Why Is It So..

[Jingthing]

BTW, I need to add that it is absurd to punish a whole segment of the population for the deeds of a few, and even a cult.

Following the logic of Solo's argument, we should ban all farangs from owning mobile phones and motorbikes, because some of them have been arrested for dealing drugs, murder, and child exploitation.

Poor analogy, If Farangs took a hospital and 500 sick people, Doctors and Nurses hostage at gunpoint over political reasons - then yes that ban on mobile phones and motorbikes should apply to them as well. Regardless of if they let 100 people go free or not.

Lets face it, most of the Burmese workers are from ethnic guerilla villages, I don't understand why having to use a payphone instead of a mobile phone is so barbaric, we were all doing exactly that just 6-7 years ago - whats the big deal?

You do realize Mr. Siam that you sound like the old Southern USA slaveowners who used to say: "you don't undertand, our slaves are HAPPY!"

Practically speaking, if these guys are working all day and restricted to their work sites at night, there would have to be payphones right at those rugged worksites. I doubt there usually are. So you favor cutting them off from communication, just face up to it.

[chinthee]

I think the discrimination against the Burmese is also related to historical events. The 'Thai' people were severely beaten on several occasions by the Burmese, eg at Ayutthaya.

Simon

That was rather a long time ago and has no place in a modern, educated society - oops silly me

Yes, old memories die hard. The Koreans and Japansese, the Chinese and the Japanese ...

Old memories DO INDEED die hard. This thread is about Phuket. Ask any local Thai person what the heroines monument represents, that almost every visitor passes, and they will proudly and defiantly tell you that's where the women warriors turned back the invading hordes of Burmese.

This issue has as much to do with history as anything probably.

[Solosiam]

I bump into Burmese workers all day, in the 7-11, on the building sites and just about everywhere. There's no slavery, they have chosen to come here and are paid to work, and can leave whenever they wish, are not chained up, do not belong to anyone, and are free to go about as they wish during the day and at night after 8pm if accompanied by their employer (who is accountable for them).

Until recently Burmese were not allowed to work in Phuket, the Thais opened up and allowed them in and now they have 30,000+ working legally here and probably the same amount of illegals, thats nearly 20% of the population of Phuket, an Island the Burmese very famously invaded.

[chinthee]

I bump into Burmese workers all day, in the 7-11, on the building sites and just about everywhere. There's no slavery, they have chosen to come here and are paid to work, and can leave whenever they wish, are not chained up, do not belong to anyone, and are free to go about as they wish during the day and at night after 8pm if accompanied by their employer (who is accountable for them).

Until recently Burmese were not allowed to work in Phuket, the Thais opened up and allowed them in and now they have 30,000+ working legally here and probably the same amount of illegals, thats nearly 20% of the population of Phuket, an Island the Burmese very famously invaded.

Yes, that's true, and they also have, over the past 7 years or so of frentic building activity, gotten involved in their fair share of intra-race murders, and other criminal activites. Again, these are primarily within their own race, but this has to be put in context.

[lannarebirth]

So are you still working with the Burmese on fixing their problems? Or simply moved onto the next story/paycheck?

I doubt that many of the Burmese building homes in Phuket are political dissidents, more likely economic refugees.

You can preach, if you are CURRENTLY doing a lot to try to solve the situation, If not you are just spouting a lot of crap to make yourself feel good. Honestly who has posted on this topic that is really doing something to genuinely help the Burmese workers?

I didn't see any preaching in Kats very informative post. Anyone who has evr been even peripherally involved with the migrant Burmese, knows every word Kat said is true. If you would like to inform yourself further, you may wish to read something a guy I knew here in Chiang Mai wrote. Kat likely knows him.

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/Horton-2005.pdf

As for helping Burmese workers, I employ 4, who support at least 30 others with their salaries and rice and clothing we provide. It's a drop in the ocean. If Kat isn't doing it still, perhaps it's because from what others have told me, it is one of the draining and disheartening of vocations. I commend her for everything she has done.

Edited September 2, 2007 by lannarebirth

[khall64au]

I think the discrimination against the Burmese is also related to historical events. The 'Thai' people were severely beaten on several occasions by the Burmese, eg at Ayutthaya.

Simon

That was rather a long time ago and has no place in a modern, educated society - oops silly me

Yes, old memories die hard. The Koreans and Japansese, the Chinese and the Japanese ...

Old memories DO INDEED die hard. This thread is about Phuket. Ask any local Thai person what the heroines monument represents, that almost every visitor passes, and they will proudly and defiantly tell you that's where the women warriors turned back the invading hordes of Burmese.

This issue has as much to do with history as anything probably.

It is a shame that history stops many nations from progressing in civil, human and economic rights. This is the 21st century not the 17th! As we speak, *APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) 2007 is meeting in Sydney - I wonder if there is much room for regional human rights on the agenda?

* Thailand is a member.

[chinthee]

Kall, I've discussed this issue in depth with a number of Thais in Phuket. The hatred and fear of the Burmese runs much deeper than the French and other hatred of Germany.

[7summers]

I went to Thailand to work with Burmese dissidents, migrants and refugees, and to conduct research on the land confiscation and ethnic cleansing by the Burmese Military of ethnic land, villages, and property inside the ethnic territories of Eastern Burma. First of all, the extent of human rights violations inside Burma defies belief for most Westerners, because we have nothing within our own realities that even comes close - and that includes comparing the illegal immigration of Mexicans to the United States.

Burma is only third on the list of the world's worst human rights violations, preceded only by Darfur and North Korea. I find it incredible that anyone would deny that genocide is not occurring in Darfur or Burma simply because they are not Europeans or not being shoved into ovens; does being hacked, raped, bludgeoned, burned and starved to death based on ethnicity in a systematic manner not qualify as genocide? Again, I find it incredible that anyone would even attempt to deny this point with the information now available. Therefore, by repetitively bleating that they can go back to Burma reveals your own ignorance of the full extent of the situation. There are more than 1 million internally displaced ethnic Burmese living in the upper jungles of Burma eating grass and shoots, and risking their lives and the lives of their children because they are terrified of going back to their villages. For the approximately 2 million in Thailand, many of the conditions concerning the government don't vary significantly enough from Burma. And why should it? The outlandish, rogue, money-laundering and drug allied government of Burma have been closely allied with Thailand for decades now. The Thai military elite have made millions from smuggling the Teak forests of Burma into Northern Thailand, as well as their daughters and migrant laborers. In the modern era of technology, it was Thaksin and the cozy relationship between Bagan Satellite Company and the junta's rich drug mercenary dynasties. It has been absolutely disgusting what has occurred, and even more so to hear people and their glib dismissals of it.

Burmese migrants are arrested on the streets, thrown into prisons whether they are legal refugees or not, not given clean water, raped and beaten as a matter of routine, and held indefinitely with no charges. Even workers with papers are totally at the mercy of their employers, and frequently work for months without getting paid sub-minimum wage. They have to pay a higher market rate for cramped, shared, lodgings, can be arrested if they are found outside of a certain radius from the place of their employment, and are ALWAYS under threat of being arrested and deported just by the SUGGESTION or ALLEGATION that they did something wrong. There have been NUMEROUS documented cases that have surfaced even in the Nation and Bangkok Post of Burmese workers being given methamphetimines (sp) in their coffee, threatened and intimidated to accept being cheated out of their wages, and then deported when they try to obtain the basic human right of being paid for their labor. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of stories of them being murdered and disappeared as well. In all fairness, this is not only in Thailand but in most of SE Asia. Let's not even get started on what occurs to Indonesian maids in advanced and developed Singapore.

Does this mean that all Thais feel this way? Of course not - I have seen Thais who rushed to bail out some of the Burmese migrants that I got to know who ironically were able to tutor the Thais for the TOEFL exams. But, I have seen with my own eyes what the systematic effect that this culture of slave labor really means, and it's real.

To answer the question about the mobile phones and motorbikes: it comes down to politically organizing. Many of the Burmese migrants in Bangkok and the North were organizing resistance against the Burmese junta, and were successfully teaming up with Western researchers and NGOs. I was there when Thaksin made a couple of his famous comments against the UN and NGO workers, and actually working on this issue with a group that was arrested. I saw how the group of Burmese migrants I was working with were locked up for more than 2 years for simply protesting in front of the Burmese Embassy. And, I saw how others were followed and rounded up, sometimes by using the cell phones of the others who were arrested. It escalated to the point that every Burmese "person of concern" in Thailand had to report to an immigration prison to be locked up and deported, or sent to a camp. Remember that? Look it up.

As for the rich Burmese in Thailand, I want you think for a moment: if they have not emigrated during the flood of the wealthy and educated leaving when Ne Win and his thugs first took over, how do you think they came about the privilege now to travel about the world on a Burmese passport? It's common sense.

* Person of Concern is the UN terminology for a recognized refugee in Thailand. They do not call them refugees, because Thailand does not recognize the fact that they are fleeing for their lives. This is also true. Look it up.

Thanks for your imput..!

An exellent read..

[Solosiam]

I didn't see any preaching in Kats very informative post. Anyone who has evr been even peripherally involved with the migrant Burmese, knows every word Kat said is true. If you would like to inform yourself further, you may wish to read something a guy I knew here in Chiang Mai wrote. Kat likely knows him.

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/Horton-2005.pdf

As for helping Burmese workers, I employ 4, who support at least 30 others with their salaries and rice and clothing we provide. It's a drop in the ocean. If Kat isn't doing it still, perhaps it's because from what others have told me, it is one of the draining and disheartening of vocations. I commend her for everything she has done.

It's unlikely that I will spend the time to read the 700 page document to be honest, and its about Burma - whereas this discussion is about Burmese workers given the chance to work legally here in Thailand, and some of the restrictions placed on them, in particular here in Phuket.

I think that opening up Phuket to Migrant workers and making them legal is a boon to the Burmese, it's 30,000 more people that don't have to suffer the poor political situation in their own country.

In terms of APEC, its an economic forum, however they have stated on the record that they will not defend Burma in the international arena due to their filure to enact democracy, they feel that it's better to keep them within APEC than letting them become a loose cannon like N.Korea. The ball is firmly in the Big Boys court now, It's time for the USA, UK and Europe to actually take a proper stance at the UN etc...

[lannarebirth]

I didn't see any preaching in Kats very informative post. Anyone who has evr been even peripherally involved with the migrant Burmese, knows every word Kat said is true. If you would like to inform yourself further, you may wish to read something a guy I knew here in Chiang Mai wrote. Kat likely knows him.

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs3/Horton-2005.pdf

As for helping Burmese workers, I employ 4, who support at least 30 others with their salaries and rice and clothing we provide. It's a drop in the ocean. If Kat isn't doing it still, perhaps it's because from what others have told me, it is one of the draining and disheartening of vocations. I commend her for everything she has done.

It's unlikely that I will spend the time to read the 700 page document to be honest, and its about Burma - whereas this discussion is about Burmese workers given the chance to work legally here in Thailand, and some of the restrictions placed on them, in particular here in Phuket.

I think that opening up Phuket to Migrant workers and making them legal is a boon to the Burmese, it's 30,000 more people that don't have to suffer the poor political situation in their own country.

In terms of APEC, its an economic forum, however they have stated on the record that they will not defend Burma in the international arena due to their filure to enact democracy, they feel that it's better to keep them within APEC than letting them become a loose cannon like N.Korea. The ball is firmly in the Big Boys court now, It's time for the USA, UK and Europe to actually take a proper stance at the UN etc...

The US has taken it's stance with regard to nations like Burma and North Korea. In the UN, the enabler of these two regimes, China, has thwarted any UN resolutions. Europe and the UK give it the same attention as they gave the Balkan states, which is to say, none. I believe football season has begun in Europe and the UK.

Edited September 2, 2007 by lannarebirth

[chinthee]

I believe the US has accepted the inevitable. Burma will fall within China's sphere of influence and has its tentacles deep into it already. US can do nothing to stop this.

Meanwhile, other countries may be at risk of being brought under the sphere of influence of the newly emerging Chinese empire. Guess what one of those countries might be?

[kat]

Thanks for your interest and support everyone. I can't join the discussion now, but I will be back later.

*LRB: I do know Guy Horton. I met him during the beginning of my journey, and learned a lot from him. I felt bad when we fell out of touch. I am so glad to see that he published his document, and it is extensive and well worth the wait. Please send him my regards.

Edited September 2, 2007 by kat

[Solosiam]

The US has taken it's stance with regard to nations like Burma and North Korea. In the UN, the enabler of these two regimes, China, has thwarted any UN resolutions. Europe and the UK give it the same attention as they gave the Balkan states, which is to say, none. I believe football season has begun in Europe and the UK.

If you are talking about former Yugoslavia, it was the fatally flawed US Peace Treaties which actually lead to the conflicts, which NATO then had to step-in and fix over the following years, The NATO force ultimately consisted of mainly German, French, Greek, Italian and US forces commanded/HQ'd by the British Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

[Super Hans]

The US has taken it's stance with regard to nations like Burma and North Korea. In the UN, the enabler of these two regimes, China, has thwarted any UN resolutions. Europe and the UK give it the same attention as they gave the Balkan states, which is to say, none. I believe football season has begun in Europe and the UK.

If you are talking about former Yugoslavia, it was the fatally flawed US Peace Treaties which actually lead to the conflicts, which NATO then had to step-in and fix over the following years, The NATO force ultimately consisted of mainly German, French, Greek, Italian and US forces commanded/HQ'd by the British Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

An not ethnic cleansing then? Every political solution is easy in hindsight.

[khall64au]

Kall, I've discussed this issue in depth with a number of Thais in Phuket. The hatred and fear of the Burmese runs much deeper than the French and other hatred of Germany.

No offence intended, but is this text-book hatred and fear? Many of us come from nations - historically conquered or conquerors - of which social and economic problems are rife. In modern society, is it not healthier to confess and confront the past with an attempt to heal historical wrongs than to continue with past oppression?

[chinthee]

Kall, I've discussed this issue in depth with a number of Thais in Phuket. The hatred and fear of the Burmese runs much deeper than the French and other hatred of Germany.

No offence intended, but is this text-book hatred and fear? Many of us come from nations - historically conquered or conquerors - of which social and economic problems are rife. In modern society, is it not healthier to confess and confront the past with an attempt to heal historical wrongs than to continue with past oppression?

Khall, thanks for your kind demeanor, but you're preaching to the choir. You should tell the Thais in Phuket not to feel fearful and hateful toward the Burmese, not me. I have no hate whatsoever; no stake whatsoever.

Have you spoken to the Thais in Phuket about your theory? Do they accept it?

[lannarebirth]

The US has taken it's stance with regard to nations like Burma and North Korea. In the UN, the enabler of these two regimes, China, has thwarted any UN resolutions. Europe and the UK give it the same attention as they gave the Balkan states, which is to say, none. I believe football season has begun in Europe and the UK.

If you are talking about former Yugoslavia, it was the fatally flawed US Peace Treaties which actually lead to the conflicts, which NATO then had to step-in and fix over the following years, The NATO force ultimately consisted of mainly German, French, Greek, Italian and US forces commanded/HQ'd by the British Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.

Thanks for that. These allows me to put your Burmese migrant comments into the correct context.

[globe]

The following is e-mail I sent to my family in the US, about 1 1/2 years ago, after a TV broadcast about child slavery in Asia.

I must tell you the story of Libo my Burmese "slave boy" who is here every day and occasionally sleeps here as well. Hails from Khaow Thoung in Burma where he was found as a newborn in a trash can. A lady who had 2 daughters took him in and raised him. Economically things became and still are very bad in Burma. The little family, like the Mexicans sneaked into Thailand, a 3 day voyage at the bottom of a stinking boat.

Well, Burmese are treated here worse than animals, have no rights, no access to welfare or health care. They are tolerated because they perform labor which the Thais won't do and cheaper yet. The stepmother had a job here working on a plantation tapping rubber, when rumor had it there was an opening as a cook in Nam Kem, a fishing village north of here. Libo was left here as she and her daughters traveled to this village Christmas day 2004.

Well the 26th was that fateful day the Tsunami came. The woman and one of her daughters perished. This girl, still a teenager could not take care of the boy and sold him into slavery to the owner of the property I rent.

Yes Virginia they still have that here. Against the law, but never enforced. :>(

At first this child who was always happy and full of mischief was inconsolable. Even 3 days after the tsunami he just moped around, wouldn't even watch his favorite cartoons.

He works 7 days a week from 7AM till dark for 700 Baht pocket money a month and sleeps on the floor of the real estate office.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/f0/2...6d27617d96d.jpg

Libo a good worker even though some of the leaves are bigger then he.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/03/6...07b4616162d.jpg

Mixing cement, barefoot and carrying the heavy buckets,

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/e6/b...95666e9e13f.jpg

or out in the monsoon rain all day,

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/73/7...881f09df4be.jpg

carrying lawn care equipment which I could barely lift.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/b6/9...ac477848afe.jpg

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/75/c...ecc75c10d81.jpg

As with all growing boys; he is always hungry, since they don't really feed him much. Well "Papa" (me :>) always has food for him.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/fd/c...33cf48ff84f.jpg

He is young enough, we judge him to be 11 or 12 to still love to hug (my happy birthday present) which isn't bad for the old guy's mantra either :>)

Anyway, I would love to adopt this kid and buy him out which probably amounts to next to nothing but; at my age, I am just shy of 73 who knows? Then what?? without He speaks Burmese and Thai as well as quite a bit of English by now.

I have 2 Grandchildren back in the States and miss them. This way I can play Grandpa to him and some of the neighborhood kids as well.

[kat]

First of all that boy does not look Burmese, secondly I find your post extremely weird and thirdly your pictures look set up and voyeuristic.

[globe]

First of all that boy does not look Burmese, secondly I find your post extremely weird and thirdly your pictures look set up and voyeuristic.

Where did you crawl out from under what rock?

What are Burmese supposed to look like? Horned devils perhaps?

He is sitting right next to me, eating his lunch

Anyway, I am sorry I posted it. If you find it "setup and voyeuristic" that's your problem.

[LivinginKata]

Pictures certainly do not look like a set up to me, look just like a typical kid helping out with the chores. I enjoyed looking at them and Globe should be congratulated for his commitment to this kid.

Kat should crawl back under his/her rock, and die there.

Edited September 3, 2007 by LivinginKata

[roietjimmy]

First of all that boy does not look Burmese, secondly I find your post extremely weird and thirdly your pictures look set up and voyeuristic.

Where did you crawl out from under what rock?

What are Burmese supposed to look like? Horned devils perhaps?

He is sitting right next to me, eating his lunch

Anyway, I am sorry I posted it. If you find it "setup and voyeuristic" that's your problem.

Sorry, Kat is right he does not look Burmese (Burman). If he was he would not be in Thailand working in slave labor conditions but rather here on holiday with plenty of money. No, he definately looks to be ethnically Karen one of the most persecuted of all ethnic groups in Myanmar because they actually had the audacity to stand up and fight the "Burmese" military regime.

Don't you dare be sorry for posting your email!! I would say he sure looks like the 12 year old boy below. But I'm sure someone will comment this pic is also "set up".

Edited September 3, 2007 by roietjimmy

[Solosiam]

Sorry but I find Globe's post more than a bit spooky as well, Photos of the boy sleeping are very strange as are the hugging refernces, perhaps as part of a younger generation we are brought up to be a bit more cautious and wary.

[jts-khorat]

Nobody seems to talk about what I originally posted..

Why cant the Burmese use a mobile phone...

Why cant they stay out after eight...

And finally.. why cant they drive a car.....?

If the good governor of Phuket can be believed it is because it is the law/rules as defined by their work visas so rich Burmese tourists/business people do not have the same restrictions. I too am astounded by these rules but of more interest to me is what in the world was the justification or thinking for the restrictions. Some of my thoughts on what was going through the minds of the rule makers are:

Living on Phuket, I might shed some 'local' light onto the problem; the train of thought behind this rules was:

- no mobile phones. The Thais believe by registering mobile phones or preventing that somebody owns them they cannot be used as bomb detonators. Burmese are in general suspect as anti-Thai, but this has more to do with the neighboring Deep South than the Burmese workers per se (and to my knowledge and any Thai that I asked, there has never been a Burmese-sponsored bomb attack, but there you go).

- no going out after 8pm means no drinking 'off the prmises'.

The number of Burmese found stabbed to death in the 'Burmese Cemerery', the stretch of land behind the Phuket fishing port, is staggering. Nearly all of the victims where there were witnesses to be found were stabbed by fellow Burmese, after drinking and getting into arguments.

At least now the drinking happens within the community with lots of people around, not sure if the number of murders has decreased, it is still a good number every month.

So there was some thought behind the rules, if logical or even helpful, like nearly all such regulations in Thailand viewed with a Western eye, we might come to our own conclusions...

[globe]

The Burmese care taker has the cutest little boy who helps his daddy all day long.

About 2 years ago, when the kid was around 3, I was told that he can not eat solids because of an infected mouth and cries constantly.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/b7/f...dec3bb0c331.jpg

Man, that looks nasty you have to take him to a doctor. "No money" was the answer.

Sure he has a DVD player and a large TV. Misplaced priorities I would say.

My dentist lady, a highly qualified Ex Royal Navy oral surgeon who survived the tsunami and swore never to work in this town again, opened a practice in Takuapa. Since I had a few loose fillings to be checked I loaded father and son into my truck and headed for Takuapa. "Bad idea" I was told. "Why?"

Well Burmese are not allowed to ride "inside a car and even though he has a work permit he can not travel more than 10km from here; you'll be in deep trouble if you get stopped by the police. "Poppycock."

The lady first treated to infection., handed me a handful of pills and advised to came back with him in about 3 days for further treatment.

3 days later she pulled 3 teeth which were coming out in all directions. He was such a brave little boy, didn't even cry.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/80/f...90aadc5a801.jpg

(voyeuristic shot, isn't it ?)

The reward was a huge portion of ice cream.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/39/b...19adca21c71.jpg

OK, here it is almost 2 years later, the teeth came back ok, but oral hygiene, even though I gave them a toot brush is not high on their priority list. (An American orthodontist would be rubbing his hands in anticipation seeing this. I know, I spent $ 15,000 on my youngest son's teeth .)

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/c7/b...41f64856050.jpg

I live here at the edge of the jungle, quite close to a camp. Nobody believes me that I have yet to visit a bar in this tinsel town in more than 3 years. I like the solitude after, as a pilot traveling all over the world. But if I can make their miserable lives a little easier to bear, so be it.

Like I said, he works here all day as well and having fun doing it.

Hmmm, mangosteens all gone ?

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/76/c...a6eef5a6a4d.jpg

[chinthee]

Congrats to Globe for the good work and the interesting photos and story. Keep em comin'

[roietjimmy]

Sorry but I find Globe's post more than a bit spooky as well, Photos of the boy sleeping are very strange as are the hugging refernces, perhaps as part of a younger generation we are brought up to be a bit more cautious and wary.

Ummm..Point noted!

[globe]

Sorry but I find Globe's post more than a bit spooky as well, Photos of the boy sleeping are very strange as are the hugging refernces, perhaps as part of a younger generation we are brought up to be a bit more cautious and wary.

Yes, the witch hunt is on. Every kindness shown to a child in the US and Europe today is frowned upon and viewed with suspicion.

Since my own sons are too busy with their own lives, I am grateful to have some young life around me.

The mothers whose "husbands" have deserted them (for the umptienth time) are grateful I make sure they go to school, have a place to hang out, watch TV and play games on the computer. I am invited to all birthday parties. Everybody know me in town as the crazy old American with a dog hanging out of the passenger window.

The birthday hug, as you can see came from the heart of Libo.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/98/a...92ffe24ff0e.jpg

My neighborhood brats at last year's tsunami memorial.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/f8/4...94e74c99684.jpg

Chok dee y'all

[lannarebirth]

The Burmese care taker has the cutest little boy who helps his daddy all day long.

About 2 years ago, when the kid was around 3, I was told that he can not eat solids because of an infected mouth and cries constantly.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/b7/f...dec3bb0c331.jpg

Man, that looks nasty you have to take him to a doctor. "No money" was the answer.

Sure he has a DVD player and a large TV. Misplaced priorities I would say.

My dentist lady, a highly qualified Ex Royal Navy oral surgeon who survived the tsunami and swore never to work in this town again, opened a practice in Takuapa. Since I had a few loose fillings to be checked I loaded father and son into my truck and headed for Takuapa. "Bad idea" I was told. "Why?"

Well Burmese are not allowed to ride "inside a car and even though he has a work permit he can not travel more than 10km from here; you'll be in deep trouble if you get stopped by the police. "Poppycock."

The lady first treated to infection., handed me a handful of pills and advised to came back with him in about 3 days for further treatment.

3 days later she pulled 3 teeth which were coming out in all directions. He was such a brave little boy, didn't even cry.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/80/f...90aadc5a801.jpg

(voyeuristic shot, isn't it ?)

The reward was a huge portion of ice cream.

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/39/b...19adca21c71.jpg

OK, here it is almost 2 years later, the teeth came back ok, but oral hygiene, even though I gave them a toot brush is not high on their priority list. (An American orthodontist would be rubbing his hands in anticipation seeing this. I know, I spent $ 15,000 on my youngest son's teeth .)

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/c7/b...41f64856050.jpg

I live here at the edge of the jungle, quite close to a camp. Nobody believes me that I have yet to visit a bar in this tinsel town in more than 3 years. I like the solitude after, as a pilot traveling all over the world. But if I can make their miserable lives a little easier to bear, so be it.

Like I said, he works here all day as well and having fun doing it.

Hmmm, mangosteens all gone ?

http://media.livedigital.com/pictures/76/c...a6eef5a6a4d.jpg

You remind me of another contributor from long ago. I'm glad to see you're still keeping on.

Anyhow, I commend you for your attention and care to these children who are in such great need. I'm not sure what set kat off, from her usually reasonable self, but everyone knows a Burmese can look like a Thai, a Bangladeshi, An Indian, a Mongolian, even Arab. It's had many a culture live there and trade there.

[lannarebirth]

Sorry but I find Globe's post more than a bit spooky as well, Photos of the boy sleeping are very strange as are the hugging refernces, perhaps as part of a younger generation we are brought up to be a bit more cautious and wary.

That's sad.