Blogs from Mae Sot, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

See the TWO (2) White Temple panoramas above Look at the photos below. Click on any photo to enlarge. Text is of limited interest. Another couple of months...another visa-run. March 13, 2015: Rather than take the most common visa-run from Chiang Mai north to Mae Sai / Tachilek border, I thought it would be interesting to see a less used border crossing south-west at Mae Sot. Mae Sot is a little further away, 6 hour bus ride rather than 4 hours, but is less used. There is a refugee camp manned by many young volunteers and a small expat community. Many of the local workers in Mae Sot, Thailand are from Myanmar and speak no Thai or English. Precious stones from Myanmar are popular and there's a gem market on Saturdays with many shops (photo) cutting ... read more

Today is Sunday and a day for church service and rest at Future Light. However this week 'free time' in the afternoon will consist of getting back to the project and mixing concrete. Ted and I spent the morning catching up on correspondence and relaxing after a few very busy days and when we arrived at FL the crew was already hard at work. We helped with a few batches of concrete but also played with the kids that afternoon. We also had some great conversations with Ita and Goin despite their limited english language skills and my non existent Burmese. They brought us a little more up to date on their life here at Future light and some recent additions to the home. There are now two new boys at FL. Both had been dropped ... read more

After a brief tour of the Maesot market and general layout of the town we made our way back to Future Light this morning. Our plan this morning is to review all the potential projects and select those that we can afford to pay for this year and those that will be of most benefit. After a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of each project we narrowed it down to 4 listed in priority order. 1) Repair the floor in the main activity room of the school which was heavily damaged by the 2013 flood. 2) Repair the damage to the main supports of the shower room building and the toilet buildings 3) Build a new structure to be used as a study room/library for doing homework and activities 4) Purchase a used pick ... read more

Every teacher has a student who drops out at some point. But not many can say their student dropped out to become a monk. It is a Burmese tradition that three times in a man's life, he must stop what he's doing, go to a monastery, shave his head, and become a monk for at least two weeks. I think, if society allows for this (no one losing their job), it is a wonderful tradition. A time to get a personal reality check, get some perspective, and refocus those goals. In this case, my 20 year old student became a monk because his father died last weekend. His mother had already died when he was quite young, and now he and his sister are parent-less. The death was apparently quite unexpected. My student took his university ... read more

So i've finished my first week of work! I woke up this morning to the sounds of firecrackers from various neighbors, and when i rode into town, the asphalt was littered in red paper. especially in the "posh" section of town where they sell gemstones, an area defined by cobblestone road, actual parking spaces, and stores that have air conditioning. this week has been eye opening in a strange way. i think looking back at old entries, i realized that i've just been listing events, but i haven't been analyzing them much. i hesitate to get too ethereal and froo froo about what's going on, because i don't want it to sound false and pretentious. but here is the truth: the people here do so much with so little, and i am in awe. the woman, ... read more