180 Degree Change... FREE BURMA!

Song for the day : Michael Jackson "Man in the Mirror"

Right now I am currently in Chiang Rai which is the most Northern Tip of Thailand...We are currently staying near the GOLDEN TRIANGLE which is the borders of LAOS, BURMA & THAILAND...They call it GOLDEN TRIANGLE because there is TONS & TONS of OPIUM here....so that equals to A LOT OF MONEY and A LOT OF CHAOS AND CORRUPTION! Biggie couldn't have said it better when he said MO' MONEY, MO' PROBLEMS.

I originally came to Thailand to volunteer at the orphanage in Pattaya...I went by the other day and saw how well the children are being looked after and how HUGE their "compound" is. Now, I am not abandoning the children but right now I decided to change itinerary and do what I feel is right in my heart. Since Friday I witnessed sooooooooo much. It's crazy to learn of all the corruption going on in Asia and we in Canada are totally unware of the real deal because the media choses to focus on Iran and Afghanistan. Now I am not knocking what is going on there...it is serious stuff but I mean there is a lot more that is going on here. SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE support the monks and the Burmeses' fight for FREEDOM. They have been suffering for too long. They are a rich country filled with endless amounts of oil and gems (Diamonds and Rubies) yet NONE of the money goes to its people. All the money goes to the MILITARY who goes around and raids and kills village after village and the MOFO ROYAL family.

Earlier today as we were driving to Burma (we were still on Thai soil) we saw the hills of Burma up ahead. It was so beautiful and so lush. It felt so fake. Like it was just pasted there. Reena and I were so amazed at the beauty of mother nature. Not knowing that we were a few kilometers from the BIGGEST WAR ZONE that has been going on for decades. The whole history is confusing and I am not going to give you all a history lesson about it, but to sum things up. The Burmese have many hill tribes. So there are 2 hill tribes at war with each other, and then there is the Burmese military who is basically at war with ALL Burmese and right at the border the Thai military is watching all the fighting and area unable to do anything as they watch the Burmese military killing ALL innocent villagers young and old. The Thai army were instructed to watch and if ANY Burmese touch Thai soil, they can kill whoever they want. They have the power to do as they chose. It is basically lawless....so what most of them would do it take in a young Burmese woman trying to flee the chaos and rape then kill or beat them and send them back to Burma.

One young Thai girl told us, that if she were to go back home to her mother she does not see a future for herself. It was touching and sad to hear her say that, but what is bad is that ALL of BURMA is thinking, that they see no future for themselves. No education. No hope. No goals. All they care and think about is wether or not they will see tomorrow.

We were lucky enough to spend the past few days in Chiang Rai with the migrants. The people who illegally entered Thailand. These people came here with NOTHING. Just the clothes on their back. They were able to build there little community of escapees. They want to go back home so bad because the Thais treat them so poorly and take advantage of them and rob them of everything they have. These people have NOTHING and are so vulnerable and scared of the Thais so it was an honor for them to let us stay and eat with them. As their guests they fed us like kings and queens at every meal. I felt bad because they would just watch us eat. I wanted to sneak some food to the little kids but that would be disrespectful. We were told to EAT EVERYTHING so I did. I ate soooooooo much and I was scared to ask what I was eating as I was told that they eat snake and dogs. If I knew that I was eating snakes, which I have a sneaky suspicion that I did. I heard it tastes like chicken....and so we had something that tasted like chicken but a little different. Even a little better I might add. So because of their kindness and generosity, with OPENAID INTERNATIONAL we will fund money to them to build up their commnunity and give the kids and education. I will be using my graphic design skills to create ALL English learning material for their classroom. Reena and I even taught the teacher a few children songs and educational games to help the children learn English.

While we were in Chaing Rai, we were walking through a little village of people who had escaped Burma for many years now. They had little shops set up selling their art and their work. I almost had a heart attack because there was a HUGE python in a glass case for tourists who would like to take a picture with it. Of course I freaked out and started running from the pack and they and other people thought I was crazy. I couldn't breathe at all. Reena asked to take a picture with it so when the tribe person took it out she freaked because she didnt realize that the size of the python was as HUGE as it was. It was seriously thicker than me! As for the length it was unknown as Reena told them to put it back in ASAP. So they decided to just take a group shot with the 96 year old tribe woman. I thought the tribe woman was carrying a snake so I started to run away from her screaming as she came along. EVERYONE was dying of laughter because they thought I was scared of this little old woman in her tribal gear. I finally had the group shot after I realized she was holding her walking stick. She was the cutest old lady with the biggest smile from ear to ear proudly showing off her black stained teeth. She was so short with major wrinkles. I felt rather embarassed screaming and running away from her.

So anyways I would say more about the Burma situation and my experices with the Burmese migrants but I am soooooo pressed for time. We will be in ISAAN for a few days. This is where GHETTO will begin. No electricity, therefore no internet connection. No showers...Let the stink fest continue! We will be living in a hut in no man's land filled with lots of mother natures wonders....SNAKES! I have a feeling I will stay in our truck but I will have to be brave as I do not want to insult or disrespect the people.