Looking back at Unit 4

I realized I didn't really update on Unit 4 (or Unit 5, which the students return from today). So, to do a quick recap...

Unit 4 focused on water development projects such as dams and weirs (for more info on what a weir is, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weir). These projects were funded by multi-national corporations to bring energy to Thailand. However, as with most projects, there is a significant give and take with power production.

For starters, the government conducted many of these projects (going back 21 yrs) without the consent or knowledge of the local community. Even if they had told them, the government had no idea the kind of effects these projects would have. The flood zones they demarcated for dam construction often turn out to be grossly inaccurate, leading to catastrophe for the local residents.

The government and its entities such as RID (Royal Irrigation Department) and EGAT (Electricity) also lied about what they were trying to do. Look at the wikipedia picture of a weir, seen here.


Now look at what the Thai government called a weir.


There's a shocking difference.

Now, the communities are left with flooding that destroys their crops, increasingly salty land due to the large salt deposits under the soil that are being leached up due to prolonged floods, loss of huge fish populations because they can't migrate upstream anymore, flooding of the wetlands (which they call their "supermarket" due to its biodiversity), among other problems.

While the numbers might show that these folks are economically better off with more energy, what it doesn't account for is the fact that before the dam they didn't need money. They had everything they needed from the river and the wetlands.

Now they have money but no food. And less and less money because their economic means of subsistence are also being stolen by large scale development.



There was a great quote in a documentary we watched with the students called "Flow." The quote said that the World Bank knows how to spend a billion dollars in one place, but doesn't know how to spend less money in millions of different places.

BUT, on a happier note, we also had the opportunity to see some of the river rituals of the Isaan (NE Thailand) people. In order to celebrate the spirits who protect the land and the river, once a year people dress up in their colorful best and sing, dance, and generally get wasted. Meh Pa, whom I stayed with, told me that the spirits like lao kao (rice whiskey), cigarettes, betel nut (crazy stuff, check it out here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paan), and other substances so the participants in the dances will use all of these so the spirits who possess them can enjoy it as well, for a time.




I talked to a yai (grandmother) for 30 minutes in Isaan (not Thai, it is a language closer to Lao) and she explained the whole ceremony, telling me that often foreigners (farang) come here and don't understand what it going on. At least, that's all I understood. Not only is my Isaan far worse than my Thai, she was chewing betel nut (see above) and drinking, making her speech more slurred. Then my new bff handed me what I thought was tea... after a big gulp, NOPE! It was herbal lao kao. Yum, nothing like moonshine at 9:30am.

Needless to say, this was one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. Every part of it was so interesting... and confusing. Things like this hardly phase me anymore though, probably a sign of my nearly 6 months in Thailand.

Many other things happened on Unit 4, but this was my favorite memory. Oh, and Paw Somkiat (a leader within the Assembly of the Poor and Pak Mun dam protests for the past 21 yrs, see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assembly_of_the_Poor)

We were able to spend the morning with Paw Somkiat on his porch, talking about everything from the 21 yr struggle of Pak Mun villagers to the challenges faced by upstate South Carolina residents! We talked about Glendale, which was great.

But, my favorite moment with him was perhaps when Sam was teaching him card tricks. Something about us doing magic tricks with a man former Prime Minister Thaksin yelled at on TV.... surreal, and beautiful.




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The students return today from their very last unit (mining, mostly copper and gold), and are actually doing their last exchange as I type. It is so strange that we are already moving into final project time, and the wind-down of the semester. Sigh.

The things I forget to mention

An older photo of me during monsoon season. Now it is extremely dry and never rains.

The street in front of our house.


Today I was driving to work on the motorsai, weaving around carts laden with food where stray dogs wait expectantly for something to fall off in the village. It isn't uncommon for us to dodge a baby chicken (or several) on our street. Thai highways are perpetually under construction, and today was no different. They tore up one of the entrances to our village, so I knew to take the other way. The dust from the work gets into your eyes, making glasses or a visor a must while driving. Cars speed by on my right (Thais drive on the other side of the road) and occasionally a motorsai creeps up the wrong side of the highway. These are usual sights on my daily commute.

I decided to take the back way since the Khon Kaen University entrance has been undergoing a baffling road diversion plan where they are pulling up trees to put ... something in the road. Besides, the back way takes me off the highway faster and is therefore much quieter. After turning across the Mittraphrap (Friendship Highway), I could immediately breath easier. There was a rice paddy on my left, and a huge forest temple preceding it. A short drive forward revealed another taller temple, its walls decorated with snakes and Buddhist symbols.

The stores on either side of me, as I continued my journey, had large banners across their doorways with advertisements in Thai for soy milk and skin whitening cream. For much of my journey, I noticed the motorsai was driving strangely, slipping around more than it should. A stop by the forest temple revealed that I had a flat tire.

Driving slowly down the road, I didn't worry too much about it. The only things more common than 7-11s in Thailand are motorsai repair shops. Sure enough, a few hundred yards down the road I saw several sitting out front of a shop with all sorts of products. I pulled in and pointed to the offending tire, and they smiled, brought me a chair, and proceeded to replace the inner part of the tire. I think each of our motorsais has had a new one of these several times over.

90 baht later and I was back on the road, turning left at the odd looking idol figure. Another left turn took me on a road where all the bars are, empty and strange looking in the daylight. My favorite Vietnamese breakfast place with the delicious meat filled rolls is on the right. Rickety wooden tables sit out front, surrounded by stools that don't match and university students grabbing a quick breakfast.

The sun is bright, the sky is clear, and the air is dusty. Car exhaust fumes follow me everywhere I drive, sometimes causing me to pull my shirt over my face to block the cascade of black smoke. Dogs, children, and construction workers are everywhere. The work day is hard to nail down because everyone seems to live above their shops.

I rev up the engine, take a right (which feels like a left because of the other side of the road business) and head towards the CIEE office. Motorsais weave around the random speed bumps and cracks in the pavement which hit you so hard you can feel it in your internal organs.

Pulling into the office, I found it largely deserted on this Tuesday. With the students all on unit in Loei province, staff has taken the week off.

I parked next to all the others and came into the office, pulling out my laptop to check emails.

And make coffee.