Tales and Songs from Weddings and Funerals

Elephants and other Thai Adventures

Currently, we are in the Thai city of Chiang Mai, home to massage & cooking schools, famous temples, night markets, and thousands of Burmese migrant workers - some legal and some not-so-legal!

Since the last time I wrote we have crossed two time zones, seen the inside of three airports, spent the night in one, and travelled by plane, bus, van, tuk-tuk, songthaews (red pick-up trucks with benches), and scooters.

Before leaving South Korea we visited the DMZ - Demilitarized Zone - a 2 km strip running on either side of the North-south Korea border. Realization about the seriousness of this border dawned when an armed soldier boarded the bus to check our passports. It made airport security as we left Korea seem like a breeze.

We left South Korea on June 22 and spent the night as a layover at the Singapore Airport - possibly the best airport I have ever been in completed with movie theater - before arriving in Bangkok the morning of the 23. As we checked into the hotel their was a huge protest massing right outside the front doors - the thousands of people shut down the street for 30 minutes. It was for democracy and the return of the Prime Minister to power. Although later we heard the organizers may have been paid. Life under the current rule in Thailand is much different as the media and some internet is controlled by the goverment - they even block youtube.

Bangkok is a noisy, dirty city, full of people looking to make a fast dollar off an unsuspecting farang (foreigner), so we were happy to leave the with the tour. The first stop was Sukhothai, where we bicycled in 35C weather to look at temples, then to Lampang, where we had out first Thai massage.

Just outside of Lampang is the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre, where there is a genuine effort under way to rehabilitate and look after injured and abandoned elephants. Historically elephants were used in teak logging but since the ban many have been abandoned by their owners because of very costly upkeep. The centre has a hospital where they look after injured and malnourished elephants, including those that have stepped on landmines. The healthy animals preform tasks in tourist shows such as turning on faucets, playing intruments, stacking and moving logs and painting pictures. They also give rides. Let me tell you - you are a lot higher up on an elephant than you are on a horse! Outside of normal fundraising methods the centre has found a unique money maker - paper out of elephant dung. The process is amazing and it is made from raw materials they have lots of.

Another great fundraiser we encountered was in the city of Chiang Rai - in the far north. The restaurant Cabbages and Condoms - whose slogan is 'Our Food is Guaranteed Not to Cause Pregnancy - serves up great food with the money going to educate about HIV/AIDS and family planning and to rural community development. Instead of mints at the end of the meal you are offered a condom as part of the drive to make condoms as available as cabbages.

Chiang Rai was also the base for our visit to the Golden Triangle and Burma (Myanmar). The Golden Triangle - so named for the Opium trade is the place on the Mekong where Laos, Burma, and Thailand meet. After a view of the area we crossed the border into military held Burma for the afternoon.

Chiang Mai was the last stop on the group tour. Mom and I stayed on an extra week. While here we have sampled local specialties including Khoa Soi (a chicken noodle curry dish) and learned we could eat Mango and sticky rice as breakfast, lunch and dessert. Mom toured the area, attended cooking classes and shopped while I volunteered with a media based NGO. Through them I met several Burmese migrant workers who were keeping their presence in Thailand off the radar. The situation for many ethnic groups in Burma is so bad many people would rather risk, dangerous - low paid work in Thailand, and risk running into trouble with the Thai authorities then stay in their home country. The people I met are amazingly resilient and I have learned so much.

It will be very hard to leave Chiang Mai as we both love the city, but today we head for the Laos border to begin a two-day journey by slow boat down the Mekong river.

posted by Angela @ 5:16 p.m.