Mae Sot, Thailand Travel Blogs

Out of the Hills
Dec 9, 2006 (3 photos)

... not always an easy read, but it's fantastic. So to join the Herman Hesse fan club, write to... I had a bacon cheeseburger in Mae Sot that changed my life. After Um Phang where we couldn't even get restaurants to feed us, I really enjoyed this place run ...

Burmese Youth Project: Opportunity, not Aid
Mar 24, 2004 (14 photos)

... scenery, it was a good opportunity to distract myself and mentally practice the Thai numbers I've been trying to memorize... Mae Sot is an interesting little border town, lots of things going on and people bustling around doing who knows what (rumour ...

Finding a Purpose
Nov 4, 2009 (15 photos)

... searching out some volunteer work was somewhat more appealing, so I gradually made my way across the country to the small town of Mae Sot, stopping briefly in several towns along the way. Phitsanulok had to be my worst night of the trip so far. The noise ...

Border Town
Feb 4, 2008 (6 photos)

Grabbed a bus and headed northwest to the colorful border town between Thailand and Myanmar. Strolling the streets you see an interesting mix of -Burmese men in their sarongs (pictures hard to take), local Thai and hill tribe people. Spent a few days site ...

Teaching Frog
Nov 24, 2005

My voice is recovered enough that I sound like a toad. It is hideously scratchy, so I put it to use teaching English to my students. There are only about 5 of the students at any one time because different ones are visiting places for their stories. ...

Mae Sot Hospital Exploration
Jul 26, 2007

... slept a lot, and took tylenol to make my fever go down.  I could not keep ANYTHING down, and made my mark all over Mae Sot.  I consulted a pharmacist who said I was doing what I could, but I finally went to the hospital at the insistence of my ...

NYC-BKK-Mae Sot
Jun 7, 2007

... Bangkok rush hour traffic wasn't fun and I didn't see much as we headed to the bus station. I knew that the overnight buses to Mae Sot left in the evenings and that the later I could leave the better, as then I wouldn't get there too early. I got a ...

Mae Sot and Umphang
May 22, 2009 (5 photos)

... to the villages free of charge. Its nice to see a positive affect of tribal outsiders rather than candy and ciggarettes. Back in Mae Sot we are tipped off about a potest calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi outside the UN Human Rights ...

Into the mountains
Nov 12, 2006 (13 photos)

... . The driver wrote me a note explaining my situation which smoothed my passage on to Tak. From there I boarded a mini-bus for Mae Sot, another 100 km west and just 6 km east of the border with Myanmar. It was a somewhat harrowing trip compared to the ...

Buying Rock
Mar 7, 2006

I run into a man I've met before, one of the few honest gem dealers in Mae Sot. He will take you to good places and tell you fair prices and the true quality throughout the gem market. His name is Mr. Seian ("lion"). For a small commission, he will ...

A Little Unexpected
Apr 17, 2006

Jay wakes me up to tell me he is going somewhere where he heard there will be traditional Karen music and such. I want to go too, so we bike to a small community sprung up around a hospital. The bicycle wheels bite the hems of my pants like a dog and ...

Trekking i Umphang
Jan 12, 2006 (23 photos)

... i, nogle af dem endda giftige! men det var da hyggeligt nok, og rart nok at man ikke selv skulle gaa det sidste stykke..hehe tilbage i Mae Sot og Trekker Hill Resort fik vi aftensmad og et varmt bad, og en god seng. jeg er dog blevet stukket af et eller ...

Yikes!!! Mae Sot!
Apr 27, 2009

... moved on from Laos individually, Sharon coming directly to Mae Sot and Laura had leisurely toured some of northern Thailand before coming to Mae Sot a week or so ago.  Both excitedly told me about their teaching jobs - their time divided between a ...

Christmas
Dec 22, 2005 (10 photos)

... me, so I can't see the look on their faces. Everyone is getting really cold and wants to leave, but the driver has gone back to Mae Sot and doesn't know if he can come get us. We wait for a while to see what will happen and finally we get the call that ...

Muay Thai
Dec 7, 2005

We walk into the throng of people already thick around the perimeter of the ring. A percussion band on one side plays frenzied, traditional music. The cheers of the people rise higher than the crash of the cymbal. On the one side where chairs are set ...

Mae Sariang -> Mae Sot
Oct 29, 2008 (17 photos)

... Sot ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Salut tout le monde, On va bien. Nous voici dans une autre ville Mae Sot. Nous avons parcourue 240km en 5 heures dans un "taxi thai" (c'etait plutot ...

Random Encounters
Oct 22, 2005

... . While we're finishing our beers, this New Yorker asks if he can sit with us. His name is Ben and he's been living in Mae Sot for something like 5 years! He works for an orphanage nearby. Seems to have a lot of hook ups here. It strikes me how casual ...

An Opportunity
Nov 6, 2005

Jay and I meet with an Irish guy named Phil Thornton. He's written a popular book about the Burmese. We talk with him most the afternoon over sighing string music, coffee, and sandwiches. We both borrow teaching books from him and some books about ...

The Tape
Nov 9, 2005

All yesterday and today is spent transcribing. I picked up a job through Phil transcribing some tapes of interviews on politics, and one on jazz. After 2 days going strong, I still have 9 minutes of the hour long jazz interview and haven't started the ...

Looking for J Peterman
Jan 31, 2006

I've taken a beautiful mountain drive in a beat up old Toyota van out to Mae Sot. It's very close to the Border of Thailand and Burma (formerly Myanmar). This part of the country is a little risker as it's got border skirmishes between Thai and Burmese ...

K, Kh, Kh, Kh...D, T, T
Oct 16, 2005 (3 photos)

I highly recommend fresh pineapple in the morning. It makes a great breakfast in hot climates. Near the end of the day I head to Wat Mani Phrai Son. One of the monks with really good English starts to talk to me. Soon others, including my acquaintance ...

Independence Day Party
Jul 4, 2007

Today I hosted a July 4th dinner at AAPP.  It was a great chance to introduce some of my Ban Thai friends with my AAPP colleagues.  I made bbq chicken, salad, fries, and an apple crumble, for about 40 people, all using one big wok on a ...

King's Birthday
Dec 5, 2005

It's a national holiday, but the only thing really great about it is the Muay Thai at the carnival market. All the shops are closed. The people stare at me when I walk down the street in my gold sarong. Jay and I go to watch the Thai kickboxing. The ...

Falling off Consciousness
Feb 18, 2006

A friend's going away party takes an interesting turn when we sit around the squeezed row of tables, over piles of food, and her boyfriend announces their plans to get married in the future. I begin speaking with a local teacher and learning Burmese ...

Waterfalls
Oct 13, 2005 (8 photos)

Jay & I walk down to meet our new friends and they take us for breakfast at a coffee shop...across from the DK hotel...in fact, the same coffee shop I like to go to. The owner, Buu, turns out to be the daughter of one of our new friends. Small world ...

Sweet December
Nov 30, 2005

... at the church or temple that takes place around midnight. This is the one time a singer is allowed to come from Burma to sing in Thailand for Shan State. We play music and dance and have some beer and food with our friends who tell us all of this. It ...

A Story, a Capital, a Road to Nowhere
Nov 17, 2005

I spend my morning getting one last look at the New City. Some things are still closed. I use the Internet and return to find my godmother and Jan already ready to go. Our godmother has agreed to take us to the bus station, but we decide that we don't ...

Something I Saw
Dec 27, 2005 (1 photos)

I take off again early in the morning to go with Jay to an interview. I finally hear someone tell me a traditional tale. I won't go into all the details, but it's the story of an unusually beautiful woman who is taken as the king's second wife. The ...

Coquelicot
Oct 10, 2005

One of my favorite travel occupations is taking pictures of a little gnome my cousin gave me. Every time I go to a new place, I paint him a new face. I go to the office with Jay and spend most of the time painting the gnome. I'm trying to make him look ...

Shopping Spree
Dec 1, 2005

I go to the market and take my time shopping around. On my way from there to the market, I see a guy who I have seen at the Internet place before, says his name's Nicko. He invites me out to dinner. For an answer, I tell him I have a boyfriend. He ...