On the first day of our Southern trip, we went down to Ranong province and into Kuraburi to a village that was devastated by the 2004 tsunami. We took a boat to a floating hotel, a community tourism project that the village started with Loreal to help fund the rebuilding of their village. The floating hotel is in the middle of a river surrounded by mangroves, it was so cool! The hotel was made of bamboo, and electricity was through a generator, so we only have light at night, and only until 11 o'clock. Also, the shower heads were made of [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone Just a quick blog to update you all. I am currently in Ranong on my way out to another island Ko Chang on the Andaman Coast. We have just arrived here from Ko Jam, which was absolutely beautiful and very secluded. The island was very quiet, there was only electricity for two hours per day (when everyone plugged in everything they could to everything they could & all the lights flickered) There was no hot water - but that doesn't matter anymore as I have only managed to have one hot shower in three weeks anyway, cold showers are [View Full Entry]

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My visit to the Moken Village on Koh Lao The Moken, also known as Sea Gypsys, are a diverse ethnic group from Thailand and Myanmar and are considered a stateless people- not having citizenship within any country. Taking a long boat from the pier took around 30 minutes to arrive at Koh Lao Island. Which is approximately 4 km's from the mainland and the township of Ranong in South Thailand. On arrival we were invited to have lunch with a local family. After a delicious meal which consisted mostly of different kinds of fish, the topi [View Full Entry]

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Ranong 31/10/08 Ranong is where most people come to do a 'visa run' across into Myanmar and back. I have come here to get out of Krabi! Hopeing the weather would be better here. Which it is! There isn't that many tourists here which is good. The street lights are dim at night which gives the town a kind of B-grade Western movie set feel. The trade is aimed mostly at locals and things seem relatively normal here. It reminds my of just how much of Thailands' nicer destinations are catering for tourists. I enjoy being here. I visit the [View Full Entry]

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While visiting Kim and Awe, Jarod and I got to go on a community tour of area villages. We spent three days visiting about 8 communities that have been engaging in some sort of eco-tourism since the tsunami. The communities were all small Muslim Thai villages that were mainly focused on fishing and are doing tourism activities like basket weaving, tye dye, batiking, homestays and cooking lessons, mangrove forest restoration and tours, etc... It was a great eye-opener for us to see more of Thailand away from the major tourist destinations. We had translators throughout the visits as all i [View Full Entry]

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What you hear when in silence Crickets in the early morning, birds in the morning and afternoon, toads and geekos in the evening People brushing teeth, washing clothes, showering, sweeping, scrubbing and opening and closing doors What you see 100 people moving in many directions very slowly. No talking and very little eye contact although that increased each day. There are many things getting done without words but with cooperation, attention and loving kindness. We are all giving each other space and it looks and feels very peaceful. I found that I was able to walk as slowly as the [View Full Entry]

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We are currently in Ranong, which is on the Andaman coast of Thailand. It's here you can do a 'visa run' over to Myanmar so that you can get an extension of your Thailand visa. When we arrived in Thailand on the 28th June, I used my APEC card and was given 90 days. Patrick doesn't yet have his card, so was only given 30 days, and hence the visa run. You can do visa runs from Phuket, whereby you get a bus at 6am to Ranong, and then go by boat over to Myanmar, get your visa, come back and [View Full Entry]

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Zo.. Een bericht.. We leven nog.. Goh.. Goed, inmiddels is het al weer twee weken geleden dat we iets schreven dus we moeten wel ff flink ons geheugen opfrissen.. Gelukkig hebben we de tijd.. Allereerst, het kamp in Ranong was leuk. Zondag zijn we eerst gaan zwemmen in een of ander luxe hotel en daarna naar de school gelopen/gelift.. Even installeren daar, eten en hop naar de volgende spa.. Dat was een verassing voor de hele grote groep. Dus wij lekker zwemmen in het onweer en in een superheet bad zitten.. Vervolgens plensde het zo hard dat de straten rivieren werden [View Full Entry]

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Hoi! Het is negen uur sochtends dus we zijn nog niet helemaal wakker, maar ja, je moet toch een keer je blog schrijven... en trouwens, negen uur is best laat.. afgelopen week stonden we elke ochtend om half zeven aerobics te doen.. neee, denk maar niet dat wij het makkelijk hebben... Afgelopen week dus weer een engels kamp, in phato. maandagochtend zijn we daar aangekomen en eerlijk gezegd weten we niet meer zo goed wat we de hele dag gedaan hebben... gegeten :).. en voorbereid.. dinsdag begon het kamp dan.. eerst de officiele opening.. vreselijk, thais thais en nog een keer [View Full Entry]

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gegroet vrienden en vreemdelingen daar zijn we alweer... in ranoong dus pfoeee.. een interessant resumeee over onze afgelopen week zal hierop volgen.. Maandag zijn we naar het dorpje in de jungle gereden: Klong Rua.. en in de jungle wil ook echt zeggen...in de jungle, in het national park zelfs.. leven daar mensen? ja daar leven mensen met school en daar gingen wij heen.. Maar liefst 25 kinderen waren daar.. dus, maandag moesten we koken, nouja, loes en dineke deden de kamer en anne kookte.. maar anne kan niet koken... gelukkig kunnen adul en lek dat wel dus hebben we toch lewkker [View Full Entry]

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