Life in the Kingdom

Sawaadee kha,

As we begin to write this, it's the Easter weekend. Interesting when one lives in a different culture and lives amongst such a visible expression of faith such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, our own "Easter" expression is somewhat stretched. This weekend we did a early morning pilgrimage to an ancient 10th century Hindu monastery in northeast Thailand. This temple stands on a mountain of an extinct volcano. Twice a year at sunrise the suns rays pass straight through 15 perfectly aligned doorways of Phanom Rung. This spectacular solar related event bears religious significance in the Hindu faithful. This religious significance of the sunrise continued througout the days with folk music, dancing and storytelling.

The political demonstrations continue in Bangkok. The atmosphere is almost "carnival like" as the "Red Shirts" protest the apparent elitism of the present government. Representing the "Common Thai" the Red Shirts indicate they will continue the demonstratons until the government resigns and calls a new election. The government however retorts that it would be devastating to the economy if they should resign and have offered to continue negotiating with the protesters . To date it's all been civilized however like the Thai weather things are beginning to heat up... we'll wait and see! Politics in Thailand could never be called boring :)

Since our last blog update we were pleased to have more of our friends visit from NS. Following an enjoyable visit with Brenda and Randy Crozsman, we welcomed Gail Kerr-Crofton and Elva Heyge. Traveling through various areas of Thailand was on the menu . Speaking of menus, time was afforded sampling local Thai cuisine including the delicious street food. The Frenchman behind the wheel exposing his french-thai driving skills took us to the South to visit scenic Krabi,to the West to Khanchanaburi and Sangklaburi as well as provinces in Central Thailand. A trip to the World UNESCO historical site of Luang Prabang in Laos was also on the inteniary where an early morning wake up ( 5:30am) saw us on the streets observingand paying respect to hundreds of monks collecting alms. Thank goodness for the wonderful french coffee afterward:) Along with the magnificent temples a part of the old town's appeal are the many French provincial style houses.

A trip along the Mekong River and driving along a country road one feels like they gone back in time. Laotian possess a strongly developed sense of courtesy and respect and much of their culture is strongly influenced by Buddhist thinking and attitudes. Acceptance is their worldview. Events, for better or worse, are related to one's previous incarnation and are therefore accepted without challenge or emotion. Like the Thai "mai pen rai" the Laos people have a similar expression meaning " no problem" or "never mind". This expression sometimes frustrates Westerners who have a worldview that problems are there to be solved, not to be accepted.

During our trip with Elva and Gail to Sangklaburi in the western part of Thailand we stayed in a scenic cottage overlooking one of Thailand's oldest wooden bridges. Courtesy of a local boatsman we enjoyed an early morning journey to view an underwater temple.

Bruce and Heather Tupper dropped in for a quick hello and a brief visit en route to Borneo. Unfortunately I was away working on a project in Chiang Mai however Michel enjoyed their company and took them on a tour of Bangkok's canals.

Club Canada's Snowball was a success. In celebration of the Winter Olympics the evening was jam packed with fun. The Snowball is Canada Club of Thailand's major fundraiser in support of our charities. As Chairperson of this event it was indeed fulfilling to see the results of many months of work by all of us who worked on the committee. More importantly we were successful in raising the amount of funds needed to continue our work supporting women and children who live in impoverished circumstances.

We celebrated Kelsey's 21st birthday with a delicious Italian meal at one of our favourite nearby restaurants. She is busy doing her 6 month Internship at The Four Seasons Hotel on her way to graduating from a program in International Tourism and Hospitality.

Michel is finishing his term here with Michelin. He plans to head to Bridgewater NS for 6 weeks at the beginning of May to prepare for a Michelin assignment he'll be doing in Northern China. While he is away, Kelsey and I will stay in Bangkok to complete some of our commitments. We have decided to take the assignment in Northern China and expect our move will happen at the end of August. We look foward to our return home to the Annapolis Valley mid July for our holiday before opening the next chapter in this "book of life".

My work continues to inspire me. At the present time I'm working on a project with an NGO in northern Thailand. This organization works in communites buiding capacity and their primary focus is social justice and gender equality issues. Their efforts are aimed at people harmed by poverty, oppression and violence in various forms, regardless of their faith, skin colour or gender. Where the opportunity arises , I continue to volunteer teaching English.

We enjoy visiting border towns and the Cambodian border town of Aranyaprathet was no exception. Spending the weekend observing the trade with Cambodia and Thailand, chating with the locals and browsing through some of the local markets was a highlight of a recent weekend excursion.

There are 54 species of hornbills worldwide. They are found only in tropical forest of Africa and Asia. Thailand has 13 species. Michel has been fascinated with the hornbill. Accompanied by a guide who has worked and studied the hornbill for 20 years he was privledged to observe and photograph this creature of such bizarre appearance and complex behaviour patterns. With their characteristic horn-like casques atop their beaks, hornbills resemble no other bird species. In theory, Thailand's hornbills are protected by the Wildlife Preservation Act, but in reality the remoteness of their habitat makes it a difficult law to enforce. All of Thailand's species are considered endangered.

Now that temperatures in Bangkok reach 35-37degrees an escape to the beach is always a welcome respite. One of the places not on the tourist radar is Trat. Trat is Thailand's southeastern-most province. With its long white sandy beaches it offers delightful scenery and is a major fruit growing and fishing area. One of the famous Thai dishes found in Trat is soft crab in red curry- a yummy dish that we enjoyed as we watched the ocean from a bamboo restaurant .

Songkran the Thai New Year is coming up. This is one of the biggest holidays in Thailand. It's also a time when many service workers in Bangkok go home to assist their families in the rice harvesting. This festival is known as the water festival . Thai people will frolick about dousing people with water as a symbol of washing away and cleansing for the new year. Actually their sense of "sanook" ( fun) is in high gear and for three days buckets of water and water guns are everywhere. We'll be traveling to Burma ( Myanmar) on April 9th for 9 days. We're looking forward to exploring this beautiful third world country. We'll share our insights and photographs on our next blog.

In the meantime..... we send you many blessings.

Go well

Kelsey, Michel and Dorothy