Hello!

So my intention to blog each week has stumbled at the first step, given I've been here for 3 weeks and this is only my second blog!

So what have I been up too...

Well, I've spent a lot of time at the Partners office Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm so not so different from NZ. Mainly working on economic policy (yes..ironic I know!!). Aside from reading about tax policies, it has been interesting and just getting a handle on the political and economic context of Burma and Karen state is taking me a while.

I am staying at a guesthouse in Mae Sot and have been getting around the town on a handy old bicycle that I rent for 20 baht a day (about NZ .80cents), so very cheap! Mae Sot is quite small which can be explained by the fact that my guesthouse is on one side of the town and the Partners office on the other, and it only takes me 15-20mins to cycle one way! It is very easy to get around and I feel fine cycling on the roads. Amazingly, although traffic can be crazy at times, it seems to work:)

Eating out seems to be very popular in Thailand - it is very cheap and I haven't had a home cooked meal since I left NZ! Last weekend, I went with one of the Partners staff and her friends over from England to a waterfall, about 20-30mins drive from Mae Sot. We had a picnic lunch out there and it was beautiful. I've added some pics below.

I also went to one of the local markets and saw a range of different types of food, dead and alive:) From this experience, I've learned not to look to closely at the food on display, as there are some animals/ insects that it is just best not to see in too much detail!

One thing that happened this week, and is related to some of the research I've been doing, is the Thai government announced that Mae Sot would become a special economic zone. Special economic zones offer quite significant tax reductions, are free trade zones, have little government regulation and are designed to attract foreign direct investment. There is one in Mywaddy (Burma), just across the friendship bridge from Mae Sot so it will be a cross border free trade zone. The criticism of special economic zones is that are very commercialised areas, have little regard for the environment, and that local people are the ones who suffer (if a developer wants to use a particular piece of land, where people may be living, it often results in those people having to be moved and relocated, with little compensation).  Time will soon tell if this is the case in Mae Sot or not. Undoubtedly, it will be a different town in another few years.

Turtles at the market - waiting to be sold

All sorts of food at the market

The waterfall

 Kids playing in the water - looked like fun!

The handy bike that I get around on, even has a basket:)

Kaw leh ah gay! (pronounced, wa-lagie) - Morning greeting in Karen

So, I've been in Thailand for just over a week now and thought I better do my first blog post:)

It's been a really great week, flew into Chiang Mai and spent a couple of nights with my friend Claire which was great, and spent a day at the Partners office. Then came down to Mae Sot with a NZ team visiting for a week and we spent 3 days at Mae La refugee camp (about an hour's drive from Mae Sot) teaching English at 2 schools. We then spent the next morning at a school watching Karen New Year celebrations take place.

Some reflections on my time so far...I've found myself comparing Thailand to Kolkata, India and the time I spent there 5 years ago. Thailand does not seem to have the same extreme poverty that I experienced in India which I was surprised at. My experience of Kolkata was that it was a somewhat oppressive place to be with urban slum after urban slum. Thailand does not have that same intensity, although maybe I just haven't been to the parts that do.

Going in to Mae La refugee camp was an experience, 60,000 refugees live here and are not allowed to travel outside of the camp, unless it is back in to Burma which is the war zone they have fled from. The majority of refugees at Mae La are Karen, with some Burmean and other ethnic groups as well. One of the saddest things I found was that only schools and churches are able to have tin roofs (which are better, keep the rain out and last longer), people are not allowed tin roofs for their houses because the refugee camp is meant to be temporary - despite it have been there for over 20 years!

A lot of the students at the schools in Mae La have been sent by their families to the camp in order to get an education. Education is only avaliable for 4 or 5 years in Burma, so Mae La offers an opportunity to get a higher level of education. Most of them haven't seen their families for a number of years as it is expensive and dangerous to travel to their villages and back for visits.

One thing I have found difficult here is the amount of plastic that is used. There doesn't seem to be much recycling and plastic is used for everything. Drinking water is all from plastic bottles, buying food always comes with multiple plastic bags and containers and recycling doesn't appear to be available. In some senses, I feel it may be easier to live a 'clean and green' lifestyle in NZ than it is in Thailand and have found the amount of plastic overwhelming and the lack of recycling heart breaking.

On a positive note, I am enjoying the food here - Thai/Burmese food is lovely and I am loving the tropical/exotic fruit! I could live on fruit here:) I have stayed on in Mae Sot and will be here for my first bit of volunteering so am now looking for a place to stay. Anyways, below are some pictures of the first week here.

Dragon fruit - my first piece of exotic fruit! Looks amazing and taste's like kiwifruit, just not as tangy:)

The NZ team and Sarah on our drive down to Mae Sot

The first school we taught at in Mae La refugee camp

The students performed a Bamboo dance for us, a traditional Karen dance performed at Karen New Year

Houses at Mae La refugee camp - the way they construct them is amazing!

Teaching an English class

Demonstrating how to play a game with the students

Mae Sot early in the morning on Karen New Year

The Thai-Burmese border at Mae Sot (Kerrine, Karen, me and Amy) 

The NZ team - Matt, me, CJ, our driver Jin, Amy, Karen, Jess and Kerrine from Partners