Mae Sot Diversity

Lonely Planet says: "Despite its remote location and relatively small size, Mae Sot is amoung the most culturally diverse cities in Thailand. Walking down the streets of the town, you will see a fascinating ethnic mixture - Burmese men in their loongyi (sarongs), Hmong and Karen women in traditional hill-tribe3 dress, bearded Muslims, Thai army rangers, and foreign NGO workers" (the NGO workers are us).

We agree with Lonely Planet - this place has an amazing variety in dress and ethnic features. We are not quite experienced enough to discerne what is what and who is who. Mae Sot has an official documented population of about 40,000 but the undocumented may drive this up to 80,000 we have been told. A busy place with lots of action.

The woman with the baby has thanaka cream on her face, and her babys face. Thanaka is a cosmetic paste made from ground wood of a thanaka tree (several varieties that must be 35 years old). Burmese women have used the paste for 2,000 years.

No Top Sheet Needed

July 24, 5am, woke up in Mae Sot in the office bedroom of BGET, no A/C, fan was blowing, no top sheet (definitely no blanket), if I thought about it, I could feel a slight coolness in the air. Mae Sot is cooler than Bangkok.

Two days ago in Bangkok - besides getting bus tickets to Mae Sot, and exchanging some dollars for baht, we spent the day walking around in the heat - everyone seemed to be wilted. Could not tell if we were suffering from jet lag or heat exposure. Took a water taxi, saw great temple area, learned how to say "thank you" in Thai from a coconut street vendor, walked through Chinatown, had cooked lunch and dinner at street vendors, of which there are thousands (got the guy at the hotel to write in Thai that were were vegetarians). Ended the day taking the subway home and collapsing at 9pm. Bangkok is a busy place!!!!

Yesterday, 9 hour bus ride to Mae Sot. Good ride, upstair in a double decker, had A/C, did not have loud music (or any music), had slow bus driver. There were two other old farts on the bus besides me. One from Holland who is retired and living in a small town in Thailand - it is cheaper, and warmer, than Holland. He is never going back. The other, a man from Ireland, who has been living in Bangkok for ten years teaching business. He has some things in common with us - he is a vegetarian, has climbed some 14ners, and been many places in the world. He is helping to support a school in Mae Sot, Love and Care, that houses and educates 80 Burmese refugees ages 13 to 22. There food budget is for 60 students. Since there are currently 80 students, the daily food budget for each student has been reduced to $0.30 US - not enough. He had a health check done on the students and most are suffering from malnutrition. He is trying to raise money for food and is teaching them how to get the most nutrition for the moey spent.

Stony, the BGET volunteer from North Carolina who has been in Mae Sot over a year, met us in Mae Sot at the bus station. Went out for dinner, food street stall, got pad thai, 20 baht each (about $0.60 US each). Slept well till 5am today. Today, Stony gives a tour of Mae Sot.

17 flying hours - 25 hours door to door

LA to Seattle to Narita Japan to Bangkok: 3 flights; 17 flying hours; 25 door to door hours; 5 movies; 8 cups of coffee - we arrived at hotel in Bangkok 1 am local time. It was a great day of traveling.

After planning this trip for almost a year, taking a class on Renewable Energy for the Developing World, getting Visas, air tickets, innoculations, etc., it is good to be here.

Will do some walking around Bangkok today, and take a 8 hours bus ride to Mae Sot, our final destination, tomorrow.

Our Work In Thailand – How We Got Involved

In 2009 I (Roger) took an online class and a workshop in Solar Electric (photo voltaic) Design and Installation from Solar Energy International (SEI), www.solarenergy.org, a nonprofit educational organization based in Western Colorado.

SEI is has connections with international organizations promoting renewable energy and sustainability. Since I am always looking for projects for us (Donna and myself), I contacted several of these organizations to see if they could benefit from our help. Border Green Energy Team (www.bget.org) responded and we have been in contact with them since August of 2009 planning our visit in July 2010.

Border Green Energy (BGET) is based in Mae Sot, Thailand, about 3 miles from the border with Burma (Myanmar). BGET provides hands-on appropriate technology training and financial support to village innovators in ethnic minority areas on both sides of the Thai/Burma border.

BGET works in:

- Improving sustainability of Thai solar home systems through local technician trainings.
- Refugee camp renewable energy trainings.
- Community micro-hydro construction and O&M.
- Solar electricity construction and O&M trainings for medical clinics on the border. 

There are tens of thousands of refugees in Thailand. They are mainly people of the Karen ethnic group who have left Burma because of violence and persecution. July 20, 2010, we fly to Bangkok, stay there two nights, and then take a bus to Mae Sot. We have never been to Thailand before.

We are open to questions and comments on our blog, our work, how to volunteer, or anything else.