Blogs from North-East Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 8

Loy Krathong is a traditional Thai festival held on a full moon in November where people give thanks to the water by floating ‘Krathong’ (objects with flowers and candles which float on the water) into the rivers. It was a beautiful festival; in Mukdahan we have the Mekong river which borders Thailand with Laos and thousands of people headed down to the river side to celebrate Loy Krathong. Heading there on the back of a motorbike we could see hundreds of lanterns lighting up the sky and lots of fireworks, it was amazing and as we got closer it was even better. Thousands of people lined the river setting off lanterns into the sky, everyone who had made (or in our case brought) Krathongs lit them and headed down to little boats from which we floated ... read more

Well after a month of living and working in Thailand I have realised a few things.. I am never going to find shoes that properly fit. I will never find a bra bigger than a B cup and that nights out here are completely nothing like back home!! We have been searching for the perfect night out and it seems that north east Thailand is no broad street. Pattaya’s walking street was a wild night out and Bangkok and the islands have western nightlife but up here in the sticks its like a night out in a southern american humdrum town, just where everyone speaks Thai. Every night out in Thailand is an adventure and we fit so much into one night and meet so many people its mad, so many memories made in just one ... read more

Sitting in the Cafe once again, trying to recall last week’s events on one hours sleep. 'Remember remember, the 5th of November..' Bonfire night and we made sure it was celebrated over 8,000 miles from home. Ben worked hard at producing sumptuous toffee/treacle apples and I worked hard scrubbing off the burnt sugar. Alongside the volunteers from Kutchum, Lu nokta and Phana, we sat by our roaring blaze, eating an array of BBQ foods cooked by Bra Yung and the other teachers. Under a starry sky we shot off fireworks, deafened each other with crackers and ‘mistakenly’ hit trees and neighbours roofs with flare sticks. Nothing like the mass gathering of Hexham bonfire night but a good crowd of people, happily messing around with explosives and gluing mouths around sugar coated apples. On Wednesday night myself, ... read more

Sista veckan, var min absoluta favorit!!!! På denna intensivvårdsavdelningen tar de endast emot patienter med medfött hjärtfel, oavsett ålder. De har under 10 års tid haft ett sjukvårdssystem där pat betalar en mycket liten peng och resten bekostas av staten och olika privata/statliga försäkringar. Därför fick jag se en ung vuxen, tjej på 18 år som kom tillbaka från operation efter en total rekonstruktion av fallot (TFO). Detta gjordes så sent på grund av att föräldrarna har varit rädda för att flickan skulle dö, tyckte inte att hon var så påverkad och klarade sitt dagliga liv bra samt av ekonomiska skäl, de hade en lång resa och föräldrarna hade det svårt att vara utan inkomst. De hade 8 vårdplatser i ett stort rum, jag upplevde personalen som mycket duktiga och samarbetade mycket väl. De var bra ... read more

Despite missing everyone its great to be back in Muang Samsip. Chilling in a cafe with good wifi and our host has agreed to pay anything we get here! Will try not to take this piss... All week its been Halloween lessons. The students have been getting covered in flour searching out sweets and soaking themselves bobbing for apples. My older classes are learning Razorlight songs and with our work permits sorted we are no longer illegal workers! Yesterday the nights sky was filled with flare bursts and florid firework explosions as Isaan celebrates the monks coming out the monasteries after 3months. Ben and I shot off flares, blew bangers and were assaulted by kids wielding firecrackers! We've stockpiled some for our bonfire night on monday. Its going to go off with a bang!... read more