i have several pictures that i would like to share with people, but because the issue is rather sensitive, i will only post those which are not really controversial.
if anyone would like to talk to me about the visit when i am home, that would be wonderful. i also have plenty of sources about the situation if those are needed.
we stayed in a little guest house in mae sot.
outside my room, there was this sign:
we visited several ngos and groups that dealt with issues with burma.
i do not have pictures.
we saw the refugee camp.
i have many pictures of this, though i think i would rather not post them. i will show you if you ask.
i will show pictures of the border.
we visited "friendship bridge" this morning before heading back to chiang mai.
according to adam, there have not been soldiers posted at this crossing when he previously visited. there were several today.
on the bridge, there were people legally crossing the border.
underneath, in the water, people were crossing in inner tubes.
the soldiers did nothing.
we asked why they don't arrest the people crossing illegally.
we were told that there are just too many people crossing for them to all be arrested, so there are only arrests during crackdowns.
the burmese police, whom we could vaguely see from where we stood, did nothing as well.
from another soldier, we learned that people crossing illegally, thought to be on drugs, were stealing from tourists and running back over. because the soldiers were sitting on the landing, many of the people crossing illegally would not cross the landing, and they would try to sell us items--like cigarettes--from the land (disputed land) below.
many people crossing illegally would squat on this land, knowing they would not be arrested if they did not attempt to go up into the town.
my favorite image from the trip was on a sign for refugees looking for third country resettlement:
