as to be able to escape the cycle of poverty. Most of these children are from ethnic minorities (hill-tribes); their parents have died of Aids, so to encourage school-attendance and to enable them to stay with their extended families instead of being sent to orphanages, Kids Ark has a sponsorship program for the children.
Funding for Kids Ark comes from Swedish donations, sponsors for children and grants. We are planning to setup a Kids Ark USA 501c3 foundation so people here can make tax deductible donations and sponsor children. In fact, have brought back some student profiles to look for sponsors here. All of the students we brought back were initially sponsored, but for various reasons their sponsorship stopped. If any of you are interested in "picking up the ball" please, please contact me. Kids Ark does a very thorough job of monitoring the students school attendance and performance. The staff visit the children 4 times a year, and 2 times a year reports are sent to the sponsors. The 5 person staff of Kids Ark do almost 1200 visits a year! Many students live over 3 hours away in villages which are not always easily accessible. Visiting the students, their relatives/care givers and teachers is a time consuming task. They interview the student, caregiver and teachers to make sure there are no problems at home or school.
Some of the other projects we worked on were: Updating the website to better describe Kids Ark (still in progress), redoing their brochure in English and Thai - Done! Created a slide show for visitors, and helping Red Lahu ethnic minority villages that Kids Ark supports with various projects. Tom also helped with some IT issues with their network and hopefully instituted a backup regime. We also created a database of sponsors, students and the other needed information, and taught the staff how to extract that information for reports, letters, labels etc. Not everything we wanted to accomplish was finished, and, as Beverly remarked towards the end of our stay, "Gee, we are working more hours here than we did at Compucare!"
On our return it took about a week to get our sleep patterns back to normal. A few days after returning we went to the taping of a radio show Wait Wait Don't Tell Me in Hartford CT with Amara. It was interesting and fun to be in the audience at the taping of a radio show. The host Peter Sagal is very funny and the jokes about Bush meeting the Pope were fantastic. You can listen to the show by clicking the link above. On our return, we welcomed Danny, a Rotary exchange student from Indonesia, to stay with us until the end of June . He has survived a long and very snowy winter! When we arrived home most of the snow was gone and the daffodils and crocus were blooming. Now the forsythia is in full bloom so we know spring is here, even though we still think it is too cold!
It has been fun seeing friends and just doing projects we have been meaning to do for 20 years :-) Going to the supermarket still seems like going to another planet but we are settling back in quite well.
We do plan to return to Chiang Mai and Kids Ark Foundation at the end of October for another 6 month stint but also plan to do more traveling in the region.
It has been fun writing the "Blogs", we will see if we can continue in Nov 2008 when we return.
tom and bev
Thursday, March 6, 2008
March 2008
It's been a fun start to March as we rented a motorcycle for 3 days over the weekend of March 1st, and then I went up to one of the Lahu villages on Wednesday, March 5th to try to help the villagers see why the 5000 yards of pipe they ran didn't get them water!
Our ride on Sunday March 2nd took us north east of Chiang Mai and then south into the limestone mountains. The roads are very twisty and steep and we saw a lot of coffee drying on the side of the road. We managed to get a flat tire in a small village and even though a lot of shops were closed we were able to have our inner tube replaced.
Here is the map of our trip
View Larger Map
Here are some slides of the coffee beans and our "bike". At one point the road was so steep we could not continue! As mentioned in an earlier blog, the roads are cement and quite good compared to 30 years ago but they are very, very, very steep! We also saw a Suzuki 4X4 which could not make it up a hill which we did on our Honda 125! I always thought the low gear on these cycles would take us up vertical walls :-)
Coffee and flat tire pictures
We came upon a small shop making bamboo fountains that are fun!
On March 5th I drove to Ban Paquay(about 3 hrs travel), the village where Kids Ark supports a school, to see why their new pipe for water was not giving them any water!
They do have two other pipes, each about 1000 yards long, to springs in the mountains which almost completely dry up during the 3-month dry season. The water is piped to a central tank in the village from where the villagers get their water supply from two spigots. During the dry season the villagers have to travel long distances over very hilly terrain to get water.
Through some networking I was introduced to a water resources consultant (Belgian) and a local expat (Dutch - Auke) with a GPS addiction :-) We then arranged for the villagers to meet us so we could survey the heights of the mountain spring, the village and a hill in between that could be the problem. In the past the villagers could sight the village from the spring and gauge the height but in this case it was not possible.
The "G"PS Team
In the end the villagers were fascinated with Auke's computer, maps and GPS and happy that they could once again run the pipe and know it would work! You can see the village on Google Earth quite clearly. The villagers took the GPS to the spring on their own as we would have probably slowed them down on the hike. The hills are quite steep and can be quite slippery. What is amazing is that we foreigners wear good sneakers or hiking shoes and they wear flip flops and go much faster! Here is a link to the village that we were helping. (You may need to zoom out) and you can click this link to see the 3D terrain in Google Earth if you have loaded it.
Finally, that night, I attended a Rotary meeting in Fang to support an Australian Rotary club project proposal to help some of the Red Lahu villages in the area, and then at 9:30 pm drove back to Chiang Mai arriving a midnight - a looooong day!
Well, if I don't post this soon it will never get finished! Last night (Sat March 8th) we attended the "International Heritage Festival" - first annual - with booths from 22 countries mainly with food - this is Thailand after all. On Friday night 12 couples were married in hot air balloons and on Saturday they just inflated the balloons. They then synchronized igniting the flames with the music. It was quite a sight! 13 Balloons lighting up the dark sky.
Here is an amateur video:
Our ride on Sunday March 2nd took us north east of Chiang Mai and then south into the limestone mountains. The roads are very twisty and steep and we saw a lot of coffee drying on the side of the road. We managed to get a flat tire in a small village and even though a lot of shops were closed we were able to have our inner tube replaced.
Here is the map of our trip
View Larger Map
Here are some slides of the coffee beans and our "bike". At one point the road was so steep we could not continue! As mentioned in an earlier blog, the roads are cement and quite good compared to 30 years ago but they are very, very, very steep! We also saw a Suzuki 4X4 which could not make it up a hill which we did on our Honda 125! I always thought the low gear on these cycles would take us up vertical walls :-)
Coffee and flat tire pictures
We came upon a small shop making bamboo fountains that are fun!
On March 5th I drove to Ban Paquay(about 3 hrs travel), the village where Kids Ark supports a school, to see why their new pipe for water was not giving them any water!
They do have two other pipes, each about 1000 yards long, to springs in the mountains which almost completely dry up during the 3-month dry season. The water is piped to a central tank in the village from where the villagers get their water supply from two spigots. During the dry season the villagers have to travel long distances over very hilly terrain to get water.
Through some networking I was introduced to a water resources consultant (Belgian) and a local expat (Dutch - Auke) with a GPS addiction :-) We then arranged for the villagers to meet us so we could survey the heights of the mountain spring, the village and a hill in between that could be the problem. In the past the villagers could sight the village from the spring and gauge the height but in this case it was not possible.
The "G"PS Team
In the end the villagers were fascinated with Auke's computer, maps and GPS and happy that they could once again run the pipe and know it would work! You can see the village on Google Earth quite clearly. The villagers took the GPS to the spring on their own as we would have probably slowed them down on the hike. The hills are quite steep and can be quite slippery. What is amazing is that we foreigners wear good sneakers or hiking shoes and they wear flip flops and go much faster! Here is a link to the village that we were helping. (You may need to zoom out) and you can click this link to see the 3D terrain in Google Earth if you have loaded it.
Finally, that night, I attended a Rotary meeting in Fang to support an Australian Rotary club project proposal to help some of the Red Lahu villages in the area, and then at 9:30 pm drove back to Chiang Mai arriving a midnight - a looooong day!
Well, if I don't post this soon it will never get finished! Last night (Sat March 8th) we attended the "International Heritage Festival" - first annual - with booths from 22 countries mainly with food - this is Thailand after all. On Friday night 12 couples were married in hot air balloons and on Saturday they just inflated the balloons. They then synchronized igniting the flames with the music. It was quite a sight! 13 Balloons lighting up the dark sky.
Here is an amateur video:
Friday, February 29, 2008
Feb 2008 - we are BUSY
The end of February was extremely busy, fun and interesting. My sister and niece rode bicycles from Nakorn Sawan, just north of Bangkok, to Chiang Mai and visited with us for a week after their arrival here. Then the week after they left we had a great 3 day visit to a special school for hill tribe children near Mae Hong Son, northwest of Chiang Mai.
While Duffie (sister) and Brook (niece) were visiting we did some fun "touristic" things such as a visit to an elephant camp, where they were able to have a ride on an elephant, a forest trek with our Red Lahu friends, a Kantoke dinner(traditional food, music and dance show) and a trip on zip lines through the jungle canopy! (Not for Bev!)
Zipping through the canopy video!
The trek (about 6 miles RT) through the jungle to a waterfall and back was fascinating and fun. The hills can be quite steep at some points and the hardest part is not sliding down the slopes. This is the dry season so the path was quite dry and at times covered with a lot of loose leaves which made it extremely slippery. The trek is run by the Red Lahu villagers and they see this as an opportunity to share their way of life. They took only a little food with them such as rice, chillies and some fish. The rest was gathered along the way and the meal was prepared using the edible greens they found. It was truly delicious. Bamboo in all it's shapes and sizes is an essential part of this process as you will see in the pictures. They also took time to show us some of their medicinal plants and some that were to be avoided, though of course I cannot for the life of me identify any of them now.
Red Lahu trekking slide show:
Ban Wanaluang
From Feb 25-27 we visited Baan Wana Luang School. Kids Ark was very helpful in the early days of this school and it is now a model school that others come to see and learn from. The principal who started it almost from scratch 14 years ago is a very dynamic woman. She had requested Kids Ark help to find a contributor for some wind instruments for the school band, so when we started asking questions about the school, Rita suggested we visit and see for ourselves. I drove the KA truck and Meow and Tu accompanied us so that they could check on some sponsored children and take some photos. It takes about 3-4 hrs to get there and the drive is spectacular with lots of steep hills and many, many, many hairpin curves!
Baan Wana Luang School trip. We stayed near the school at some nice bungalows, which are run by a German man and his Thai wife.
Baan Wana Luang Video
While Duffie (sister) and Brook (niece) were visiting we did some fun "touristic" things such as a visit to an elephant camp, where they were able to have a ride on an elephant, a forest trek with our Red Lahu friends, a Kantoke dinner(traditional food, music and dance show) and a trip on zip lines through the jungle canopy! (Not for Bev!)
Zipping through the canopy video!
The trek (about 6 miles RT) through the jungle to a waterfall and back was fascinating and fun. The hills can be quite steep at some points and the hardest part is not sliding down the slopes. This is the dry season so the path was quite dry and at times covered with a lot of loose leaves which made it extremely slippery. The trek is run by the Red Lahu villagers and they see this as an opportunity to share their way of life. They took only a little food with them such as rice, chillies and some fish. The rest was gathered along the way and the meal was prepared using the edible greens they found. It was truly delicious. Bamboo in all it's shapes and sizes is an essential part of this process as you will see in the pictures. They also took time to show us some of their medicinal plants and some that were to be avoided, though of course I cannot for the life of me identify any of them now.
Red Lahu trekking slide show:
Ban Wanaluang
From Feb 25-27 we visited Baan Wana Luang School. Kids Ark was very helpful in the early days of this school and it is now a model school that others come to see and learn from. The principal who started it almost from scratch 14 years ago is a very dynamic woman. She had requested Kids Ark help to find a contributor for some wind instruments for the school band, so when we started asking questions about the school, Rita suggested we visit and see for ourselves. I drove the KA truck and Meow and Tu accompanied us so that they could check on some sponsored children and take some photos. It takes about 3-4 hrs to get there and the drive is spectacular with lots of steep hills and many, many, many hairpin curves!
Baan Wana Luang School trip. We stayed near the school at some nice bungalows, which are run by a German man and his Thai wife.
The school is in Soppong on the road past Pai, off Highway 1095. It was started about 14 years ago with almost no buildings and those that were there were bamboo and thatch construction. Today it is designated a "special opportunity school" for hill tribe children.
At the moment there are about 229 children at the school, mainly Lahu and some Karen and 1 Lisu. There are 9 Grades from "Anubahn" (Kindergarten/Daycare), PS 1-6, and MS 1-3. PS is our elementary and MS 1-3 is middle school in the US.
There is a boys' dormitory which can sleep 24, and a girls' dormitory which can sleep 22 for students who live too far away, or the roads are so bad that they cannot commute daily.
At the present there are over 60 children sleeping in the dormitories – sometimes the beds sleep more than one! I suspect this is because the children are lonely rather than because of lack of beds as we saw several beds that seemed unused.
Ajarn Kanya is the headmistress and there are 14 teachers. She is a real dynamo and has improved the school through finding private donations from KA, UNESCO, and other sources. She also has many Thai benefactors. Of those 229 children, 33 of them have Kids Ark sponsors who give 700 baht/month ($22 ) for each child. In some cases the sponsors will continue helping the children with further education.
On Tuesday, Feb 26th we went to the school early in the morning to hear the school band play. They really have no instruments to speak of – they have drums, cymbals, chimes and melodicas - but they did really well, so now we have a better idea of what instruments are needed and how many.
After that we visited a Karen hill tribe village 13 kms (8 miles) from the school with BoonDii as our guide. The village is Baan Muang Paeem and it is BoonDii's home. He is 14 years old, in MS1 and boards at the school. He goes to his village on the weekend when his brother comes for him on a motorcycle. The road steep sections of the road is cement and very narrow! The landscape is very rugged and the village is quite isolated but compared to 30 years ago the cement roads make a huge difference for travel. Many of the houses in the village have been provided with solar panels for electricity; the panels charge a car battery which run lights etc in the house. The school in the village also had a very large solar array for its power. Thailand started manufacturing solar cells some years ago so as to provide basic electricity to remote villages. On our arrival back at the school we met a gentleman from the Provincial Authority who was there testing the children for drugs. The main purpose is preventative because in the past the area was well-known for drugs.
On Wednesday, Feb 27th we headed back to Chiang Mai and on the way stopped to interview a girl sponsored by KA at School No.22, a Gov't boarding school for hill tribe children. There are 700 students at the school with 70 teachers. It goes from MS 1-6. The school is located just outside of Pai. We also stopped to visit Huai Nam Dang National Park to see the Pong Dued Geyser. The geysers are not like old faithful but do shoot boiling water 3'-5' into the air.Baan Wana Luang Video
Baan Wana Luang Slide Show
Monday, February 4, 2008
Jan - Feb 2008
It is hard to believe how fast time is going as we have become more active at Kids Ark. It is a very good place to "volunteer" as there are many tasks that are in need of being done. The focus of KA is to help children complete their education, as a way out of poverty and towards a better life. Of course "helping" means many things, and the money is not unlimited so compromises need to be found. My excuse for not writing the blog more often is that when I get home from KA in the evening I am just too tired to think! It is a positive kind of fatigue in that each day we get closer to finishing a project, or perhaps just able to complete a simple task like going to the market to buy 40 plates, forks, spoons and cups to send to the school in the village. I also went with a former school superintendent to buy text-books for the same school.
Many of the projects have grown out of requests from some very committed teachers in the schools, along with input from the KA staff who visit with the sponsored children, their teachers and caregivers four times a year. We say caregivers as many of the children's primary parents have died of AIDs so they are being cared for by grandparents or relatives. One of the primary objectives of Kids Ark is to keep the children in their villages with the people they have grown up with as they continue with school. It is hard enough to lose one's parents but then to have to go to an orphanage is particularly difficult for the children.
Basically, 5 Kids Ark Thai staff members visit almost 300 children 4 times a year which is 1200 visits per year! Visits are not driving up the street to the local school either. There are a few students in Chiang Mai but most of the students are anywhere from 10 miles to 4 hours away. Since Rita and Allan who started Kids Ark are from Sweden most of the sponsors are from Sweden, and twice a year the staff translates the 2 page student reports which they complete in Thai into English, and then Rita does a handwritten Swedish summary to every sponsor! One of the long term projects in our view, is to expand the fund raising to other countries such as the US.
Ron Witzke who lives in Harrisville and who told us about Kids Ark left at the beginning of February to help his sick mother. Ron has moved the accounting from a Swedish accounting system that no one but Allan could use to Quickbooks, which at times seems just as foreign! We call it Slowbooks as the program is not a shining example of efficient programming! Ed Kelly, Ron's friend, who has a heart of gold came to Thailand to help Ron setup the books in November 2007, and the two of them spent all their waking hours entering data from 2007 and making the numbers match. Anyway by the time Ron left the reports were submitted to the auditors and the switch over had succeeded. Switching accounting systems is always "ugly" no matter what system, but doing it in Thai, Swedish and English adds several levels of complexity!
So much is going on and we have jumped into so many projects that we are almost working harder than when we were in the States. Especially Bev who used to come into Compucare a few hours a day now works from 9-5 or later! Still we both are challenged by the work, enjoy the staff and really admire the "philosophy" of the organization.
One day we might be in a meeting at a village near the Burmese border discussing fixing up a school, ordering text books, organizing transportation for the village children to the district school, setting a budget for additional money for lunches, and at the next meeting discussing the possible donation of water buffaloes and the advantages of a female buffalo to a male buffalo for the villagers.
Here is a list of our projects that are on-going:
But enough about "work"; there was the Flower Festival at the beginning of this month, and as to be expected the floats were absolutely gorgeous. Bev drooled over the orchids, but there were displays of many other brilliantly beautiful flowers as well.
Following are some photographs and videos of some fun events.
The first one is of the Flower Festival, and the second one is of the Valentine's Day Party at the House of Hope, which is a KA Project.
The last one is of buskers at the markets
Enjoy!
January 2008 Chiang Mai Flower Festival
(Click here to see it larger - recommended )
Feb 14 Valentines Party at Kids Ark "House of Hope" after school program
Chiang Mai buskers at the markets
Many of the projects have grown out of requests from some very committed teachers in the schools, along with input from the KA staff who visit with the sponsored children, their teachers and caregivers four times a year. We say caregivers as many of the children's primary parents have died of AIDs so they are being cared for by grandparents or relatives. One of the primary objectives of Kids Ark is to keep the children in their villages with the people they have grown up with as they continue with school. It is hard enough to lose one's parents but then to have to go to an orphanage is particularly difficult for the children.
Basically, 5 Kids Ark Thai staff members visit almost 300 children 4 times a year which is 1200 visits per year! Visits are not driving up the street to the local school either. There are a few students in Chiang Mai but most of the students are anywhere from 10 miles to 4 hours away. Since Rita and Allan who started Kids Ark are from Sweden most of the sponsors are from Sweden, and twice a year the staff translates the 2 page student reports which they complete in Thai into English, and then Rita does a handwritten Swedish summary to every sponsor! One of the long term projects in our view, is to expand the fund raising to other countries such as the US.
Ron Witzke who lives in Harrisville and who told us about Kids Ark left at the beginning of February to help his sick mother. Ron has moved the accounting from a Swedish accounting system that no one but Allan could use to Quickbooks, which at times seems just as foreign! We call it Slowbooks as the program is not a shining example of efficient programming! Ed Kelly, Ron's friend, who has a heart of gold came to Thailand to help Ron setup the books in November 2007, and the two of them spent all their waking hours entering data from 2007 and making the numbers match. Anyway by the time Ron left the reports were submitted to the auditors and the switch over had succeeded. Switching accounting systems is always "ugly" no matter what system, but doing it in Thai, Swedish and English adds several levels of complexity!
So much is going on and we have jumped into so many projects that we are almost working harder than when we were in the States. Especially Bev who used to come into Compucare a few hours a day now works from 9-5 or later! Still we both are challenged by the work, enjoy the staff and really admire the "philosophy" of the organization.
One day we might be in a meeting at a village near the Burmese border discussing fixing up a school, ordering text books, organizing transportation for the village children to the district school, setting a budget for additional money for lunches, and at the next meeting discussing the possible donation of water buffaloes and the advantages of a female buffalo to a male buffalo for the villagers.
Here is a list of our projects that are on-going:
- Rewrite and print the KA brochure in English and Thai
- Improve the website and add additional information on new projects
- Change the website so handicrafts can be ordered on-line
- Open an on-line account for credit card donations and add to website
- Setup a database of the sponsors and students so the info can be merged to reports
- Enter the 300 sponsors and students in English/Swedish/Thai into the database
- Create a new website for the trekking business that the villagers started
- Rewrite and print a new Trekking brochure
- Redefine the pricing of the trekking packages
- Organize the 1000s of pictures spread across 5 computers in the office
- Setup some backup systems to protect data
- rearrange the products showroom - Tom stays away from this one!
- put a big sign on the showroom window to attract more customers; this one is completed with a home-made temporary sign!
- look at putting advertisements for the show room in magazines
- make sure all products are priced
- fix network wiring - Completed!
- Cooperation guidelines for KA with other people and agencies - Completed!
But enough about "work"; there was the Flower Festival at the beginning of this month, and as to be expected the floats were absolutely gorgeous. Bev drooled over the orchids, but there were displays of many other brilliantly beautiful flowers as well.
Following are some photographs and videos of some fun events.
The first one is of the Flower Festival, and the second one is of the Valentine's Day Party at the House of Hope, which is a KA Project.
The last one is of buskers at the markets
Enjoy!
January 2008 Chiang Mai Flower Festival
(Click here to see it larger - recommended )
Feb 14 Valentines Party at Kids Ark "House of Hope" after school program
Chiang Mai buskers at the markets
Friday, January 4, 2008
Family Visit with Trips up north Dec 2007
It has been a long time since I posted as we have been so busy with hosting family. Amara, Dave and Emma (in reverse order of importance :-) visited from Dec 14-26 and Marisa visited from Dec 24-Jan 5. You can see they had an overlap of 1.5 days in Bangkok for an "official" Christmas lunch at the "Polo Club" hosted by our friend Siriporn. It was great having them here and sharing "our Thailand" with them. Dave and Emma had never visited and Amara who lived here until she was 3 had only visited once in the intervening 24 years. Traveling with a 7 month old is challenging in some ways and fun in others. I will add the comments from Emma and Marisa so you can get a sense of their experiences.
Here is Emma's description (her mom helped her type :-) Click here to see their album
This past month was a jam-packed one! Mama, Papa and I flew to Thailand for two weeks. I do not recommend flying 17 and a half hours when you're only 7.5 months old. I had to sit on Mom and Dad's lap the whole time! I was so happy to see Granny B and Grandpa Westy! We spent some time in Chiang Mai where they are living. Dad had some trouble adjusting to what the Thais call "winter," 85 degrees cold! Apparently we visited a couple of night markets although, I, of course, slept comfortably on my Mom the whole time, so have no hope of remembering them. We did a trip up north in a wonderful vehicle that Grandpa Westy rented with no car seat and no suspension. We drove through beautiful mountainous areas, up and down winding roads. We stopped at a Red Lahu hill tribe village that has no regular water or electricity where Dad attracted quite a crowd. See, apparently these hill tribe villagers "sling" their babies like Mom & Dad do, BUT you really only see the women "slinging" the babies, NOT the men. We were quite the hit. Which brings me to this observation: Thais LOVE babies. LOVE LOVE LOVE babies! I was the hit of the town/village/street! Everywhere we went people of all ages and both sexes came up to me and pinched my legs, arms, cheeks. I could get used to all the attention! So we visited the village which was really beautiful and eye-opening for Dad. The villagers live in bamboo huts, cook inside and sweep the scraps below to their pigs, chickens and dogs. We were lucky to have Grandpa & Granny there to translate, it's definitely not a side of Thailand most tourists are exposed to.
We headed back to Chiang Mai, where Dad went on what he calls the hardest, most technical, thrilling downhill mountain bike ride he's EVER done! He had a blast! One of the evenings we were there an elephant, a real live elephant, came strolling by Granny & Grandpa's street! So cool! Grandpa got the mahout to walk it down in front of their apartment and Mom & Dad fed the elephant pieces of sugar cane!
From Chiang Mai we flew to Bangkok were we spent 5 days and Auntie M joined us. We visited the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha, where, as if on cue, I fell asleep AGAIN! Mom is just too comfy :-) Good thing we have pictures to prove I was there! We all had lunch on Christmas Day together with Auntie M. I also met the woman who helped Granny B take care of Mama when she was a baby! Thailand went by too fast! I didn't want to leave the land of mango & sticky rice. (My mom told me to type that). Now that we're back in CT, I finally have a tooth coming in. I also love tofu, yup, you read that correctly! Yours truly, Emma Mei (7.5 months old). P.S. I have a leg up on this whole blogging thing, my Grandpa is a bona fide "nerd."
Here is Marisa's description Click here to see lots of pictures from Marisa's visit
We just got back to Chiang Mai this afternoon after our trip up north since Monday. It was quite an adventure but it was a lot of fun. Dad rented another rent-a-wreck from Pop's, and we took off on Monday morning for Chiang Dao to visit the caves. The caves were pretty cool. Dad and I went further into the caves than Mom, go figure, but it was fun and some of the caverns were huge! Afterwards we headed to a town called Wiang Hang that Mom had read about in the Bangkok Post. The road there took us over many mountains on steep, curvy roads. It took us about 2 hrs to go 50 km, but the views were amazing! We got to Wiang Hang, and really there was nothing there, except for the guest house/restaurant where we were staying. We did visit one chedi that mom had read about, and then we hung out in our room. This was New Year's Eve and we were in bed by 8 so we could huddle under the blankets/quilts as it was so cold! I had luckily bought a fuzzy in Chiang Mai before heading out on our trip and it really came in handy.
The next morning we were up early, I had adjusted to Mom and Dad's schedule of going to bed at 8 and waking up between 5-6. We huddled in our beds, drank coffee/tea and took some what hot showers before taking off for Piang Luang, another small town about 20 km north. We walked through the main street of the town and it was really interesting to see such a small town. The people here are of Tai Lai origin and the temple architecture is quite different - there are also lots of signs in Chinese. From there we headed just 4 km north to Lak Tang which is right on the Burmese border. We could see Burma and the barbed wire fence as we walked up to see another chedi - it made us realize just how arbitrary borders can be. From there we needed to head east because we had to get to the Lahu trekking hut. We followed the map and went on a road that was no longer a road. It had changed to dirt and was very, very bumpy, curvy, and steep. We moved even slower; I don't know if Dad ever made it out of second gear. It was quite the driving experience and it took us out into such beautiful countryside where there were hardly any villages visible from the road. Mom and Dad said that they did not think such roads existed anymore in Thailand. We did finally make it to the hut, which is so beautiful We got there around 4 so we had some time to relax and went for a walk around the village, and picked up quite a following. We left the hut with 4 girls and a one year old boy who wanted to walk with us. Then we picked up the local drunk who followed us all the way back and also about 7 guys for awhile before they went to play soccer. I thought we might have the whole town with us by the time we got back to the hut. Dad and I also got a massage at the hut which was amazing! I know my woman really worked on my back and could pinpoint the problem areas and Dad said his guy had really strong hands. We had a traditional dinner cooked in bamboo with Sila and Jateboo and then again we were in bed very early.
On Wednesday we took off after a great breakfast around 9. I really liked the prik num (means young pepper spread) which they served with the food. We drove into Thaton and visited the many levels of the temple (Click here if you have Google Earth installed) and then drove by the river. We then headed south through Fang, stopped at a market which was not a tourist market at all. A lot of hill tribe people had come into town for the market as well because it was just a few days before the Lahu New Year (Jan 8 this year) so it was crazy busy. After the market we headed to a national park called Doi Pahom Pok which Mom had also read about in the Bangkok Post. We checked in thinking we would spend the day hiking, going into the hot springs, etc, only to find out that the location only had hot springs and if we wanted to hike we had to drive 2 hrs. So we just opted for the hot springs. We were sitting on a nice porch over looking the hot springs so mom sent dad to buy a beer at the park restaurant and later we were going to head into Fang for dinner. Well when Dad got into the car he realized he had a flat. He got out the wrench to change the tire only to discover that the tool did not fit our tires. So we drove it down the hill and we stopped a man who works in the park to see if we could borrow the correct size wrench because we had a spare tire but the wrong tool. The guy ended up calling a "chang", someone who would come and fix the tire "on site". Then we waited for him to arrive. The good news was it was a restaurant so we could have a beer while we waited! So the chang arrives on his motorcycle with tools, takes off the bad tire, puts on the spare tire, but it doesn't have enough air. So now the restaurant owner offers to take the "chang" and the tires to a shop to put air in one and fix the other (the spare looked in really bad shape). The guy whom Dad had originally asked for help was nice enough to drive the chang into town with both tires. So we waited...for a long time. They finally returned and the tire had been fixed but it took so long because they got to town and all the stores were closed, so they had to call the owner of a store to get them to come and open the store and fix both tires. So about 2 1/2 hours later we were on our way to town. We drove almost 400 miles along some really rough and very isolated roads and the tire went flat at just the right time! Next time I don't think I will use "Rent a Wreck" 4X4 Suzuki - tom
Tom here - Well that was way too long but you can blame it on Amara and Marisa
Here is Emma's description (her mom helped her type :-) Click here to see their album
This past month was a jam-packed one! Mama, Papa and I flew to Thailand for two weeks. I do not recommend flying 17 and a half hours when you're only 7.5 months old. I had to sit on Mom and Dad's lap the whole time! I was so happy to see Granny B and Grandpa Westy! We spent some time in Chiang Mai where they are living. Dad had some trouble adjusting to what the Thais call "winter," 85 degrees cold! Apparently we visited a couple of night markets although, I, of course, slept comfortably on my Mom the whole time, so have no hope of remembering them. We did a trip up north in a wonderful vehicle that Grandpa Westy rented with no car seat and no suspension. We drove through beautiful mountainous areas, up and down winding roads. We stopped at a Red Lahu hill tribe village that has no regular water or electricity where Dad attracted quite a crowd. See, apparently these hill tribe villagers "sling" their babies like Mom & Dad do, BUT you really only see the women "slinging" the babies, NOT the men. We were quite the hit. Which brings me to this observation: Thais LOVE babies. LOVE LOVE LOVE babies! I was the hit of the town/village/street! Everywhere we went people of all ages and both sexes came up to me and pinched my legs, arms, cheeks. I could get used to all the attention! So we visited the village which was really beautiful and eye-opening for Dad. The villagers live in bamboo huts, cook inside and sweep the scraps below to their pigs, chickens and dogs. We were lucky to have Grandpa & Granny there to translate, it's definitely not a side of Thailand most tourists are exposed to.
We headed back to Chiang Mai, where Dad went on what he calls the hardest, most technical, thrilling downhill mountain bike ride he's EVER done! He had a blast! One of the evenings we were there an elephant, a real live elephant, came strolling by Granny & Grandpa's street! So cool! Grandpa got the mahout to walk it down in front of their apartment and Mom & Dad fed the elephant pieces of sugar cane!
From Chiang Mai we flew to Bangkok were we spent 5 days and Auntie M joined us. We visited the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha, where, as if on cue, I fell asleep AGAIN! Mom is just too comfy :-) Good thing we have pictures to prove I was there! We all had lunch on Christmas Day together with Auntie M. I also met the woman who helped Granny B take care of Mama when she was a baby! Thailand went by too fast! I didn't want to leave the land of mango & sticky rice. (My mom told me to type that). Now that we're back in CT, I finally have a tooth coming in. I also love tofu, yup, you read that correctly! Yours truly, Emma Mei (7.5 months old). P.S. I have a leg up on this whole blogging thing, my Grandpa is a bona fide "nerd."
Here is Marisa's description Click here to see lots of pictures from Marisa's visit
We just got back to Chiang Mai this afternoon after our trip up north since Monday. It was quite an adventure but it was a lot of fun. Dad rented another rent-a-wreck from Pop's, and we took off on Monday morning for Chiang Dao to visit the caves. The caves were pretty cool. Dad and I went further into the caves than Mom, go figure, but it was fun and some of the caverns were huge! Afterwards we headed to a town called Wiang Hang that Mom had read about in the Bangkok Post. The road there took us over many mountains on steep, curvy roads. It took us about 2 hrs to go 50 km, but the views were amazing! We got to Wiang Hang, and really there was nothing there, except for the guest house/restaurant where we were staying. We did visit one chedi that mom had read about, and then we hung out in our room. This was New Year's Eve and we were in bed by 8 so we could huddle under the blankets/quilts as it was so cold! I had luckily bought a fuzzy in Chiang Mai before heading out on our trip and it really came in handy.
The next morning we were up early, I had adjusted to Mom and Dad's schedule of going to bed at 8 and waking up between 5-6. We huddled in our beds, drank coffee/tea and took some what hot showers before taking off for Piang Luang, another small town about 20 km north. We walked through the main street of the town and it was really interesting to see such a small town. The people here are of Tai Lai origin and the temple architecture is quite different - there are also lots of signs in Chinese. From there we headed just 4 km north to Lak Tang which is right on the Burmese border. We could see Burma and the barbed wire fence as we walked up to see another chedi - it made us realize just how arbitrary borders can be. From there we needed to head east because we had to get to the Lahu trekking hut. We followed the map and went on a road that was no longer a road. It had changed to dirt and was very, very bumpy, curvy, and steep. We moved even slower; I don't know if Dad ever made it out of second gear. It was quite the driving experience and it took us out into such beautiful countryside where there were hardly any villages visible from the road. Mom and Dad said that they did not think such roads existed anymore in Thailand. We did finally make it to the hut, which is so beautiful We got there around 4 so we had some time to relax and went for a walk around the village, and picked up quite a following. We left the hut with 4 girls and a one year old boy who wanted to walk with us. Then we picked up the local drunk who followed us all the way back and also about 7 guys for awhile before they went to play soccer. I thought we might have the whole town with us by the time we got back to the hut. Dad and I also got a massage at the hut which was amazing! I know my woman really worked on my back and could pinpoint the problem areas and Dad said his guy had really strong hands. We had a traditional dinner cooked in bamboo with Sila and Jateboo and then again we were in bed very early.
On Wednesday we took off after a great breakfast around 9. I really liked the prik num (means young pepper spread) which they served with the food. We drove into Thaton and visited the many levels of the temple (Click here if you have Google Earth installed) and then drove by the river. We then headed south through Fang, stopped at a market which was not a tourist market at all. A lot of hill tribe people had come into town for the market as well because it was just a few days before the Lahu New Year (Jan 8 this year) so it was crazy busy. After the market we headed to a national park called Doi Pahom Pok which Mom had also read about in the Bangkok Post. We checked in thinking we would spend the day hiking, going into the hot springs, etc, only to find out that the location only had hot springs and if we wanted to hike we had to drive 2 hrs. So we just opted for the hot springs. We were sitting on a nice porch over looking the hot springs so mom sent dad to buy a beer at the park restaurant and later we were going to head into Fang for dinner. Well when Dad got into the car he realized he had a flat. He got out the wrench to change the tire only to discover that the tool did not fit our tires. So we drove it down the hill and we stopped a man who works in the park to see if we could borrow the correct size wrench because we had a spare tire but the wrong tool. The guy ended up calling a "chang", someone who would come and fix the tire "on site". Then we waited for him to arrive. The good news was it was a restaurant so we could have a beer while we waited! So the chang arrives on his motorcycle with tools, takes off the bad tire, puts on the spare tire, but it doesn't have enough air. So now the restaurant owner offers to take the "chang" and the tires to a shop to put air in one and fix the other (the spare looked in really bad shape). The guy whom Dad had originally asked for help was nice enough to drive the chang into town with both tires. So we waited...for a long time. They finally returned and the tire had been fixed but it took so long because they got to town and all the stores were closed, so they had to call the owner of a store to get them to come and open the store and fix both tires. So about 2 1/2 hours later we were on our way to town. We drove almost 400 miles along some really rough and very isolated roads and the tire went flat at just the right time! Next time I don't think I will use "Rent a Wreck" 4X4 Suzuki - tom
Tom here - Well that was way too long but you can blame it on Amara and Marisa
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