Blogs from Mae Hong Son, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 7

After travelling 3-4 hours south of MHS in a bus with no air-conditioning that had the back door wide open and me thinking that I would fall out at anytime, we found ourselves in charming Mae Sariang and met up with our friend Claire, from Chiang Mai. While MHS is a quiet country town, this goes a step further. Home to only a small number of guesthouses and trekking companies, it is a place visited by very few tourists and is in a tranquil, country setting overlooking Yuam River. Even with the noise and celebration of the Poi Sang Long ceremony underway in Mae Sariang it was peaceful. As you can see from the photos the Shan are doing a similar procession as in MHS, just on a smaller scale. The Shan in MHS would also ... read more

Nat, one of the trainers who was living in MHS and working in the camps a couple of months before we moved up here, took me around Camp 1 so I could gain a better understanding of the people, their tradition, culture and lifestyles. At first glance it was hard to believe that the camp is nearly inhabited by 20,000 people but as we traversed along the unpaved, rough and rocky roads, crossing many waterways and through various sections, I realised the large land area the camp covers. She first took me to the Vocational Centre where students are able to learn trades, such as motor mechanics. There is a tree at this Centre depicting the three religions, symbolic of the faiths that are practiced in the camp. It is currently school holidays so you will ... read more

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