We are Safe in Mae Sai 04/26/2010

We have gotten many emails and calls to find out if we are okay due to the demonstrations in Thailand by the UDD referred to as the RED SHIRTS! Actually, it has been a only a few calls and a couple of emails but it seems like "many". Thank you for being concerned about us.

We are very safe here in Mae Sai, on the Myanmar (Burma) border. I am going to try and compare where we live in Thailand to someplace in the United States.

We live in a small town up in the mountain area of Northern Thailand, as far North as you can go and still be in the "Land of Smiles". The demonstrations by the UDD, or RED SHIRTS is happening in the main retail shopping area of Bangkok, about 700 Km south.
That is like us living in the hills on the California/Oregon border and the demonstrations being in Downtown Los Angeles.

Now for the social/politician views of the people here. I am going to write very softly as I'm an invited guest in this country. I am only going to write about what I'm told by folks.

Most folks that talk about the RED SHIRTS think they have gone to far because folks are getting hurt although they believe in what the old Prime Minister was about and what he did for the people. They don't seem to care if he took some money as they feel he did so much for them.

I am told that he did things like "Old Age Money for Older Poor Folks - 500 THB a month" and "Schools for ALL Children regardless of Ethnic Background" plus "Free Red Buses in Bangkok", "New roads in Rural Areas so Farmers could get Crops to Market", "New Airport which Employed Many People and helped Tourism", "Financing for Taxi Drivers to buy New Taxis", "Mortgage system so People can buy Project Houses", just to name a few.

Now, it is also the dry season so there is no rice farming happening. Remember, this small country is the largest exporter of rice in the world. Since they are not working in the rice fields they might as well go hang out in Bangkok, demonstrate and have some fun.

In closing, we just want to say: "Don't worry, be happy and have fun! Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes!"