To the refugee camp
So here's a map of the area. Laos in the north-east, Burma in the north-west, Thailand in the South. You have Mae Sai at the northern part of Thailand, the border town, twinned with Tachilek. It's 4 hours away from Chiang Mai. But on Wednesday, we went to a remote area, almost on the line of the frontier.
To go there, you just take the road 107 north of CM. After Chiang Dao, you will find a road heading to the West. Just have to take it, undergo all the "sharp curves" in the mountain, and you will arrive in a place where 3 different armies live, not more than 2km apart.
The border is just 10 steps ahead. Litterally. We went to a monastery to give clothes (they will go to another village, 3hours away from there) and we were only 20m away from the burmese army camp. The monastery was 30m further north, 6 years ago, but that will be another story for another post.
So we gave the clothes and then headed to the refugee camp. Which is a camp only by name. If you agree with my definition of a camp as being a temporary settlement of tents and small shelters... Now, the camps look much more like these poor villages you can spot on the side of the road, small houses and roads, a real life going on...
To go there, you just take the road 107 north of CM. After Chiang Dao, you will find a road heading to the West. Just have to take it, undergo all the "sharp curves" in the mountain, and you will arrive in a place where 3 different armies live, not more than 2km apart.
The border is just 10 steps ahead. Litterally. We went to a monastery to give clothes (they will go to another village, 3hours away from there) and we were only 20m away from the burmese army camp. The monastery was 30m further north, 6 years ago, but that will be another story for another post.
So we gave the clothes and then headed to the refugee camp. Which is a camp only by name. If you agree with my definition of a camp as being a temporary settlement of tents and small shelters... Now, the camps look much more like these poor villages you can spot on the side of the road, small houses and roads, a real life going on...
From the mountain opposite : the small village of the regufees, settled on the crest of a hill.
We went to the Wihan (the main and sometimes only building of a wat). It is used as a meditation room, as a school for the 220 children, as a meeting room... Well, as the center of the community. We arrived in the middle of an English class, which Tom and I took over while Phra Sanet was taking with the leaders of the camp.
Phra Chhunny had given me 500bt, to which I had added 500bt of my own. With all this, I bought some stuff for the children. The money my aunt gave me, 3000bt, I gave it to the leader of the camp. They know better than us what they need. But Phra Chhunny and I wanted to make the children smile, make them forget a little where they are. So I bought :
- 3 balls
- 1 kg of candies (to which Tom added a lot of chocolate bars ^^)
- 30 notebooks, 4 books, more than 150 pens
Tom and I gave some money to the leader, using it a tray in silver to hand him the bills. It's a common way of makind donations in Thailand, especially in the wats. He then told us about the story of the camp, what happened to the villagers and so on. For another post ^^
And then we went we would be spending the night. I decided to sit at the back of the pick-up and Boi joined me. It was the most beautiful sky I've ever seen so far in Asia. Bright and clear and filled with stars. It's like the chill of the air was making it purer in a way. I even got the luck to see 2 shooting stars :)
But the chill of the night was nothing like the cold of the morning. Even with my sweater, shawl and sockets, i was freezing. The fog was so dense, it was making everything look out a little unreal and out of time. I took the opportunity to warm myself by a fire with other Thai people, it was great to share.
In the morning, we walked on the crests to see the school Phra Sanet wants to build, and then we headed to the Thai Army Camp. It was so weird to be talking with these soldiers, looking at the burmese camp only 20m away...
After a lunch at 11am, it was already time to go back. I spent the mountain road at the back of the pick-up. Which gave me the splendid opportunity to be hit on by thai soldiers on the road. No i'm not married. Do you have to say 10 times i am beautiful ? Oh, and no, i'm not staying here. Let me guess why they didn't ask anything to Tom...
Phra Chhunny had given me 500bt, to which I had added 500bt of my own. With all this, I bought some stuff for the children. The money my aunt gave me, 3000bt, I gave it to the leader of the camp. They know better than us what they need. But Phra Chhunny and I wanted to make the children smile, make them forget a little where they are. So I bought :
- 3 balls
- 1 kg of candies (to which Tom added a lot of chocolate bars ^^)
- 30 notebooks, 4 books, more than 150 pens
Tom and I gave some money to the leader, using it a tray in silver to hand him the bills. It's a common way of makind donations in Thailand, especially in the wats. He then told us about the story of the camp, what happened to the villagers and so on. For another post ^^
And then we went we would be spending the night. I decided to sit at the back of the pick-up and Boi joined me. It was the most beautiful sky I've ever seen so far in Asia. Bright and clear and filled with stars. It's like the chill of the air was making it purer in a way. I even got the luck to see 2 shooting stars :)
But the chill of the night was nothing like the cold of the morning. Even with my sweater, shawl and sockets, i was freezing. The fog was so dense, it was making everything look out a little unreal and out of time. I took the opportunity to warm myself by a fire with other Thai people, it was great to share.
In the morning, we walked on the crests to see the school Phra Sanet wants to build, and then we headed to the Thai Army Camp. It was so weird to be talking with these soldiers, looking at the burmese camp only 20m away...
After a lunch at 11am, it was already time to go back. I spent the mountain road at the back of the pick-up. Which gave me the splendid opportunity to be hit on by thai soldiers on the road. No i'm not married. Do you have to say 10 times i am beautiful ? Oh, and no, i'm not staying here. Let me guess why they didn't ask anything to Tom...
And now is the time to share my new knowledge ^^
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