Projects Abroad, Newsletters from Thailand

The women in charge at this facility explain to us pretty much everything we could ever know about coconuts, including the necessary tools and the step-by-step process of opening and manipulating them in order to receive the milk, the flesh and the oil. Afterwards, they take us to the room where jewellery and decoration are produced from the nuts. We even get to create our own piece of jewellery, and after 15 minutes of hard work I manage to craft something that can almost be recognized as a dolphin...

The pupils must learn in an early age to work alone or in small groups. This is clearly a problem for all pupils because they are used to the teacher controlling and running the lesson from a to z. Listening to English as well as writing, reading and speaking are all important things to learn. Accordingly, these activities should all be incorporated in the planning of English lessons.

As I had arrived at night on the 20^th of July, I was eager for the morning as I would finally be able to see what my surroundings looked like. I was immediately driven over to the Chong Pli house where Sam, Amorn and 7 other volunteers were staying. Jet lag was not affecting me anymore as I had flown into Bangkok from Amsterdam 4 days earlier with my dad who was there for business.

After a night out in the town we were shipped of to the mangroves to explore and be educated. There were mixed feelings about the mangroves but personally I enjoyed the waist deep mud and the smell of sulphur crawling up my nostrils. Our guide Dominic had an amazing ability to make anything seem interesting, EVEN MUD! We then had our last two days of diving ahead of us, which was exciting yet disappointing. We traveled to the nearby Phi Phi, where we saw numerous creatures from turtles to sharks.

On Friday June 27, 2008 on Racha Island in Phuket, 30 False Killer whales (much smaller and less aggressive than their distant relatives, the Orca or Killer whale), beached near a Thai resort. Local residents and hotel staff saved all but one of them.
Mr. Wannakiat Thubthimsand, director of Phuket Marine Biology Center reported that 10 whales had to be loaded onto trucks and carried to another beach less than a kilometer away, the calmer water helped them out to sea but sadly one died due to heart attack before it reached the water. Mr. Wannakiat thought it was due to shock...

On June 16 or the second Thursday of the month, we celebrate and recognize all teachers. Schools prepare special ceremonies with special performances from different levels of students. Performances such as musical programs, poem recital and Thai Cultural dances. All this happens in the assembly hall in the morning. Some schools hold their program the day before or before the end of the school day. All teachers get asked to come to the front of the Assembly room and sit on the chairs. Selected Students with jasmine flowers handed them to their teachers as they sat in their chairs, while the students sat on the floor and they put their hands together to be placed at the foot of their teachers. This is the same manner children show respect to their parents. Teachers received flowers and blessed the students, for good health and luck.

The past month has gone by so fast. It’s been a fantastic mix of activities, the most predominant activity by far was the diving, of which the highlight for me must have been the live aboard! We spent two nights aboard with a national film crew that were filming us doing our salvage diving, fish surveys, and fish release…the pressure was on to look busy! The visibility on most dives was great and fish diversity was fantastic…we ended up seeing turtles, sharks and dolphins!

In 1767 Thai people were called Siamese, Ayutthaya was the second capital of Thailand. Burmese troops had occupied the Northern Kingdom of Lan Na (or Chaing Mai as we know it today) and proceeding down southward. A young man of noble Ayutthaya descent named Thong Duang born in 1737 became Chaophraya Chakri. The rank "Chakri" would be similar to a modern day Field Marshal. He rallied his Siamese and Lan Na forces to fight back the Burmese troops, but were unsuccessful and gradually forced to fall back until, the Burmese burned down the Royal Capital. Ayutthaya fell on April 8, 1767 and Siamese people fled to Thonburi, further down the Chaophraya river. The Burmese troops took gold, silver, jewelry and some of the Buddah statues were decapitated in the process.

The end of February also marks the end of my fifth month as field coordinator for marine conservation and I am very pleased to start March as the new Conservation Manager for the project. These five months have just been incredible and it seems that I arrived only a few weeks ago! My first couple of months were particularly intense, having to get my bearings with the projects and in Krabi, while training to become a divemaster, as well as taking Thai language lessons. But I have now settled in well and feel at home here, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone here at Projects Abroad Thailand for their warm welcome and for helping me to adapt to my new life. I am very glad I am working with this team and that we can have so much fun while working.

Thursday 27 of December I arrived in Krabi, after a 3 months placement in Nepal.Chane picked me up from the airport and brought me to my host family. They gave me a warm welcome with drinks and all kind of fresh exotic fruit! My host family is great! Nit, my host mum, is the best cook and she makes me the best Thai Food! Their three kids are lovely. I felt really comfortable from the beginning and they made me feel like if I'm part of their family. I consider myself really lucky!

I choose to stay during 3 months and I have no regrets, living with other volunteers who come from worldwide was really interesting and fun, I appreciate the fact that you can exchange a lot of things and you can learn to know other cultures. The staff is really friendly and funny, after just a few days I am feeling like home. In other words, if you are looking for great landscapes, heat, discovering a new world under the sea, sharing good moments with other people, just go ahead now …

According to the writings of H.M. King Rama IV in 1863, the originally Brahmanical Festival was adapted by Buddhists in Thailand as a ceremony to honor the Lord Buddha. Apart from venerating the Buddha with light ( the candle on the raft), the candle on the raft symbolize the letting go of all one’s grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start a new life on a better foot. Some people would also cut their fingernails and hair to put in the kratong to symbolize the act of letting go of their bad parts. Many Thai people believe that floating a kratong will create good luck and also honor and thank the Goddess of the River.

It is now almost two months since I boarded the plane on a damp Dublin morning, anxious about spending the next eight weeks teaching English in a far country of Thailand. Seven weeks later and I can’t believe that I’ve been here so long; I really cannot say where all the time went! When I arrived at the airport tired and weary after 36 hours travel, I was picked up by Chane and Nid, who instantly made me feel welcome and assured me that I had arrived in the right place.

On this day Her Majesty the Queen Sirikit Phra Borommarachininat, turned seventy nine years old. All of Thailand celebrate her day and made it “Mother’s Day” to observed. Many Thai people go home to be with their families to pay respect to their mothers and ask for her blessings. Jasmin flowers or roses are given as a symbol of love and devotion. Government Offices, Businesses and Banks are closed.

There were five specific salvage dives this month to collect fish traps, anchors and large fish nets spotted on previous dives that were too large to remove during the dive, so the location of the items were marked for later retrieval. At Koh Ya Wa Sam a fish trap weighing 13kg was collected with the use of lift bags. At Loh Ba Gao, 11kg of fishing net was removed along with some plastic bags and rope.