Sunday, May 02, 2010

030107 Ban Mae Ter SPECIAL - *CAT edition*

P1030122
P1030121

Spying on Lee:

P1030123

Cats don't need pillows:

P1030125
P1030125a
P1030126

The favourite:

P1030127
P1030130-1

Studio Ghibli effect:

P1030132

Lousy sense of smell:

P1030140
P1030141

030107 Ban Mae Ter - 03

Ban Apa alumni:

P1030115
P1030116
P1030117

What the cat is named after:

P1030118
P1030118a

We were a pretty big group:

P1030119
P1030119a

On the whole the houses look far bigger & the village seems wealthier than those in the Huay Mae Sai area:

P1030120

Two types of stairs - foreground = the type for traditional Akha & Lahu houses:

P1030120a

Cat like blue roof:

P1030129

030107 Ban Mae Ter school

A village school in the mountains of rural Thailand:

P1030104

Miles away - both literally & figuratively - from the government schools in Bangkok that the 'cousins' went to, & even further removed from the swish private schools that their kids now go to.

Today = Wednesday = scouts day, when all school kids across the kingdom are required to turn up for school in their boy or girl scouts uniform (a few schools have it on a different weekday). Here you just turn up in whatever parts of a uniform you have:

P1030105

Boy on left in a combination of normal uniform (shirt) + scout uniform (hat + scarf) + PE uniform (trackpants) & slippers:

P1030113a

Thailand has this thing for uniforms - school teachers & university students wear uniforms, & even university academic staff & civil servants have formal uniforms with jackets that look exactly like military ceremonial dress - complete with gold buttons, badges, tabs, epaulettes & lanyards.

A 'Mastercard analysis' of costs:

uniform blouse = 80-165 baht
uniform shirt = 80-150 baht
uniform skirt = 100-185 baht
uniform pants = 90-200 baht
school shoes = 180-290 baht/pair
scout hat/beret + scarf = 130-160 baht/set
belt = 60-80 baht
scout uniform shirt/blouse = 160-240 baht
scout uniform pants/skirt = 100-225 baht
uniform socks (boys) = ~30 baht/pair

minimum wage (Chiangrai province) = 146 baht/day (2007), 157 baht/day (2010)
income for most hilltribe people in this region = ~150 baht/day

Headmaster/teacher who doesn't bar kids from school for 'incomplete uniform' = priceless

Additional cost considerations:
* T-shirt + trackpants for PE uniform
* Fridays = traditional dress day in some regions; some schools require students to wear indigo หม้อฮ่อม 'mor hom' (traditional Lao Phuan/Lanna farmers' outfit)
* some schools require different uniforms for 'summer' & 'winter' e.g. long-sleeved blouses for girls' 'winter' uniform

Education is theoretically free up to Mor. 3 (third year of secondary school), but cost of uniformsss (plus books, stationery, transport, additional fees charged by schools, food, etc) end up keeping a good number of kids out of school &/or from continuing their studies beyond lower secondary school. Quite often, rural kids who are able to meet the whole lot of uniform requirements are those who have parents or other relatives working in cities or other countries & remitting money home. For the Mae Salong area, it usually means working as labourers in Taiwan, like what Mr Assistant Headman (who brought us to the school) did for a couple of years. His own daughter was in full girl scout uniform today ;)

P1030109

A great deal of time at Thai schools is devoted towards reinforcing beliefs in the three pillars of ชาติ chaat (Nation), ศาสน์ saat (Religion) & กษัตริย์ gasat (Monarchy):

P1030109a

Before the end of the school day, everyone turns around...

P1030111

...to pay their respects to the Buddha statue:

P1030112

The cat has never been to the deep south of Thailand, but for everywhere else it has been, in government schools, Religion = Theravada Buddhism, regardless of whether students are animists, Mahayana Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, Catholics, agnostics, atheists or even Pastafarians. Not too sure if Buddha ever intended to have things done this way...but guess knowing all the 'correct things to do' does help the kids 'fit'/blend into lowland Thai society.

Even the teacher has to be in full scout uniform like an overgrown kid:

P1030113
P1030114

Thai guys are trained from young to embrace the colour pink:

P1030114a

A different kind of swing in the school playground - it's an Akha village after all:

P1030110
P1030107 P1030108

Saturday, May 01, 2010

030107 dry season activities

01. house construction:

P1030099

Don't need a floor to stand on the 2nd floor:

P1030103

02. roof repairs - using imperata grass:

P1030100

03. making brooms:

P1030090
P1030090a
P1030095
P1030095a
P1030097
P1030097a

030107 Ban Mae Ter - 02

Akha laundry:

P1030088

Turned inside-out, revealing the amount of stitches required to attach all the beads, Job's tears seeds, cowrie shells, buttons & bits of silver:

P1030088a

Woven bamboo platform with the same style of construction as the floor of the sleeping area of Agong's house - more durable than the usual style used for balconies, & very comfortable (at least to this cat) & cooling (during hot season) to sleep on, no need for any mattress:

P1030089
P1030094
P1030091

No idea what this is:

P1030087

'Open source' plumbing with branch supports:

P1030098

Triangular coop:

P1030093

Chicken-proof plants:

P1030096