Blogs from Takua Pa, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

So we are half way through our vacation within a vacation. I do have to warn you that if you are jealous of what you have read in the past few months...stop here. Right now it is a beautiful monday afternoon in southern Thailand...later today we are flying to Bangkok! We had three CRAZY days here in Phuket. The first day we hung out at the beach, walked around, and just relaxed. We went fishing that night, so we didn't want to do anything crazy during the day. Our fishing trip was a blast. We went with an Australian couple.and between the four of us...we caught one fish. I'd love to say I caught it, but the one and a half foot baracuda that jake snagged isn't worth it. It was just relaxing to sit out ... read more

I would like to introduce you to three new children to our home. They arrived Saturday and Sunday. The children are siblings in care and true to the wisdom of social welfare systems all over the globe, seperated the children into three provinces. They were sent to Pattani, Surat Thani and Nikon Si Thammarat social welfare homes. These homes are similar to orphanages with over 100 children in residence. In late August the mother approached Khun Rotjana and begged her to bring her children together. After much negotiations, discussions and plenty of fight from Khun Rotjana, the government allowed the children to come back together and make Baan Tharn Namchai their home permanently. The youngest of the children is nearby with a nanny as she is only 11 months old. Her three siblings have come to ... read more

Sawadee Kha! Happy Holidays from Baan Tharn Namchai! I am working at an orphanage in the south of Thailand that supports children and families devastated by the Tsunami of 2004. Although we are coming upon the third anniversary of the disaster, we need your help. The emergency funds and humanitarian aid that flooded our area in the first year after the disaster is finished, but our children are still here and still need a means to attend school and have a home. For the past two years, our staff and members of the community have worked hard to establish and maintain the children’s home here at the centre in Phru Teow village. Many improvements have been made this year including additions to the washing and kitchen area, mattresses for the 20 new children that have come ... read more

A Day for a King-On the 80th birthday of Thailand's Monarch A year ago I stood on the same spot surrounded by the same kids, but they all look so much older now. The girls are all growing up, the boys becoming refined gentlemen. The King’s birthday has always been a celebration close to the hearts of Thai’s and to myself in an odd way….it was really the event that first allowed Malie and Buud to feel as though they were part of the group. Malie and this year, Buud were invited to walk in places of honor with the kids this year. As we walked through the market to our meeting points, the sight of two farang kids (well Miles at least…Malie looks more Thai every day if she isn’t looking directly at you with ... read more

Day two was a fabulous success…I am so tempted to leak a few images! Some of the children are showing an incredible talent as photographers and the enthusiasm is amazing. The all wanted to sign out cameras for the entire next day to take to school. Not a good idea, but I did allow one camera to go. As they all attend the same school, hopefully we’ll have some feeling of inclusion. After school the kids are allowed to select five photographs each, one of which will be printed and used for tonight’s writing session. I am flying solo tonight in the leadership department as Staci is staying in Khao Lak for this evening. It’s a tiring trip going back and forth each night. The goals for tonight are to “put words with images”. We are ... read more