Khao Lak

It's hard to believe I've been a teacher in Thailand for almost 10 months.

I had a break from work, so I went with three friends who are also teachers to go to Southern Thailand. We were hoping to volunteer for Tsunami relief. We flew to Phuket from Bangkok on Sunday night and stayed in a very cheap hotel. Whoever named the place a hotel had wishful thinking. The next afternoon we hopped on a bus to the Tsunami Volunteer Center at Khao Lak Nature Resort, Phang Nga Province. http://www.tsunamivolunteer.net/

After a two-and-a-half hour trip, we spotted the volunteer center and jumped off the bus. Well, most of us did. Cyndi didn't get off at first because she was looking for her sandals. The busses don't stop very long, so you must exit quickly. The driver kept going for half-a-minute until he noticed she wanted to get off.

We didn't know where we would stay so we walked towards the volunteer center. Luckily, we found a place not far from it. We never found out the name of the guesthouse, but it used to be a restaurant. It must have just opened. We were located near a police station and the entrance to Khao Lak National Park. There were pictures of unidentified bodies at the station. Most of them were Thai, and some were children. Across the road was a religious shrine with lots of abandoned motorbikes in front of it. Thai people honked as they drove by. The Thai lady who ran our guesthouse told us it was a place to honor the ghosts and Buddha.

My friends and I had driven through Khao Lak in early December. It was a busy, little tourist town with dive shops restaurants, beach resorts and ATMs from all major bank branches. Lots of the places are still there, but there are virtually no tourists, except volunteers. Almost everything closed in town after 9 p.m.

The beaches looked like a war zone in the aftermath of the tsunami. Beaches that were once covered with hotels and resorts were now deserted with a few crumbled buildings and overturned cars. We also saw a large ship, probably from the Thai Navy, that was washed about 500 meters from the road on the side opposite from the beach. It is not a small boat.

The volunteer center used to be a beach resort, but the owner Khun Somporn generously let survivors and volunteer workers stay for free. Then it became a center for registering the dead. Now volunteers are doing all sorts of things from building furniture for schools, laying bricks, clearing debris off the beach, boatyard construction to twisting wire around rebar.

The center had some pets. There were two dogs and even two gibbons hanging around. One of the monkeys was friendly. It let volunteers give it foot massages. The other one hit people on the head and swung away. Every once in a while we saw a monkey fight one of the dogs.

Zach went to work with an intense construction guy from America to build a boatyard. He used power tools and helped mix cement and other labor. He worked with two Thai men who had lost family members in the disaster. He also worked with two Germans who were members of an ancient journeyman association. They had to wear strange outfits and stay at least 500 km away from their homes for two years. They wore black vests and ties over white shirts, dark cordorouy pants with two zippers, and black hats. One of them was very tall, even for a German, and he wore a black top hat. He didn't speak much English. The shorter one wore a derby hat and spoke English fairly well. They also drank Singha beer with Sprite.

Cyndi, Leigh and I helped out a construction site for a village called Bang Sak. Nishon from Canada was our guide from the center. He helped us hitch a ride to the site. Thai people were very friendly to volunteers. Volunteers from the center were teamed up with Mercy Foundation, a Thai Christian organization, who is trying to build 50 houses for the Bang Sak village community. Cyndi and Leigh twisted wire around rebar. I helped mix cement, move dirt and other jobs at the construction site. I met volunteers from places all around the world like England, Germany, Belgium, France, Ireland, Japan, Canada, and Norway. And I'm proud to say there were lots of Americans. I also met many Thai people while working. Some of them had come down from Isaan, NE Thailand.

I enjoyed the experience despite the tough work in the stifling heat. I was worn out after three days of work. Some volunteers had been there for over two months. I give other volunteers special praise. Some guys from Iowa took time off from college to come and volunteer. Two Germans were sleeping in tents while buidling houses. Many other volunteers were doing the same because guesthouses in the area were filling up. That's true sacrifice.

Why is it that volunteers seem to always have a huge "hippy" crowd? There were lots of vegetarians. At a BBQ party one night and I mistakenly ate some tofu and veggie shishkabobs. Eck! They had real BBQ too, but it was dark and I just grabbed whatever I could off the grill.

I hope I can go back sometime and work longer. I recommend the Tsunami Volunteer Center for anyone who wants the opportunity to volunteer. Just be aware of the tofu BBQ.


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