"Your learning FLASH?"

This past week I had a chance to interview for a school in Chiang Rai, a town near the northern border of Thailand. In the interview process, I was required to “demo teach” a class of students ranging from 12 to 14 years old. The kids were great, and I was impressed with their English speaking skills.

I also toured the English speaking section of the school that consists of over 3000 students. These Thai students are required to take several classes taught entirely in English. Courses consist of science, social studies, health, English, and computer class.

I was especially impressed that these young students were learning computer programs including Excel and Flash. By the time the kids are 14 years old, they will learn how to write script in Flash, the same website design program I spent time learning while attending journalism school at the University of South Florida.

Thailand, being a developing country, looks towards its younger generations to help the country progress in the age of escalating Asian economies. Judging from the skills these kids are acquiring, Thailand should have a bright future. That is, if the country can solve its ongoing governmental saga that, according to global business reports, hinders economic stability and growth.

Monk Chat

This is an partial excerpt from a handout I picked up at Wat Suan Dok Temple in Chiang Mai. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons there is a free “Monk Chat” that gives the monks a chance to practice their English, and give the western visitors a chance to visit with a Monk and receive a lesson in Buddhism if they so wish.

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Dear fellow westerner,

If you come here motivated by your personal and sincere quest for what could answer your existential questions and the desire to find a gratifying spiritual nourishment or simply because driven by the intellectual curiosity on a philosophy and a view of life about which you want to know more, you are most welcome.

Thailand is a Buddhist country, and in Buddhism thrives its culture and civilization. It is because of this Buddhist culture, tolerant, non-aggressive nor violent, that Thailand and its people are as they are, which is the reason for which we like them. This culture must be preserved and respected. Keep in mind, therefore, that you are in a Buddhist Country, in a Buddhist Temple, and in a Buddhist Academy. Coming here with the intention to convert shows at least a lack of tact and of respect and it shows ignorance.

A “Christian” Thailand is not conceivable without causing the destruction of its culture. History has widely proven that dogmas and the frightful claim to hold the only “truth” generate exclusiveness and intolerance, which in turn lead to violence. Exclusiveness and intolerance have violently and without mercy destroyed the ancient peaceful and tolerant pagan world of the Greeks and Romans and that of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Central and South America. Exclusiveness and intolerance have led to violent clashes and slaughters among Christian sects and among monotheistic religions.

Furthermore, such evangelization has the ultimate and undeniable intent of undermining and destroying a culture, a social structure and traditions, replacing them with a narrow-minded religious absolutism, which is foreign to the cultural background of peoples of this part of the world. This is unacceptable and condemnable also by the intellectual integrity of any westerner.

Carlo Faillace
(Prof. of History and of Romantic Languages and Literature)

Full Moon of the Rainy Season

The cool misty air hung low in the Mae Chaem valley as people flocked to the temple grounds dressed in traditional textiles. Massive drums and cymbals created a rhythmic pattern that filled the lowlands with a slow movement. Full moon day in the heart of the rainy season is a special time at the temple.



The local villagers arrived and paid respects by creating their form of “Christmas trees” made of bamboo and native vegetation. The bases of the trees are made from natural items such as long grasses tied together with vine, or a stalk of a banana tree. Splitting bamboo in to thin strips and inserting them in the base creates the branches of the offering tree.

The thin bamboo branches are adorned with soap, toothpaste, pencils and paper, laundry detergent, incense and candles, money, and other basic essentials offered to the monks and temple. Umbrellas woven into the bases sheltered many of the offering trees adding a modern cap on the ancient tradition.

Many of these traditional festivals still survive, although Thailand is rapidly becoming more and more westernized. Less than 40 years ago this valley had no electricity and rarely saw a vehicle on the dirt streets. Local villagers bathed in the streams and traveled mostly by foot and ox and cart. Rarely was a western face experienced in the valley.

Today, a new 7-11 fueling station is being completed in the town of Mae Chaem where you can grab a Coke or Heineken, a new cell phone card, bag of chips, and purchase popular fashion magazines.

Hopefully it will be a few years before the strip malls over-run the local village market, but that may just be wishful thinking for those longing for a simpler time.

The Hill Tribe School - Part 1

Side: Mudslide puts boys dorm in jeopardy


Below: A teacher and residence on school grounds












Before her death, the Kings' Mother made a request to Boonthan Mahavan to do anything necessary to improve the standard of living for the hill-tribe people in Northern Thailand. One of Boonthan's projects is a small school near Mae Chaem that houses and educates around fifty hill-tribe kids. The kids come from various groups such as the Aka, Lisu, and Hmong located near the Thai-Myanmar border areas.

After the death of the King’s mother, the vow help the hill tribe people was passed on to her beloved daughter-in-law Queen Sirikit. The Queen had forever been a humanitarian with a deep interest in the environment and the people who relied on it. The Queen fostered many royal projects around Thailand while creating new preserves in the mountains of northern Thailand – the land of the hill tribe people.

Shortly after settling on a location near Mae Chaem, the Sungwan Foundation purchased six ‘rai’ of land (approximately 2.5 acres) in the hills surrounding the lush valley. Doi Inthenon, the highest peak in Thailand, stands guard over the lush valley and the school.

The Sungwan foundation initially started in 1967 as a mobile medical unit dedicated to improving the health of the mountain people. Equipped with four-wheel drive vehicles, the team of volunteers travel to remote villages administering medical attention to the isolated people. Today, the volunteers consist of over 200 dentists and doctors from throughout Thailand. The mobile unit uses a laptop, linked through satellite, enabling the volunteers in the field to communicate directly with a doctor in Bangkok.

Back at the school, hill tribe children are taught how to farm various crops using organic fertilizer, raise animals such as catfish and frogs, create handy-crafts, and grow mushrooms. The kids are also taught music with a minimal amount of "traditional" school topics most of us are familiar with.

I will return the hillside school this week to double check my facts in this post and gather more information. I will also update you on efforts to retain a small mudslide that put one of the boy’s dorms in jeopardy during my last visit. The rainy season is flourishing in northern Thailand.

COMING SOON

Before her death, the Kings' Mother made a request to Boonthan Mahavan to do anything necessary to improve the standard of living for the hill-tribe people in Northern Thailand. One of Boonthan's projects is a small school near Mae Chaem that houses around fifty hill-tribe kids. The kids come from various groups such as the Aka, Lisu, and Hmong located near the Thai-Myanmar border areas.

I had a chance to visit this amazing school and spend a couple nights at Boonthan's house. In the next few days I will attempt to piece together a series of posts that highlight the school and various projects created to improve the life of these amazing people.

The Good Old Daze

An old friend recently tracked me down via the internet and sent me some photos from the early 90's.

The Magic Van, buried in snow, was me and Brown's home for a couple years in the mountains of Colorado. It had recently snowed a couple feet on my property and Brown didn't mind at all. The silence of winter was beautiful up in the hills.

Great BIG? World

On my way to take a TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Certificate course at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“It’s a great big world out there,” we were told back in the days of 55 mph speed limits, broadcast television, and green and black computer screens. Heck, it wasn’t long ago that most people believed the earth was flat and the universe revolved around the flat Earth. Oh my, how things have changed.

Just after flying over Duluth, Minnesota and Lake Superior, which holds about one-fifth of the planets fresh water, I was served up a nice hot meal. (yes, international flights still serve food…for free!) I had chosen a Korean dish since I was flying Korean airlines, and settled in for the 14-hour trip from Atlanta to Seoul.

On the side of the tray, holding several small covered dishes, I was humored to see a single pad of Land O’ Lakes butter. The Native American Indian maiden on the front of the red, yellow and green label was very familiar to this Minnesota boy.

The organization was incorporated on July 8, 1921, as the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. In 1924, the association decided to expand its butter market, and a search was made for an appropriate brand name and trademark. A contest was announced to choose a name. To tie in with the golden color of butter, $500 in gold was offered as prize money.(www.landolakes.com)

I chuckled how this little pad of butter from Minnesota, and a Minnesota native, were flying over Duluth, where my mother was raised, on their way to South Korea.

As I panned further around the array of food, I found several countries were sharing my plate. Japan had the seaweed soup. Korea had the hot sauce. China had the dinner wear. America had the water and butter, and I guessed the bread. Columbia had the coffee.

The well-kept and polite Korean stewardess smiled and asked (in English) if I would like some wine, (from Italy), or tea (from India). I stuck with the Americas and had a coffee and Sprite.

The native Thai man next to me asked the stewardess for a wine, (in Korean) then looked at me and said, “Cheers, here’s to a short flight.”

I assumed the plane would handle enough Middle Eastern fuel to get this hodge-podge of passengers to wherever it was we were all going. It seemed most ethnicities were represented on this 747 jumbo jet. And like the little pad of Land O’ Lakes butter, we were all crossing this ever-shrinking planet sharing little bits of our cultures.