Mae La

We are on our way to Mae La. First stop is Mae Sot. Six hours before we arrive.  We will, spend the night there to get our authorization for entry in order.

 

Tham Hin

Visited Tham Hin today. The people are beautiful! Thank you to those who helped us gain entry into the camp.

This little boy came and gave me a hug and then sang a song for me.

Here I am with the principal of Tham Hin School

This is a friend of Eh Ka Lu's family

Kanchaniburi

While we waited for our paperwork to be completed, we had some time to spend checking out the surrounding area. We went to Kanchaniburi to see the death railway and the Bridge over the River Kwai. We also visited the cemetery of fallen allia military personel. It was quite beautiful. Up until the time I started doing research for my grant, I was unaware of the instrumental role the Karen played during WWII. I remember watching the made-for-TV movie about the bridge and could be heard whistling the theme song quite often. This is what sparked my interest in visiting the area. Since then, I have learned that the movie is not that accurate (which is no big surprise), and KWAI is not pronounced "kwhy" but more like "kware".

Floating Market

One amazing thing you should know about Thailand is that there are markets everywhere. I think I could spend an entire summer just visiting markets and not even come close to seeing them all. Unlike the U.S. where we go to our superstores to buy a month worth of groceries, for many residents here, the market is a daily event to buy food for their dinner. The floating market is a little different because I feel it is geared towards tourists. It was fun though. We were paddled along in a boat to see what the merchants were selling.

View from the Road

Here are some pictures of the foothills on the Thai/Burma border. I took these when our driver was taking us to meet his mother.

Plants and Wildlife

Here are some pictures of my surroundings. We are staying with a wonderful family in a community just outside of Tham Hin in Ratchaburi.