Traveling to Mae Sot

I was totally wrong about internet connection.  It seems our resort has wifi so I will still be able to blog.  Woohoo!  I won't add the picture until we are back in Chiang Mai

January 11, 2011 6:15 Thai time

Yesterday we finished up part II of Peacebuilding.  Ajaan Mark went over a case study of the work he is continuing to conduct in south Thailand which is mostly Muslim and the conflicts that have occurred with the majority Buddhist rest of Thailand.  I was really glad that he explained that even though Thailand was never colonized that the country has been affected by colonization because of giving up land to the British and carving up other land with the British to shore up its own country is part of the conflict with south Thailand.   The people of southern Thailand are mostly ethnically Malay and are Muslim.  Fitting into what it means to be Thai is very different than a Buddhist from Bangkok.  He explained all the different attempts to resolve conflict.  I took copious notes so I won’t add them all here but if you are interested, I can get you a copy.  We left for Mae Sot in the afternoon.

Later on….

We have made it to Mae Sot which is on the Thai/Burma border.   It was quite an adventurous ride.  We are about 4 ½ hours southwest of Chiang Mai.  The further you get away from the city the less dual signs in Thai/English there are.  We have finally encountered Asian toilets.  The women in the group are none too happy.   I really like the toilet better because you don’t have to balance over a toilet seat.  If you want to know what an Asian toilet looks like you will have to ask.  Otherwise, I think that is just TMI for the blog. 

Driving towards mountains

On the drive we pass many rice paddy fields and sugar cane farms.  It seems that every little town has their ‘farmer’s market’ that is the center of the village life.  The drive through the mountains is quite exciting.  What I have learned about Thailand that lanes lines on the road are really suggestions on where you should drive.  No one really follows them, even when there are double lines saying don’t pass.  Our driver was passing trucks in the mountains even when you could not see around the corner to see if another car was coming.  I stopped looking forward for the drive and just looked out the side windows so if we died I would not see death coming.  As you can see I am still alive so I guess it is okay to drive in this crazy fashion because what I did not see is any car accidents.  I guess there is a kind of beauty to the driving in Thailand.  Jen and I sign show tunes for the last 45 minutes in the van to lighten the mood.  That was fun but I don’t think we will do this on the way home.

We are staying at this beautiful resort.  This is a 4 star resort.  Since we are close to where the refugee camps are located lots of folks who work for NGO’s stay here.  Upon our arrival you could see all the white trucks and vans that NGO’s seem to prefer for their work.   This resort also has the magic rock hard beds.  Slept like a baby but once awake you have to get off the bed.  We have this large sitting area where I am sitting writing this entry.  I am watching the sun come up over the mountains.  It is quite beautiful. 

This is the bathroom.  Shower is right next to toilet.

Our sleeping space.

This is the hallway where we all stayed.

Sitting area outside our room.s

This is our villa area.

The grounds

We have a really busy day today.  We will be going to Burma Issues at 9 am, then a quick lunch then over to that migrant worker health clinic, then we will head over to the Burma border (we are not crossing the border).