Category: Rebuilding Thailand

The Drugs Don’t Work

In paradise I think one is prone to adopt a flavor of carefree living. A lot is forgotten including our own human-ness and fraility as humans. Ben is 18, he is from England. I doubt he ever thought that in this paradise he would have to confront that fraility. But there I was, watching him bleed out of his cracked skull…

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Rain, Rain, Rain and More Rain. Oh, and Some More

It’s rained off and on since I arrived in Southern Thailand. A little storm here, a little 20 minute shower there. But this was something else!!! It started just as the rest had, a light fall in the afternoon The view from my porch at 5 in the morning during the first storm of the rainy season But as the others had not done, it did not stop… For a week actually. I had never been in a storm that had rained 24 hours a day for a full week. The first night was a fantasy come true. I had […]

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Live By The Motor Bike – Die By The Motor Bike

‘Life is great’ I think to myself as I tool on down the paved jungle road to the beach on my motorbike. I’ve got Nikki, this blonde, busty knockout from Holland, on the back and the beer in the basket on the front. We are heading down to one of the beaches to meet up with people after a long day of work for a swim in the Andamman Sea. The jungle is alive and incredibly beautiful as we look and talk about the beautiful flowers blooming next to and above the curvy road on the trees. I speed up […]

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Muay Thai Kru William

Before I left, Chris and I have been doing Muay Thai for about a year. And I was excited by the fact that I\’d be here and could perhaps learn Muay Thai when I wasn\’t building houses. Well I found out that the only place to learn Muay Thai was entirely wiped out by the tsunami. So I decided to take it on to workout on my own continuing the basics I was taught by Brandon at City Boxing. Well, things lead to other things and I\’ve found myself teaching the sport to other volunteers as an after work activity. […]

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Thap Tawan Village (I’ve Never Been So Dark In My Life)

I’ve been put to work right away at a Sea Gypsy village that lost all their homes, most of the livestock, and many lives. We are building 42 homes to replace the ones lost. There have been a lot of interesting characters in the village; Seewai one of the elders of the village is this great old man that asks us to call him Loo (Uncle). Pe, Moo, and one of my favorites O, is a nut, he’s brash arrogant and funny, (sounds like someone I know) rounds out a few of the villagers. All the volunteers are great people. […]

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A Tale Of Two Cities

Tokyo, Japan The first leg of my trip had me land in Tokyo, Japan. It was a real thrill for me to visit Japan because I was born here 28 years ago. I left when I was 1 ½ (well, with a little help from my parents). I don\’t remember anything because I was just a baby. I want to say it was symbolic being there, so close to where I was born but I felt just like anywhere else. The culture is quite strange and I had no clue how to do things like go from A to B! […]

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Almost gone… Almost gone….

Hi everybody!!! I’m still here! Did I ruin the anticipation of photos of exotic Bangkok? So sorry. I fly out of LAX on the 1st of March now. Next Tuesday!!! It’s really close and I have a lot to do. I need to shop for a few more items, finish 3 more sets of plans, sell all my stuff and store the rest in 5 days!!! Crazy huh? If you have some time you can devote to helping me please let me know I appreciate any help as it get’s nearer and nearer. Also I have a number of items […]

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Well It’s Official

Shock Well they say the trip starts when you get your ticket. I got mine yesterday!!! I was really excited about it. I got my ticket, got my second series of shots, sold my surfboard. Everything was fine until I got home tonight and I noticed my couches were gone. There was nothing wrong with that because I had sold them earlier in the day I just got present to that I am really doing this. I’m not sure the feeling I had at that moment; anxiety, loss, home sickness. HA and I haven’t even made it to the airport […]

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OUCH!!!! That hurts!

Well a little update for you all. I just got my immunization shots and boy it hurts not my arm but my bank account. I think the shots were more than what I’ll spend on my plane ticket!!! But rest assured I could lay on a bed of rusty nails while drinking untreated water from a mosquito infested swamp and not catch a thing. I actually believe I got the shots that make mosquitoes fly away when they see you walking down the street. So I have had to delay my flight a week to ensure my projects are totally […]

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The Mission at Hand

Dear Family, Friends, Collegues, Clients, You are receiving this email because you have been in my life to some extent, be it small or great. I would like to share this with you all, thank you for reading. I have been so moved by the devastation in the Indian Ocean that I want to go do my part for the people. I will be closing both of my businesses and leaving for Thailand to a place called Khao Lak where the damage was the greatest, and they are still looking for missing people. I will be going to help people […]

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