THAILAND
KHAO LAK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khao_Lak
is a coastal and beach place about 11 hours drive south from Bangkok and as I don\’t have a map of consequence, no idea of mileage. Again I expected the smooth white sands, flat blue Andaman Sea however it was rough, dirty and windy and again I compare Australia\’s beaches and coloured sand. Much much nicer. We do get the dirty waters at low tide especially near river outlets so am waiting for the sea here to calm and colour to change to that bright blue in the advertising pics. It is humid around 30o all the time and I spent the VIP999 bus ride in a wide armchair that went back nearly to bed with leg rest that proved v uncomfortable. I wanted to sleep but got about an hour or bit. This bus has a total of 24 seats in 8 rows of 3 and I booked the seat on its own. Cost the equivalent of AUD30 and as the airport is in Phuket I think Khao Lak is about an hour or so north, another connecting bus trip would have been required had I flown. I consider the bus deal to be the easiest way to get to Khao Lak and less challenging. The plane worked out to cost exorbitant depending on what travel agency I visited (couldn\’t organise it on the computer) and I got to the Southern Bus Station (it was called Bangkok Bus Station) in Bangkok on a local ac bus for 19 baht and saw a lot of local life in the suburbs on the way. This bus station – wow – I saw 77 bus bays and the night I left from there there were thousands of locals, not too many farangs, and these pretty buses all over. \’Pretty\’ is my word for vehicles that seems to be decorated to look like toy-things.
THE BUSES
In Thailand they decorate them inside with short scalloped and frilled / 0r fringed curtains and tie backs and coloured strip lighting atop. This lighting could be blue, green, red, pink or alternate different colours above the windows. So \’pretty\’! The lights outside the bus – well, they can be blue, green, the red for the rear and normal headlights but both rear and front have the other coloured lights too buses some looking like christmas trees. Also the lorries and bigger trucks also have patterns of coloured lights on their cabins and across the grill and some cars have blue lights on their side windows and along the grill – again so \’pretty\’! Lights all over and lights all colours.
WEATHER
As I type this it is pouring and this happens about every couple of hours, then it stops and gives us time to move comfortably around, before it pours again. For the rainy and off-season period there are still a few tourists around but I wonder for how long. The accommodation offered is less than seasonal rates and one doesn\’t have to fight to get anywhere and thing. And if one gets wet, doesn\’t take too long to dry off.
THIS AFTERNOON
I came down here to volunteer with \’kids4funinthailand\’ an organisation (soon to be charity) started after the tsunami to build play gyms etc for children. They are doing fairly heavy outside work, between pours, and Steve a Pom and the originator of the above organisation hasn\’t enough space nor work for more volunteers so directed me to help with english teaching to locals, some Burmese. This is with the Tsunami Volunteer Centre (TVC).
Teaching – the local schools are on their 6 week break so teaching is directed to restaurant staff, school camps, orphanages and construction workers, etc. I went with others to the \’Hello\’ Restaurant to teach 3 staff who were pretty good; then to a holiday camp for burmese children and also to the \”Lazy Restaurant\’ in town where each day at 10am they will teach locals if they turn up. That class is called the Lazy Class. The Burmese are not allowed to be taught so their lessons and building are called \’Learning Centres\’. The lessons are prepared out of the TVC which I understand is on its closing run having been opened since the Tsunami December 2004.
ORIENTATION and VESAK
School is back this week on Tuesday 20 May. Monday, full moon, and Vesak, no school and banks etc close. We were taken to a Buddhist Temple just out of Khao Lak for a celebration which took about half hour and ended up with us offering flowers, lighting 3 incense sticks and one candle and walking around a part of the temple three times. I loved it. Immediately we had done that en masse, the place closed down. Lights turned off. Doors locked and people managed to leave quietly and within about 10 minutes – quite amazing. We were one of the last people to leave. There was Goi, Thai who works with TVC who took us along with commentary, then 5 volunteers, Rob, Jenny and Andy, English; Michelle Irish and Me.
ORIENTATION
Goi took us out for the day in TVC truck to look at different beaches, villages, sights, memorials etc mainly to do with the tsunami. It was quite full on but of great interest. The sights that fascinated me most were the Police boat which was the bodyguard of the King\’s Grandson who was visiting Bang Niang at the time and who lost his life. This boat ended up 2 1/4 kms onto the land and it has been left there as it was. There was another sight, this one was with two fishing boats that left the coast and ended up almost 2kms inland both in different places but one was moved to be on display with the other. One was called an \’angel\’ boat because even though it twisted and turned and ended up so far inland it did no damage! nor hit any person. The other was called a negative name because it did lots of damage and manage to cause the death of about 197 people. The first boat had been running and just about to leave the pier for fishing whereas the other was tied up and not running. Looking back on my photos I found that I had taken a photo of only one of the boats. The story is fascinating and the size of the boats – awesome – the amount of water that ran through the land for these boats to float so far – no words for the whole thing.
WILL CONTINUE…;
\”Vesak is the holiest day in Buddhism. On this day are celebrated the birth, the Enlightenment, and the death of the Buddha. This day is usually in the middle or last two weeks of May.
Buddhists the world over rejoice and ponder this day, which is itself a symbol of rejoicing and pondering. Celebrations can be large affairs, filled with (vegetarian) food, animals, and festivals, or small remembrances, filled with meditation. Silent marches or meditations in the evening end the daylong celebration.
This holiday goes by other names as well, among them Buddha Purinama, Wesak, and Visakha Puja. The name may be different, but the reason for celebrating is the same…\”