Blogs from Sangkhlaburi, Western Thailand, Thailand, Asia

Sangkhlaburi really has charmed me. It's beautiful and there's no over stating how much I have enjoyed actually seeing, walking and moving through the village, bridge and rivers that I had read of. I've found the people to be kind, quieter with me than in those in Kanchanaburi, enjoying of a slow pace; and its a place that's culturally diverse and harmonious. The status of many of the minorities from old Burma means that some do not get education or health care access, however there are a few important school programmes & community hubs here. An example of the overall harmony and care is from when the Mon Bridge partly collapsed in 2013 - the communities both sides (the Thai, the Mon and the Karen) worked together to very quickly build a floating bamboo walkway over ... read more

For many western travelers Kanchanaburi is the well known destination for tourist who have been attracted by the history of World War II and also the famous Erawan Waterfalls. However, there is a small town that 5 Hours away from Kanchanaburi called “Sangkhlaburi" which is rich of of history and slow cultures. Sangkhlaburi is a sleepy little town that located along the Thai-Myanmar border with the spectacular view of the Songkalia river in the center of the town that will take your breath away at every turn. The best spot in town is the “Mon Bridge” or hand made longest wooden bridge that connect to colorful and lively Mon village. The journey to Sangkhlaburi will lead you to discover the various ethnic groups, including the Mon, Thai, Karen and Burmese so this little gems is a ... read more

At the start of this week we got 2 new volunteers, Dionne (Emily's friend) and Jenna. They are both in their 20s and are pretty cool. General things happening here. We went into Sangkhla one day which was fairly dull, the only saving being we had chocolate ice lollies filled with condensed milk - so good! On Thursday we did our normal trip into the Thursday morning markets in Huay Ma Lai to buy condensed milk pancakes, chickpea wraps and sticky rice. Then we celebrated B's last day here by going for a walk in the surrounding jungle which was pretty cool, and making banana cake, which took all afternoon as we had to cook it in an old school brick oven that was heated by a wood fire that we had to keep topping up. ... read more

Whilst waiting for the kids to arrive, Gale showed me round the home a bit. They have a boy's house, girl's house, office, schoolroom/library, dining room/kitchen and music room/hall. A 5 minute walk away is the volunteer house, where we were staying, and the place has lots of outdoors stuff as well - climbing frames, a volleyball court and a football/basketball area. Our house is fairly basic, with a 1 out of the 4 toilets having a flushing mechanism, and 1 hot and 1 cold shower. The beds are basically a metal frame with a board across it, or simply a yoga mat on the floor. There are a few thin mattresses (about 1 inch thick) - I ended up folding one in half so it's not very wide but at least I can't feel the ... read more

The plan originally was to head to Sangklaburi and volunteer for a week at on of the orphanages that house refugee children from Burma, however as Lisa was too late in emailing the home there were no beds left! We decided not to let this deter us and so headed off on the 3 hour mini bus ride anyway, thinking that there would be other projects we could visit for a day or two and help out. Upon arrival in Sangklaburi it was a bit of a shock, dusty, dirty town with more than just smelly markets. After wandering about a bit lost for a few minutes we saw a couple of western girls and asked them where they were staying, they showed us back to their guesthouse which just at that moment was being fumigated ... read more