Dispatches : BostonCube

	7 Apr '03, R. Kwai and Chang Mai
Mention the Bridge of the River Kwai and most people think of the film BBC2 usually show on the afternoon of Boxing Day. But the bridges (there were two) were real, the suffering of the prisoners and labourers who built it was real and to this day their graves are meticulously maintained as a tribute to them. A small section of the first bridge has been preserved on the bank of the river along with photographs and survivors accounts of life while building the Death Railway. The following night I took the sleeper train to Chang Mai. This ancient city in nothern Thailand is an excellent base to explore the region from. I spent four days trekking through forests, swimming in pools and waterfalls when the heat got too much, seeing the villages of the hill tribes and gettting a first hand account of life in this area of Thailand. For years the hill tribe peoples were ignored and discriminated against but with the tourist trade now firmly established in the region (at least on the Thai side of the border) it has forced the authorities to pay attention and at least the villages we saw had electricity, clean water (but not recommended for foreigners to drink) and several had set up flower growing ventures with government assistance to earn extra income to supply the markets in Chang Mai and Bangkok. I also had a brief visit to the Golden Triangle. As my stay in Thailand is for a few days over the limit it was cheaper to do a tour to the border, pay US$5 for a 1 day visa to Myanmar (for all of two minutes needed to cross the bridge and back) and collect a new tourist card on re-entering the country. At least it gives me two extra stamps in the passport. The actual tour wasn't really worth it as they skipped most of the promised activities. But the buffet lunch was really good with a mixture of Thai and Laotian cuisine, plus european style for fussy eaters. All too soon it was time to leave and head down south for the last leg of my Thailand travels, and I suppose the last leg of this whole journey. The trip back was by (alleged) VIP bus arriving in Bangkok very early in the morning to connect with another overnight bus and boat to Koh Phan-ghan. Unfortunately somebody decided to go through my day-pack while I was asleep and steal my Libretto laptop. This was despite the bag straps being hooked around my legs, and has proved quite safe for the last 11 months.. The most annoying part of this is I had a load of photographs that I had not yet burned onto CD. At least all the personal data is protected (I love PGP!) and the password on the machine should make it quite a fiddle to actually use it again. What I find surprising is the camera, which is worth twice as much, wasn't touched. I hope that karma really dumps on them in their next life.
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