Thailand - Kanchanaburi, Sangkhlaburi and Bangkok

Early the next morning after arriving in Bangkok, we set out for a long trip heading north towards Sangkhlaburi with C.K. to see where he lives and to see all the wonderful community initiatives going on in this area. Our first stop along the way was in Kanchanaburi where we visited the war cemetery and the Bridge over the River Kwai (also called the Death Railway Bridge). This is where many allied prisoners of war from WWII (primarily Australian and Dutch soldiers) are buried who died while constructing the Death Railway for the Japanese to connect Singapore all the way to Burma. Sadly, it is estimated that 16,000 men died while building this railway, from malnutrition, disease, exhaustion from laboring so hard and from the harsh conditions. It was very sad walking through the cemetery and seeing how young so many of the soldiers were who lost their lives. We walked across the bridge over the river afterwards.


We continued along on our journey towards Sangkhlaburi along winding roads through the spectacular mountains. The scenery was so green as it is rainy season right now, and we drove through some very heavy rains at times.

Once we arrived, CK brought us out to the Three Pagodas Pass, which is one of the official border sites between Burma and Thailand. There are several other “unofficial” border sites (one of which we saw) which are much easier to cross, and Burmese people sneak across daily to work illegally in Thailand. They have military check points along the roads near this area on the Thai side to check vehicles to see if there are any Burmese people being smuggled in.

Afterwards we went to visit the Baan Unrak home for orphaned children, which means “Home of Joy”, where C.K. has been volunteering this past year. C.K. first showed us the guesthouse that is in the midst of being constructed that will eventually be rented out to raise money for the home. It has a magnificent view from the balcony overlooking the lake and mountains, and once it’s done it will be a really lovely place to stay. We got quite stuck in the mud when trying to reach the main area of Baan Unrak, but thankfully we got out eventually, and it is really great that CK is such a good driver and that he has a big truck with 4 wheel drive! The roads to get in were quite muddy and wet from all the rain, and extremely bumpy!

Once at the home we met Didi, who has been running the home for the past seventeen years. She is such a kind and caring person and really has a heart for serving others.
There are 120 children living at the home, as well as some of their mothers, as Didi encourages the mothers to stay with their children as much as possible and supports them by employing them in practical needs of the home such as washing, cleaning, cooking or weaving. We got to spend some time with these dear little children, who have so much joy despite not having very much.

Some of the older girls did a beautiful dance and gymnastics presentation for us, and they are very talented. We then had a delicious vegetarian dinner there and we got to hear more from Didi about the joys and struggles that she experiences.

After having such a full day we were ready for bed and we settled into our hotel which had a beautiful look-out to the lake from the porch outside our rooms.

The following day was another amazing and very moving day. CK introduced us to his friend Nelson, who is a pastor involved with an organization called Mercy Teams International. Nelson brought us to his ministry site called the Japanese well, in Burma, about 3 Km from the border (this area of Burma is far away from the conflict zone in the capital at the moment, so it is not a dangerous zone). Here there is a jungle village tribe of Mon people who live in very simple woven bamboo huts. Mercy teams has built a school and runs the school program for the children of the village, as they are not be able to afford going to the government school. They also have a very busy dental clinic here as well as a nurse and a small chapel. It was wonderful to meet the staff serving here and to meet the adorable children. Their next goal is to develop a well for clean drinking water for the village once they have enough funding, as water is very difficult to get during the dry season. It is such great work that they are doing here, meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs.

We continued along to see the church Nelson teaches at, which is a simple bamboo woven building.

We then continued on our way to visit another friend of CK’s, called Olivier, who is a young man from France who has moved here with his son, and began building a house in the country. He has a gorgeous view of the mountains and rice fields below from behind his house and it is very quiet and peaceful here. He and Papa had a nice time chatting up a storm!

After having some lunch we headed to the Kwai River Christian Hospital, which was really interesting to visit. One of the nurses was very welcoming and showed us around and explained how everything is run. She introduced us to some of the doctors working there from overseas, and we chatted with them for a while. The hospital is constantly over budget as they ask the patients only to pay what they can afford, which typically does not cover all of the costs. They treat many patients with malaria and Tuberculosis, and COPD is also quite common from all the smoking. The ward rooms are quite crowded with about 12-14 people in each, as well as their families who stay to care for them and prepare food for them. Although we have issues in our own healthcare system, being here makes me realize that we really are so fortunate to have the care and the resources that we do have in Canada.

Our last visit was to a Christian home for orphans, the elderly and for people with psychiatric problems (quite a broad spectrum!), which is run by a kind woman, Palulu and her husband. We visited part of the “safe house” for those with psychiatric illness where they have projects for the residents to work on to gain income, such as weaving, and we saw them creating some beautiful things.

We ended off the day with dinner at another great Thai restaurant, where we processed all that we had seen that day.

The following morning we had the fantastic experience of going on an elephant ride in the jungle! At first it feels a bit tippy on the seat on top of the elephant, but after a while you realize how stable it is, and how carefully the elephant takes its steps. We passed by some tiny villages and went through three river crossings, which was really neat!

Afterwards we stopped into the boys’ orphanage that is associated with Baan Unrak, where we found the little boys playing with some adorable puppies.

We then went onto the vegetarian bakery run by Bann Unrak and we had a great lunch there before heading on our way back to Bangkok.

The following day we drove South of Bangkok this time to a beach area called Pattaya. We started by visiting the “Temple of truth”, which CK really enjoys visiting and has been to several times. This is a temple that is build entirely from wood (kind of a crazy idea, considering it’s right on the ocean!), with intricate wood carvings inside and out.

Afterwards we went to the beach area, where we sat under the umbrellas to shelter us from the rain, so we didn’t really feel like swimming as it wasn’t that warm.

The next day was our last full day in Bangkok. We took the boat taxi along the river to the Grand Palace, where the former Kings of Thailand used to reside. The current King no longer lives here, and now lives in the northern part of the city, but the palace is still used for royal ceremonies and events. The palace is quite impressive with beautiful and ornate buildings.

That evening we met with CK’s sister-in-law who lives in Bangkok, and her son and his wife and daughter, and we had a great dinner with them at a very good Thai seafood restaurant, and it was nice to meet them.

The following day it was time say goodbye to CK and to Mom and Papa as they were heading back home. We were so thankful to have had such a great week with CK and two weeks with my parents! We flew out the same day down to southern Thailand to Surathani, where we took a ferry over to a beautiful island called Ko Pha Ngan, where we arrived quite late at night.