I posted this note in the Isaan forum where it received zero replies. I am re-posting here for general interest and also so that the Google spiders find it.

********************

After traveling back and forth to Asia 20 odd years for work – but never living abroad – I moved to Thailand about 3 years ago. My work those years was in PR China, India, and Indonesia. I only used Thailand as a transfer hub and for a few days R&R. In China I worked with the Ministry of Agriculture and in Indonesia with an agricultural cooperative on Sumatra. I traveled to agricultural regions so remote a CIA guy on a flight home told me THEY knew little about areas of China that I visited.

Following a random encounter on a ThaiAir flight to Khon Kaen, I became involved with the largest foundation for the blind in SE Asia which is based in Khon Kaen. I spent a total of about 6 months on 3 separate trips to KK before moving full time. After one of those trips I went back to USA and took a year long Braille course. I am now a US Library of Congress Certified Braille Transcriber – the only such accredited person in SE Asia so I’ve been told. My official US Government certificate often gets me near diplomatic status, sometimes almost embarrassingly so. I have assisted and still assist students who are blind and who have won scholarships to study in UK, a Chulalongkorn honor grad, and other exceptionally talented students who are blind.

I moved to Bangkok last July to do Braille work for the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). They were very nice but due to work permit issues we had to abandon our Braille project. But with all the work I did in preparation for that project, I decided to set-up my own website called TravelBraille.com

Instead of writing this note, I should be working on the Braille files -- the first round of travel files will soon be available.

I am often asked how I intend to make any money off the website. I WON’T be making any money off the site. As mentioned in some of the posts by Ray23, I do the work for the sheer pleasure of it. John F. Kennedy said in the final sentence of his 1961 Presidential inaugural address: “With a good conscience our only sure reward… here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

I enjoy helping persons who, with just a little help, can do so much on their own without any additional help. Maybe somewhere down the road the website may lead to something lucrative, but, because of copyright restrictions if nothing else, I cannot charge anything for my work… And I do not bill myself very much for my time.

The website is very simple graphically because it is designed primarily for persons who are blind. But it is actually very sophisticated in terms of navigation so that it can be navigated with an audio ‘screen reader’ such as JAWS.

I will soon be moving back to KK. My 6 months in BKK were very informative as I now know the city well. Maybe I will visit for 3-5 days at a time. But I am looking forward to living again in KK. To me, KK is a University town not unlike many university towns in the USA. I intend to get far more involved on campus this time around.

At the school for the blind, Thai families would regularly come to the school and buy dinner – and ice cream – for the students on a family member’s birthday. The school has branches in Khorat, Roi-Et, Lampang, and Lopburi. I sure you can find a similar school or NGO facility elsewhere and offer to do the same.

My situation is unique. But as Ray23 demonstrates, many things can be done for little money and only reasonable effort… and maybe a little imagination.

About seven or eight years ago I was approached by a Thai over the internet to write a program to convert Thai text to Thai braille, The braille could be printed on a special typewriter after conversion.

It was a very interesting project which I really enjoyed, the Thai initiator just vanished for some reason and I have never heard from him but he was very pleased with the conversion engine I did produce.

I still have the code and program here in Pai (Mae Hong Son) so I could finish it with some help, just let me know!

Colin

Hello Colin -- You could contact Mr. Komon Moonwicha at [email protected] (or [email protected]) The website is http://www.etcb.org -- the Education and Technology Center for the Blind in Khon Kaen. Mr. Komon is in the maroon shirt in the photos.

The Foundation in KK uses Duxbury Braille software. Duxbury is the worldwide leader in Braille Translation software but it has limitations in non-Latin scripts -- so who knows? He may be interested( http://www.duxburysystems.com )

Thanks for the offer. John

Thanks John, I have eMailed Mr. Komon Moonwicha and will wait for his assesment...

Colin

There is also apparently a Braille development group in Chiang Mai. This is from The Nation:

"Software translates Braille to normal text documents" Published on December 02, 2005

To bridge the communication gap between blind and sighted people in

reading paper-based documents, a group of students at Maejo

University in Chiang Mai (Science Faculty) has developed software to

translate Braille documents into normal documents.

This would allow students who are blind to manually create Braille documents, have them scanned, and then convert the scanned documents into digital texts. I have never contacted the people at Maejo but, Colin, more in your neighborhood. The program is in 'C'.

Hello,

Do you know if it's possible to buy braille books in Thailand for a 16 years old poor blind student.

Books in Thai or English as I know that the student is learning english.

Thanks.

Sounds very worthwhile stuff. Think it's a great idea. So I'm happy to add a post that would increase chances with a search engine and increase awareness.

One observation tho': I didn't notice any question in your post, or any particular part to respond to. Many people will read it and think what exactly should I be responding to? or How can I help? etc

Try rewriting your post in a way that invites a response. It's a worthy cause.