Two weeks at Home in Mae Sai, Thailand

It's 5:30 AM on Sunday morning. Our friends Chuck and Ray called us from California to say "Hello".

They also wanted to let us know they were thinking about returning to Thailand with us when we return in the Spring of 2011.

It's been two weeks that we have been back to this little town, Mae Sai, on the Myanmar (Burma) border. One of the great parts of being back is we can buy a whole, cut up pineapple for about 6 Thai Baht; that's US 18 cents.

Our home is on the south side of town so we are about four (4) kilometers from the actual border bridge into Myanmar.

The shop house is on "Official Thai Land". Before we lived on disputed land; kind of like the West Bank but no rockets or bombs in about ten (10) years. At that time, Mae Sai was evacuated because the Burmese Army was supposedly fighting the Shan Rebel Army.

Please remember that we are not judging, we are just saying!

Being on "Official Land" means we have a deed to the land and the building.

Mae Sai has 14 villages with approximately 22,000 people. Yep, BIG city life.

Our rest stop in Pattaya was very relaxing. We both gained about three kilo's (6.6 pounds) during our short stay at the beach. We love that area and all the diversification.

When we say diversity we are talking about the food, the people and the entertainment.

Most Thai folks are happy to have you take picturs and smile when you are taking their pictures. In this bakery I was asked not to take any pictures. Maybe they thought I would steal their recipes. I was told: "No Pictures!" after I took this one.

We did find the chicken soup lady. She sold her shop on Soi 13/2 and bought a special Tuk-Tuk made into a soap wagon. It is pretty neat. She has great chicken soup, also. To read more about Tuk-Tuk's just CLICK HERE.

We have done a few things during the last two weeks. We finished up the roof drains that were still not hooked up.

We had two birthdays and a little Birthday Cake to go with the Happy Birthday Singing.

We went to a "New House" party. That is a party to celebrate the completion of your new home. Food, a little service to bless the house and everyone, then more food and beverages, then more food and more food. I had trouble getting onto the motorbike due to eating so much.

"Bang", one of Hlong's adopted kids. Hlong is Daeng's sister-in-law. I know, you need a score card to keep up with the names.

Anyway, Bang was married in May of this year and moved with her husband to Bangkok to work and put away a nest egg. You can read about her wedding by CLICKING HERE and going to the bottom of the story.

Bang is now expectant. "Expectant" is what they coined pregnancy on "I Love Lucy" show about fifty years ago. I guess I just dated myself.

Bang has morning sickness ALL DAY so she can't work at her restaurant job in Bangkok. She came back to Northern Thailand for a little while to hope she will get over that part of having a baby. She'll then return to Bangkok and work for a few more months.

She gets up early in the morning, cleans some and starts ironing in the laundry. It's nice to see a house guest pitch in and help.

One of Daeng's sisters, her name is "Mon", came down with tuberculosis and had to move back to where her house of record is in Chiang Rai. That is about 50 kilometers south. I don't fully understand the system but here in Thailand everyone has a home of record. That is like a permanent residence. They call it a "House book" record.

Her "House Book" record is at her brother's home in Chiang Rai. She does not have a "National ID Card" so she is not qualified for the national medical. What that means is in order to get health care she has to be visited by a nurse once a week at that address to get her treatment for free.

Daeng's Mother also went with her and will stay for a month or two until Mon can take care of herself, again.

We tried to do it with a little laughter, funny face masks and all.

One of the nice things that happened with Mon getting sick is Daeng's brother, "Pooie", drove his motorbike from Chiang Mai, with two kids on it. They came to see Mon but stayed a few days visiting other family members.

On the left of the picture is Daeng's Brother, "Tun". On the right is "Pooie".

That is correct, 300 miles on a 100 cc motorbike with two kids.

I had met Pooie and his family before on a trip to Chiang Mai. While he was here he also fixed a leak on our roof. It was a crack in a grout line between a row of roof tile.

Life goes on with fresh bananas, pineapple, coconuts and warm, moist weather here on the Myanmar (Burma) border.

And don't forget the happy kids.