Blogs from Mae Hong Son, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 5

As temperatures begin to soar during the afternoons in MHS we have discovered where locals go on their weekends to cool off - Pai River. About only 5 km out of town raised above the river are several bamboo framed, leaf thatched huts. Small tables are within these huts for people to sit around and relax, eat or go swimming. Numerous restaurants are located along the river bank where you can order food and hire rubber tubes to float in the water. Pai River is 180km in length and starts in the Thanon, Thongchai and Daen Lao mountains. It is located close to the Burma border and a common destination for white water rafting. The 3 MHS girls, joined by 3 Thai friends spent a relaxing afternoon in one of the huts along with many other ... read more

Two more weekends, alot more teaching.............will I ever have a weekend off?? Well yes, the weekend coming up is completely mine, but that's not the point!! I've been working very hard again for the past 2 weeks.........so hard in fact that I have spent today doing absolutely nothing at school (there's been me and one other teacher in so we've left the kids to it all day!) and when I was laid on the floor resting just after lunch, the kids obviously thought I looked a bit tense, and 2 of them started to massage me - it was rather wonderful!! Anyway back to 2 weekends ago, and English camp in Maelanoi...... It had been a long week at school, I woke up with a cold, and it was very very hot, so I didn't work ... read more

Taken from a few resources (UNHCR, CAL & TBBC), below is information about Camp 1. As its the biggest in the MHS region I will be spending most of my time here. Camp 1 is located 25km (approx one hour drive) from Mae Hong Son and was initially opened in 1996 to accommodate around 1,800 refugees. Due to the ongoing fighting in Burma, newcomers have arrived making the current camp population according to UNHCR figures in June 2008, 19,380. The camp population is 94% Kayah/Karenni, broken down into various sub-groups who speak different dialects and who are mostly farmers. Non-Karenni residents are Karen, Shan, Burman and Pa-o. Of the population in the camp 48% are Animist, 42% Christian (predominantly Catholic) and 10% Buddhist. The Karenni people call themselves Kayah Lee or Kazah Lee, meaning Red People. ... read more

For those who love the outdoors, nature, mountain scenery, culture, peace, tranquility and the simple life, Mae Hong Son (MHS) is the dream destination. Isolated from the outside world, with little western influences, it is rural Thailand at its finest. MHS definitely offers the change in lifestyle I was looking for, a slower pace in life and an opportunity just to relax and enjoy the simple things. Being a small town the local people are very friendly and smiling daily or greeting strangers is a regular occurrence. I feel like I ride or walk around constantly with a permanent smile on my face. It is hard not to feel content when these are your surroundings and you have no exposure to the western influences of consumerism or desire of continually wanting more. I think the fact ... read more

So I've been a very busy lady (I use that term loosely) for a couple of weeks, hence the lack of blogging! The other weekend it was English Camp in Khun Yuam and I had 3 nights of luxury!! There was a mattress (made from straw and incredibly hard, but a mattress none the less), and....... wait for it....... a hot shower! Yes, I actually felt clean for a short while :-) Anyway, English camp was pretty good as it was basically playing English games with 16, 17 and 18 year olds for 2 days. It was quite interesting to see the level of English of older pupils in a less remote area, compared to my young ones from a very remote village!! On the Saturday, me, Jonny and Joey had a really fun task called ... read more