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This log runs through December 26, 2000 October 23, 2000 in Wickenburg, Arizona, preparing for Asia After California, we drove to Yuma, AZ and then across the Mexican border to load up on medicines and supplies for Thailand. Pills to prevent Malaria cost $12 for both of us (a 25 week supply). In the USA and Portugal they would have cost nearly $600.
CLICK HERE for enlargeable Utah photos. CLICK HERE for enlargeable Arizona photos. Today we continued on to Wickenburg, AZ, where we'll leave the trailer and GMC Denali with Rebecca's Aunt Lois while we're in Thailand. In the morning we'll rent a car and drive to Los Angeles to spend the evening with our excellent friend Sally before the 8,200 mile flight to Bangkok the next day. October 29, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand What an awesome place Thailand is. As we learned when we were here two years ago, Water Buffalo lurk in deep marshes and people (like us) can ride on elephants. But sightseeing must be preceded by the basics of life. We owe great thanks to a terrific guy named Sombat Prommacharee from the local tourist office (TAT). He has helped us understand many things -- and most important, was responsible for finding the gypsies a place to live! Without his generous gifts of assistance and time we would never have learned that a particular house was available, or have been able to negotiate a rental contract. This is how it came about (and a lesson for first time travelers not to be discouraged). After arriving in Kanchanaburi (site of the bridge over the river Kwai) from Bangkok, we dragged our stuff from the bus station to the tourist office, which was along the way to our guesthouse (where we had reservations). At the TAT office, we met friendly Sombat, who found failure at every attempt to locate a long-term, furnished apartment for us to rent. He explained that our request was very unusual for this area. Later, while finding our way on foot to our guest house, lugging all our possessions down the street in the hot sun (yes, it was a pitiful but not uncommon, gypsy scene), we ran into Sombat eating lunch at a sidewalk cafe. Recognizing vagabonds-in-need, he insisted on driving us all over town the rest of the day in his own car, negotiating with people on our behalf until we found an acceptable partially furnished house for rent. His success was only due to his determination, and because his friendly personality had earned him a great deal of local, word-of-mouth information. The next day, he took us to an office and negotiated and interpreted our lease, which we then signed with our new landlords who run a local furniture store. CLICK HERE for enlargeable Thailand photos.
We are busy acquiring the things necessary to have a comfortable and efficient home -- an activity that we have now done on three continents in the past year. Due to the strength of the dollar, we can live here comfortably within budget and still afford to eat out often -- at restaurants such as these -- and have an occasional Thai massage, which we did at our hotel today. This proves once again that people with limited resources and a lot of initiative can locate fascinating places to live comfortably. Here are some expense examples: Internet time (at shopping malls or Internet cafes) runs between 47 and 82 cents per hour (although at the airport hotel they wanted $2.32 for 15 minutes. The 50-minute, 15 mile taxi ride from airport hotel north of the city to the Southern Bus Station in western Bangkok (yes, we were confused too) was $4.65. The two hour, 70 mile first class bus ride to Kanchanaburi (air conditioned, and with video science fiction movie) cost $1.80 per person. In restaurants, most menu items cost less than $2. Rental of our house is just under $7 per day, including utilities. October 31, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand -- Halloween (but not celebrated here) One week until the USA elections. If the man who reinvents himself every few days is elected, maybe we'll just stay here.
November 2, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand There are no pictures, but it was quite a scene when I (Don, not a small guy) hopped on the back of a minibus the size of a tiny pickup with a camper shell, and found it packed with eighteen people.....count 'em, eighteen! There I was as we careened down the road, 18 somewhat startled high school girls staring as if a gorilla was clinging for dear life to the tailgate. Don had his first haircut in eleven months yesterday, and first ever barber shop shave -- from a woman with a straight razor! Rebecca had a hair trim. Our parents will be proud. We've never lived in a town where you can you shop for temples right alongside the road. CLICK HERE for enlargeable photos of the Kanchanaburi area. November 6, 2000 in Kanchanaburi (kan-sha-NOB-er-ee), Thailand When we arrived in town a week ago, two massage students from Wat Po came to our hotel to administer massages ($7.30 each/one hour). They were fine -- but mild, compared to the way the locals go at it -- which we discovered last night ($7.30 each/two hours) at a local parlor. Sometimes pushing pain limits, these two women stretched, kneaded, twisted, bent, manipulated, pulled, pushed, compressed and stretched every muscle, bone, cartilage, connecting pin, joint and hinge in our bodies. Today, somewhat to our surprise, we feel great. It's time for the annual boat races. Teams of young men paddle furiously in decorated long boats while onlookers on rafts cheer them on. November 10, 2000 at the Bridge on the River Kwai It is nothing to see a family or several students on a motorcycle, and even very small children are totally at ease flitting about town with their parents. Even we have taken to hiring motorcycles for inexpensive transportation. But the world's best buy for local area transportation must belong to the train that runs from near the famous bridge to the end of the line 64 miles north. The two and a half hour ride along the route created by POW slave labor in World War Two costs 41 CENTS per person each way. What a journey it is, over trestles against sheer rock walls and along the beautiful river lined with rafts that are floating homes and, for tourists, floating motels. But while the river valley is beautiful, dangers do lurk. Now that we've been here nearly two weeks, we're going to begin taking a few road trips....going somewhere on the train or bus for two to ten days at a time. Rent here is so reasonable that we can leave most things in our rental house, travel light, and stay in guest houses on the road. It's nice to be able to change plans as seems appropriate. We'll head north, toward Burma first. Later, when the rains have ended further south, we'll do some exploring there. Tomorrow we'll have been on the road for exactly eleven months and nearly 52,000 miles. What a terrific load of experiences and memories we have already collected. November 13, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand Don's most-noticed physical attribute is that he's about 12" taller than most Thai people, and his body extends above most Thai doorways, overhangs, ceiling supports, low-hanging pipes, etc. Rebecca (at 5'4") is near the top of the height chart at the dentist's office, so you can imagine the attention that Don gets at nearly 6'3". While cracking his head on a low overhang or nearly knocking himself unconscious when entering a room, he is a great source of amusement to the locals. His size 13 feet are up to twice as big as the typical Thai person's. Since we're always taking our sandals off to enter businesses (following local custom), his giant feet and long legs nearly always get some attention, and the Thai people are not shy about pointing this out. Although Don's poor head is becoming a field of bruises and lumps, he refuses to wear a helmet day and night, as recommended by Becky. Random observations about Thailand: Thai people seem so proper and conservative about many things, yet are exactly the opposite when asking us very personal questions. We've been asked by several complete strangers, "How old are you?....How much you pay for rent?....Why you don't have children?.....You can't have?" Where are the Americans? We have lived here for three weeks and have met NO Americans -- not a single "Yank" (or Reb, for that matter). We have seen non-English speaking French, a couple of Germans and Dutch, several Aussies, and a Brit. It's just like Portugal, where we met no Americans in nearly two months there. Did you know that golfer Tiger Woods is a "National Hero of Thailand?" His mother is Thai, and he is wildly popular here as a "native son." He's in the local news every day, yet I've never heard him speak a word of Thai. This week, a Thai university bestowed upon Tiger an honorary doctoral degree! Not bad for a guy who didn't finish college, which is source of irritation to some Thais. His big ceremony in Bangkok was picketed by Thai employees of Nike who objected to Nike paying 100 million US dollars in endorsements to Tiger, yet the company owes back wages to over a thousand Thai factory employees. The average Thai factory worker earns around $1,000 US per year. November 14, 2000 at Erawan Falls in western Thailand A stream falls in 10 steps from the mountains, each a beautiful setting. As one walks up the trail, bamboo platforms provided a chance for Don to take a nap. Nearby, ladies cooked up chicken and traditional Thai dishes (about 50-cents per serving). But the Erawan Falls are the real draw here. November 23, 2000 in Sangklaburi, Thailand, near the Burmese border Our friend and guardian angel Poo (Sombat) knew that we wanted to help refugees and displaced persons from Burma, and laid the groundwork for getting us there by introducing us to "Jumbo," the extraordinarily generous and well-respected head of RSP Jumbo Travel Centre guide service in Kanchanaburi. "Jumbo" (Thai word for baby elephant) and kindhearted employees Jane and Jack (all seen here with Becky) escorted us via private truck to the remote River Kwai Christian Hospital complex in the Karen (kah-RIN) village of Huaymalai near the Burma border, about 135 miles northwest of our home in Kanchanaburi. Jumbo was curious, too, about how we farangs could help, and wanted to help us find the answer. We intended to pay all related expenses of our transport, but Jumbo, Jane, and Jack refused. We will forever be grateful for the time, personal effort, and expense that Jumbo's team expended on us! Their help and guidance has been invaluable. Before they volunteered their services, we were hopelessly trying to make sense of random tidbits of information. At this hospital, (N15 degrees 9.6 minutes; E98 degrees 20.8 minutes) we found a modern-day, unassuming hero. He is a third generation missionary doctor named Phillip McDaniel who continues his 21 years of work with people whose afflictions include leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS -- all in addition to seeing walk-in patients, delivering babies, fixing broken bones, and treating men blown up by land mines. (It's debated whether these 'frog hunting' fellows were truly victims of a land mine, or were actually planting the bomb). CLICK HERE for enlargeable photos of the Kwai River Christian Hospital. Some medical patients are referred to this hospital from one of the ten refugee camps, where more than 100,000 people have escaped horrible brutalization in the conflicts between minority groups and the Burmese Army.... which we will describe in detail later. (NOTE: The Seattle Times ran an awesome series on another true hero, "Dr. Cynthia." We think it can still be accessed at www.seattletimes.com/burma/intro.html. In the hospital, we met people isolated (kind of) with new and contagious cases of tuberculosis, and others in recovery who have nowhere else to go. These patients and their families live in the TB "ward," a long house series of huts behind the hospital. For income, they run their own little shop, which offers soft drinks and snack items. Other TB patients cause more trouble. After the staff carefully designs a medication regimen, the patients may go home but must return to the hospital once per week for medication. Every week, a few patients don't return -- so the hospital staff heads to the jungle and outlying border villages to round up the TB patients, giving them medicine and a stern lecture. We visited Lu Lu who runs the "safe house" at the complex. This is home to up to 50 Burmese with serious physical and mental disabilities. These are people who escaped Burma only to be imprisoned in Thailand as illegal aliens and, after three months in jail, were driven to the Burma border and released. As they are not able to care for themselves, the penniless locals guide their even less fortunate brethren to this safe house. They are given food, an open air dormitory bunk and mat, and protection from themselves and others. Some are so traumatized they have no memory of the past. One old man with no family says he aided the Japanese against Burma in WWII, when slave and POW labor built the so-called Death Railroad. He later he joined the Karen minority resistance against Burma. We asked LuLu why she does this heart wrenching work. She said simply, "There is nobody else to do it." Olivia is an extremely intelligent and articulate Burmese woman who runs several vital and creative programs for children and older people. She tells us that the horror stories from Burma are true and timely, as they are accurately relayed to her by people able to escape into Thailand. Her "Under Five" program immunizes hundreds of children and addresses their basic health maintenance and nutrition problems. She helps older people market a few products. She runs a grade school clinic, promotes family planning and pregnancy monitoring, helps provide clean water to villagers, and assists families with TB and leprosy. Her programs also help elderly people suffering chronic diseases and provides information about AIDS. We learned of AIDS cases where the victims, outcast by their families, remain hospitalized until they die. All workers here acknowledge this as a labor of love, and we see it in the care they give and the conditions they endure. Doctor McDaniel's Malaria Research Project is a lifesaving marvel, and the doctor's expertise in the deadly disease is undoubtedly saving lives. When anyone anywhere wants information on malaria, this is the man to ask. The hospital is a place of emotional extremes, sorrow, and hope -- a place where you find saintly people who are 87 years old, and others who are 87 minutes old. They all have a better life thanks to Dr. McDaniel, without whom, it's fairly clear, the KRC Hospital and its projects might cease to exist. While a tour of the hospital complex is an emotional roller-coaster, the morning ceremony at the K-8 school is pure inspiration. The Thailand flag is raised as student musicians play the anthem. Children of all ages repeat prayers (including the Lord's Prayer in English), and sometimes engage in group exercise. As we took photos of the teachers and these radiant children, they beamed with joy -- and yet just behind their smiles, even the youngest faces seemed to reveal the hardship of their lives. They seemed both innocent and yet prematurely burdened with the reality of hard life here. Perhaps it was only our own interpretation, but behind some of the smiles we could see the pressures of a very meager existence. Without outside financial help many of these children could not afford school clothing, let alone private school. As we watched the children's routines in the morning sunlight, we knew of their poverty, of sickness in their families, of their uncertain futures -- and, as they paraded into class, we pondered how we might be able to brighten their lives. How could any thinking person ever forget this? The engaging youngsters in this school, moment by moment, stole our hearts.
At the end of our second day, we lingered to talk to the staff, missing the last minibus to the town of Sangklaburi, 12 miles distant. But just as the sun was setting over Burma and the sky turned red, a family in an ancient pickup gave us a ride in back. No journey in the Lexus or Corvette we once owned (or even on our rented motorcycle) was ever more rewarding than the feeling we had bouncing down that pitted trail in the wilds of remote Thailand, courtesy of a family that had little, and yet would not accept payment. November 24, 2000 at home in Kanchanaburi While listening to the short wave radio (seeking reports on the interminable U.S. election recounts) the Voice of America spouted news of a prison escape in Bangkok. Nine Burmese inmates had killed two people, took another seven hostage, shot their way out of jail, hijacked a vehicle, and with police in hot pursuit, were headed straight to the Burma border -- toward us! They didn't make it. After a 21 hour ordeal in which the Burmese escapees led police on a wild chase (passing within a block of our house in K'buri), they were blocked at a checkpoint 28 miles beyond. Police negotiated the release of the remaining two hostages, and when the third began to change a flat tire, there erupted a scene reminiscent of "Bonnie and Clyde," destroying the vehicle and all escapees in a horrific torrent of gunfire. Late in the day, in a bus on our way home, we drove past the scene. Today's Bangkok Post told the sad story. At day's end, we listed the things we are thankful for -- family, health, friends, this incredible opportunity to travel -- but we felt sorrow for the innocent people who died in this incident, and who are brutalized by the conditions in nearby Burma. For us, this place continues to display its bewildering extremes. November 25, 2000 in Kanchanaburi We'll also spend time at an orphanage in Sangklaburi (N15 degrees 8.5 minutes; E98 degrees 27.37 minutes), hoping to find ways to help the 50 children there. We learned about the orphanage from Todd Ferguson, an American firefighter/paramedic we met there, who collected money from friends back home (totaling $1,400) to help the orphans. This time, he was in Sangklaburi to see the terrific improvements that had been made with his donation. We met the director and will return there next week to learn more. November 26, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand Elections are planned for January and politicians are campaigning up a storm. The other day three of them were thrown from an elephant, breaking their arms and legs, bringing great joy to the citizenry. We learned more about the big bug mentioned earlier. It's a Kwang (aka: Hercules Beetle). These little sweeties are sometimes owned as pets and entered in beetle fights. There is a Kwang owners' organization here. Or, sometimes their heads are torn off and the bodies fried up as crunchy snacks that Thai people find yummy. We're looking for inexpensive clothing to buy and distribute to the poorest people along the Thai/Burma border. We plan to participate in a trip organized by the Kwai River Hospital in which people living on the bare edge of existence are given medical care, clothes, grooming items, mosquito nets (malaria is rampant here) and related items. The funny thing we've discovered while shopping for things to give away is this: through various charities, Americans contributed tons of used clothing to the people of Cambodia. Because Cambodia is so much poorer than Thailand, some Cambodians take their donated clothes to the Thai border and sell them -- mostly to merchants who in turn peddle them in Bangkok. We are researching ways to buy a small mountain of items directly from the Cambodia border markets, so we can give them to poor villagers. We plan on buying and distributing as much as we can possibly afford, and hope our friends will join in. A note about the floods in southern Thailand, near Hat Yai. Nearly 100 people have died in recent days, mostly by drowning and electrocution. We frequent a bar owned by an Australian man and Thai woman. It has been closed recently the woman's mother's house down south is under water. We also know about an American fellow who was visiting this tragic area during the floods, and he had to swim from his guesthouse to the train station, where he was sorry to see that the trains were underwater, too. Good thing he's a dive instructor. December 1, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand December 2, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand --Burmese Army soldiers commit rape and random killings, particularly in ethnic minority areas. The army drags children away from their villages to serve as porters in combat areas. --About 1,300 political prisoners remain in jail, including more than 50 Members of Parliament elected in 1990. Upon the completion of their terms, many are immediately arrested and re-imprisoned. --About 21,000 Rohingya Muslims from Burma's Arakan State remain in camps in Bangladesh. Approximately 119,000 Burmese, mostly from ethnic minorities, are in camps along the Thai-Burmese border. Among them are thousands of new arrivals who have fled Burma army attacks on villages in areas controlled by the Karen and Karenni ethnic minorities. --Burma is the world's second leading producer of opium. Corrupt army personnel aid drug traffickers. The government implicitly tolerates continued involvement in drug trafficking by ethnic insurgents who sign cease-fire agreements. --The military sharply restricts the rights of free speech, press, assembly and association. It monitors and restricts the activities of opponents and requires hotels and guesthouses to furnish information about the identities and activities of their foreign guests. Burmese who interact with foreigners may be compelled to report on those conversations. --Education at schools and universities is severely restricted because the army has closed the schools in retaliation for political demonstrations. More than 400,000 students are currently unable to continue their studies. --Burma is one of the world's poorest countries, with per capita GDP having fallen to $300 per year. Inflation in 1999 was 49 percent, and is increasing. --Electricity prices have increased eight-fold, even though supply is very unreliable, and gasoline is rationed. Telephone service is poor in some areas, nonexistent in others. --Foreigners, including Americans, haven been detained, arrested, tried and deported for, among other activities, distributing pro-democracy literature, photographing sites and activities, and visiting the homes and offices of Burmese pro-democracy leaders. --Newspapers are censored and Internet access is illegal. Some journalists have been detained, searched, had film and notes confiscated, and have been deported. Travelers have reported that their luggage is closely searched upon arrival and departure by immigration authorities. --Medical care is of poor quality and for foreigners very expensive. Outsiders with serious medical problems should leave the country immediately. --Highways are of very poor quality, mostly unpaved, and with only a few exceptions foreigners must fly between destinations within Burma. However, crashes and continuing safety concerns have led U.S. diplomatic personnel to discontinue use of the airline. And that's just for starters. We spoke with people at the Christian hospital complex who deal with Burmese and ethnic Karens and Mons who have recently arrived. They report horrifying conditions, including systematic rape, torture, family separation and and destruction of homes and villages pillaged by Burmese army forces bent on maintaining absolute dictatorship and destruction of minority peoples. We met one Burmese woman at the safe house who is unable to remember anything about her past. Hospital officials believe it is trauma related. In a few days we will return to the area, visiting an orphanage and then joining a Hospital Complex mission to the surrounding villages. On this annual trip in conjunction with the King's birthday, medical care will be offered to people who are immobile or have no money and few possessions. Clothing, blankets and other basics will be distributed to those needing them. We will take several boxes of new and used clothing, blankets and personal items for adults and children, purchasing them today at an outdoor market in our town. Doctor McDaniel says it gets cold enough in the mountains at night that sick, very young and very old people who have few clothes have died of hypothermia. More than one million of the 48 million Burmese people have been displaced, forcibly separated from family members within the country. We wish the world's media could rip its focus off the Mideast long enough to make people more aware of the horror and magnitude of this situation. But those holding the media and political reins will never allow that, and the throwing of a few rocks in the Mideast will receive more coverage than the brutal deaths of everyone in a Burmese village. Now that we are here, we are embarrassed by the narrowness and bias of our focus while working all those years in Washington, DC. We ask our friends and others who may travel to this part of the world: please do not travel to Burma. Most of the money spent by tourists there ends up in the hands of the army thugs who, in a modern-day genocide of staggering scale, destroy people daily out of greed and power. Come here, instead, and let us show you from the safer side of the border, the loving and unselfish people we've met -- people who do what they can to resist the madness and care for the victims of this horrific reality. On another topic, our friends who own The Red Kangaroo bar here -- the ones called down south to Hat Yai because of the flooding -- are back home in Kanchanaburi. Sadly, they report that her mother's house was destroyed. Fortunately, according to Alan, it was only a tin shack. The mother is unhurt and moved in with her son, and the ever-optimistic couple is back at work. December 3, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand We met our friends Thiam and Jane from Jumbo Travel at dinner before walking to the huge outdoor fair that runs in conjunction with the annual Kwai bridge Light and Sound Show. The little stands sell everything -- including, for a tasty snack -- bugs -- and more bugs. Jane demonstrated the proper way to eat a big bug. Rebecca found some incredible solid teak furniture. This table is a solid piece of wood. It weighs 2,000 lbs and is priced at $15,000 here, but would be several times that in the USA. This is highly visible testament to the destruction of the old-growth jungles in Thailand, Burma, and throughout SE Asia. The big find was a hardworking merchant family from eastern Thailand who had set up a booth for only one night, hoping to sell their handmade blankets. This was exactly what we were hoping to buy for the poor people in the mountains! Our friends Jane and Thiam negotiated with them in Thai, while we "farangs" hung around in the crowd, hoping to avoid an inflated "farang price." The clever negotiator Jane also mentioned to the sellers, who come from a farming community, that we were going to give the blankets to poor farmers. They all reached an acceptable agreement, and soon we owned 49 handmade Issan Thai quilts. A few minutes later, the blankets had been bundled up and were being lugged through the huge crowd at the festival, toward the street, where we hired a minibus to carry home our new purchase. We have also bought 48 pair of rubber sandals in various sizes, and 60 toothbrushes. We're still looking for mosquito netting and a few minor things. This trip to the village is exactly the kind of thing we had in mind when we set off almost a year ago to find special opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others. It will be even better because only one day after our e-mail to friends asking support for these people, we have received several generous pledges. Thank you! Later we took a wonderful drive in the country west and north of here, and logged 70 miles on our rented motorcycle. We took some pictures of the river Kwai, the longboats roaring past, houses along the bank, and fishermen.
Mishap also befell Becky while on our Sunday countryside drive, when she received the traditional Thai tourist's tattoo by burning her leg on the motorcycle's exhaust pipe. The injury was minor, and fortunately, and we found a nearby roadside stand where a lady with a piece of ice and ointment gave her some motherly TLC. Although we didn't speak their language, the ladies took excellent care of this stranger in need. They also became the fourth and fifth Thai people to comment on our noses, which they think are large and amusing. We drove by this neat park, possibly a stone garden, that bears a 24 letter, unpronounceable name. While we were stopped outside, the place was visited by cute Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who arrived on giant, colorful buses for their a big Sunday outing. We've been surprised to learn that outside of the US, it's very common for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts to go on outings and have all kinds of activities together -- mixed, coed groups. The cute kids were like most young Thai people we see. If if we greet them in Thai by saying "Sawasdee," they are shy or uninterested in talking with us. But if we say "Hello," it's like a magic word! They smile, wave, greet us, laugh to themselves, and some even try to talk to us in English. December 5, 2000.... The King's Birthday Every night for the past 10 days, thousands of people were at the bridge to witness a impressive, four million baht Light and Sound Show. During this show, Thais explain the story of the tragic loss of 10,000 lives at the hands of the Japanese, who used prisoner labor in horrible conditions, completing the five year railroad and bridge project in one year. Using fireworks, a giant stereo system, fire, an old steam train, and flashy lights of all kinds, the show simulated the Allied bombing of the bridge shortly after its completion. It was a moving event. December 7, 2000....Pearl Harbor Day This country is amazingly complex. Foreigners ("Farangs") living and working here for 15 years have told us they are increasingly amazed the longer they stay. This, of course, only whets and deepens our interest in Thailand. Yesterday we discovered impressive twin complexes of Wat Thiam Sua and Wat Tham Khao Noi south of town, an inspirational and stunning hilltop complex of buildings, temples, and Buddhas. Just down the road (we're becoming very mobile, having put nearly 300 miles on a rented motorbike) is Wan Tham, built into a hillside. To enter, visitors climb the stairs into the dragon's mouth. Near the top, you climb further, into a cave, containing another giant Buddha. For us, we love having the time to explore a few places off the regular tourist track. CLICK HERE for enlargeable general photos of Thailand. The day was capped by an evening with our new "family," the owner and staff of Jumbo Travel. They have kindly taken us under their wing. It was Jumbo who personally drove us at no charge to the hospital complex and village near the Burma border -- where we will go this weekend to distribute desperately needed personal items to poor villagers. Last night, Jumbo and the entire staff treated us to dinner at an authentic Issan-Lao restaurant -- and it was great!
Note to Everyone: If you plan on coming here, contact Jumbo Travel. These great English-speaking professionals will make your stay memorable, and win your heart in the process. Jumbo Chatupornpaisan, Managing Director, 3/13 CHAO-KHUN-NEN ROAD A. Muang, Kanchanaburi 71000 Thailand. Phone: +66 (-034) -514906. E-mail: jumbo_travel@hotmail.com. Web Page: http://www.thaieco-adventures.org/jumbo. December 14, 2000 in western Thailand -- "Village Visit Day" Before hospital director Dr. Phil McDaniel and his team could assist the 150 villagers with a broad variety of medical problems, we had to actually get there -- and that involved driving three vehicles through hood-deep water and mud. We had been warned to be careful, because the village had no elephant to pull us out of the lake. After some anxious moments, we made it. But two trucks were not so lucky on the return trip, prompting scrambling and rigging of tow lines to rescue the mired vehicles. Once the medics had set up under a tin roof open-air building on the school grounds in Radar, the children gathered to sing their greetings -- which, to the children's delight, were returned in kind by the medics. The mood turned more serious as dozens of people, some old and others young, presented their ailments to the doctor and medical staff. The nurses who work at the mission are positively vital, and hold the kind of responsibility and decision-making held by many doctors in the west. This is all crucial to the villagers, many of whom have never seen a medical professional before.
With the entire village looking on, Dr. McDaniel pulled one rotted tooth after another from the mouths of young and old alike. Creating "fillings" was not possible on this mission, although many patients were instructed to go to town and see a dentist to fix salvageable teeth. Of the teeth that "Dr. Phil" pulled today, all were beyond repair and caused pain, and the patients were given an antibiotic treatment to take over the next few days. He said that removing a rotted tooth is one of the most fulfilling, immediate ways a doctor can help a person in pain. In this case, he had quite a workout, too, as yanking teeth is a very physical activity for the doctor, as well as the attendant who holds the head of the patient in the chair. The needs of more than one hundred people were assessed in Radar, medicines were handed out and advice was given -- all within a few hours. Were all the problems solved? Certainly not. But it was obvious that many individuals, and the village as a whole, is much better off for this one opportunity to see a doctor or nurse. The day's most joyful moments for us came when the village's head men helped us hand out the things we were donating to the needy residents. An adult from each family lined up for blankets, mosquito nets and clothing. Children also received a piece of clothing -- and some got rubber sandals, toothbrushes and toothpaste until our supply was exhausted. If only we had been able to bring more. CLICK HERE for enlargeable photos of our village visits. The faces of these children, some adorned with Burmese powder makeup (a common effort to beautify and lighten the shade of their skin) will remain in memory forever. We gave them a few things to make them healthier and more comfortable, but wish we could have given these people better ways to improve their own lives. Back at the hospital we did have one more chance to give -- blood. A young man suffering serious medical problems needed blood. The doctor guessed that the patient suffered a bleeding typhoid ulcer. Don, tended by head nurse and good friend Lea, not only gave a unit, but personally presented it to the recipient. Christmas is next. Yes, there are Christmas celebrations here in this Buddhist dominated culture. We're buying more gifts, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, blankets, more mosquito nets. We'll take them this coming weekend to celebrations in three places, including one extremely remote village more than two hours down a tiny dirt road. Did we ever feel this fulfilled while working in Washington, DC? Seldom. Are we glad the US presidential election is decided? Absolutely. Are we glad we aren't there? Totally! One brief social note: Yesterday's Bangkok Post reported the Army's problem with replacing squat toilets with the western sit down type. The soldiers don't know how to use them, and have to be trained not to stand on them. Even after training, many consider sit down toilets unsanitary and refuse to use them -- this in a country where roaches the size of golf balls can be found in some restaurant restrooms! December 17, 2000 near the Thai/Burma border Having been told we were coming, some of the 80 or so people prepared a meal while the others attended their first Christmas services in a makeshift "church." Here they learned the traditional story of Christmas as told by our friend who runs the hospital's "Safe House." Since these cultures don't celebrate birthdays (or even know exactly when they were born), we can guess that they are confused about the big deal foreigners make about the birthday of Jesus. And like their own dates of birth, the accuracy of His birthday is a bit fudged, too.
There was great excitement as Rebecca and others passed out Christmas presents -- blankets, clothes, shoes, mosquito nets, tooth brushes and toothpaste. And afterward, many of the villagers sat quietly, clutching gifts that will make their lives more comfortable and healthy. In exchange, we were delighted to accept some gifts to us presented by a few village ladies. We received some tasty sticky-rice still in the hollow bamboo used for cooking, as well as some treats sort of like peanut brittle, but minus the peanuts and sugar. Back in America, after a big Christmas meal in our comfortable family homes, there was the duty of washing all those dishes. The same thing happens in the less fortunate corners of the world, even on their first Christmas, and even if they're washing in the creek. In this community, it seems there are frighteningly more children than adults, as each young couple seems to have four or five children, which virtually commits them all to a lifetime of poverty and lack of opportunity. We were relieved to overhear the hospital's nurses discussing that they want to return to this village and teach about family planning. The hospital's educational programs like this have excellent success, and are a important key to helping people (especially women) help themselves and their culture over the long term. Look deeply into the eyes of these celebrants and you can see their pride. Looking into their incredible faces, it's impossible not to speculate on their fate. Chat with a Yao woman who is 64 years old and looks 100, and you'll appreciate the difficulty of their lives. One woman, originally from northwest Thailand near Laos now lives in a neighboring village. She made the trip here to see her first Christmas celebration. As we enter our second year on the road, we think of our lives and families, and all of the opportunities we've had that were so very privileged. While this was their first Christmas celebration, it was one of our best. We continue to learn that true happiness and fulfillment does not come from filling the bank account, but from strengthening the soul. In no previous Christmas have we given gifts in more the right way, for the right reasons, to the right people. We thank the good people back home -- friends and strangers alike -- who helped us locate and purchase all these gifts. They totaled 63 blankets, 56 mosquito nets, 124 pairs of rubber sandals, 117 pieces of clothing, 456 tubes of toothpaste, 344 toothbrushes and 72 student notebooks we distributed in four of Thailand's remote villages near the Burma border. December 18, 2000 at the River Kwai Hospital complex Our hearts go out to these people from the refugee camps. Fleeing the warfare in Burma, 104,000 of them have ended up in camps where conditions are marginal at best. Some are born, live their lives, and die in the camps. We quickly gave these proud refugee carolers all of the contents from our refrigerator and all of our groceries, as well as a monetary contribution, and we suppose that other people who heard their voices that night did the same. As the singers moved on to their next stop, we spoke briefly with their leader. Regardless of the reality of his situation, he expressed optimism and hope for the future. They all said "Merry Christmas," and disappeared into the night. December 20, 2000 in Sangklaburi, Thailand Across the lake is a village of Mon minority people -- natives who used to be "Hill Tribe" people, but are now "Lakeside" people, as a dam built in 1982 flooded the valley, and even some of their homes. As the waters advanced, a few homes were floated away and relocated. Many raft homes are simply tied to treetops emerging from the middle of the lake. This rainy season, many of the homes on the shore were flooded, too. Eerily, the top 20 feet of a Buddhist temple that once stood in the hills now peeks from the water. Other structures are completely submerged, and some, the hospital complex for example, were abandoned and rebuilt on higher ground. Cruising the lake, one comes across the expected -- fishing nets -- and the unexpected -- palm trees -- appearing to rise from nothing but water. In the arms of this lake are some very remote farms, accessible only by longboat. While it can't be seen in this photo, as we passed by this tiny settlement, we saw a lady holding a monkey. Accessible only by water, the people take their meager crops to market in tiny boats, passing homes and settlements that have now adapted to life on the water's edge. We have been accompanied in this past week by friends Becky and Chris Mendez, Americans from California who are just completing a ten month round-the-world trip of their own. We came to know them because they too have an Internet site detailing their journey. We had a really nice time with them and feel fortunate that the electronic age, and moreover a love of exploration, caused our trails to cross. December 26, 2000 in Kanchanaburi, Thailand In mid-January, this new sidebar of our expedition will be further defined as we relocate as volunteers to the Kwai River Hospital near the Burma border. The hospital is near the town of Huay Molai (why mo-LIE). Readers of earlier logs will know the needs there are serious and limitless. Yesterday, here in town, we completed another project for the hospital, repairing one of their few computers, a laptop used by the head nurse. PREVIOUS LOG or |
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Maybe we shouldn't admit this, but in Algadonas, Mexico we sought gamma globulin shots to boost our immunities for the Thailand trip. We had decided not to receive these shots in the US since they were terribly expensive plus would have required an additional (expensive) doctor's appointment just for a consultation. (We already knew precisely what we needed, following the detailed advice from the Center for Disease Control website, as well as our own travel medical records.) We found the proper medicine at a drug store in Mexico, in injection form. Now we needed someone to administer the shot. We hunted down a nurse who worked at a neighboring pharmacy. She took us upstairs above the pharmacy to administer the shots to us -- in a bathroom, but it was full of employees. So we wandered into the supply room, followed by Nurse Maria, dropped our drawers, and received our immunization. Nothing but the best for us!
Our new (and only) home is a neat, medium-sized adjoining house. It is a two story, three bedroom, two bath home with a little yard, in a 'gated' Thai middle-class community. We are the only North Americans in the neighborhood, of course. We're happy with the place, yet as always, there are a few cultural oddities to which we must adjust. For example, one peculiarity is the intermittent production of hot water (and only in the upstairs bathroom). Also, the "kitchen" lacks all appliances except refrigerator, including a sink or running water! Just outside the back door there is a portable kitchen sink, which uses water from the garden's hose. The big bug lives near there. 
On the other hand, he might be preferable to the bug we found by the back door. This monster is like no bug you've ever seen in your worst bad dream. Keep in mind that we once lived in a native long house in Borneo with some former headhunters who didn't mind big bugs...and we're saying THIS bug was HUGE -- about 5 inches long and with circular pinchers about the size of a quarter. They are clearly big enough to go completely around your big toe! Yes, we have discovered another of world's hidden crannies -- and this one is occupied by something best left alone! 
Many of the kids are "sponsored" through American charities' student "adoption" programs which provide assistance with school supplies, programs and teacher training. We wish those generous people in America and elsewhere could see for themselves what a huge difference a few dollars a month can make -- or would make for the sixty children yet unsponsored.
Before long, things turned ugly. Don turned down a farmer's road and drove right into a sea of fresh mud that flew everywhere when the tires spun. We found a place to clean up, but while washing off, Don got his foot stuck in the irrigation canal. The farmer didn't seem to mind -- nor did the cows moseying down the nearby road. This farmer is growing corn, at the foot of gorgeous and bizarre-shaped mountains. Nearby fields are rice, with more mountains beyond.
After dinner, we all piled into Jumbo's pickup and drove all over town, singing American (and Thai) songs at the top of our lungs before stopping near the river to marvel at the fireflies and look at the nearly full moon. They knew the words to more American songs than we did, because they're big karaoke fans. We are delighted to have been adopted by our new Thai "family," and they are very patient with our slow, western learning curve. If we had foreseen the depth of joy of this expedition would bring into our lives and relationship, we would have begun even sooner.
The villagers, some of whom live on rafts in the nearby lake, suffered from a wide variety of ailments. These included internal pains, rashes, old injuries, illnesses -- and terrible teeth. These used to be "Hill Tribe" people. But the government built Khao Laem Dam in 1982, flooding the valley, forcing the relocation of entire communities to the higher hills along the shore. Now these Hill People are Lake People, who fish for their livelihood.
We wish you could have been face to face with people young and old who's lives of simplicity made us contemplate all we have been given in life. Some people were wary and shy, others just curious about these foreigners who know about this thing called Christmas. All of them were welcoming and friendly. 
There, outside our door, were a dozen Burmese refugees from a nearby refugee camp. On this night each year they are allowed to visit nearby communities, singing and hoping for small gifts or donations. As you can see, they are all dressed up in their finest, for the opportunity to proudly sing Christmas carols outside the camp. Since Thailand is so overwhelmingly Buddhist, Christian carolers headed straight to the River Kwai Christian Hospital grounds, where they were sure to find people familiar with the concept of Christmas and carols.