UNEXPECTED VACATION TO CHIANG MAI
A recent outbreak of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease at my school caused us to close down for 4 days. When the announcement was made last period on Thursday all the kids went wild and I went out and bought a ticket for the next overnight train to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is the biggest town in Northern Thailand, gateway to all kinds of outdoor adventures, and I hadn’t been there yet!
My top bunk on the train turned out to be more like the overhead storage compartment on an airplane – it even folded up and out of the way when not in use.
My top bunk on the train turned out to be more like the overhead storage compartment on an airplane – it even folded up and out of the way when not in use.
On Saturday I explored the city – visited a large beautiful Wat where an “off duty police officer” tried to con me into getting all of my clothes made at a really good tailor down the road – “on sale for the rest of your life if you go today!”
Chiang Mai is a very touristy city – definitely on the banana pancake trail. I even had a banana pancake! On Sunday I rented a $5 motorcycle and headed up the mountain to check out the famous temple perched on top - Doi Suthep Wat. Very beautiful, very golden – visited by hordes of Buddhists touting chrysanthemum flowers and incense. The view would have been beautiful if the smoke from extensive fires in Myanamar hadn’t blown over and filled the area.
I continued farther up the mountain to Doi Pui National Park and found myself very quickly in solitude (which felt so good – you are never very alone in Bangkok…). I went for a long hike to the peak of Doi Pui, through a beautiful pine forest. I continued wandering (no such thing as trail markers or maps) and found myself walking along a very narrow ridge with steep sides dropping down into two valleys far below.
Through the smoky air I occasionally caught glimpses to minority Northern Thai villages in both valleys. A very surreal spot. The path eventually went down down down into one of the valleys, but I never figured out where it was headed.
On Monday I hopped the local bus to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center just north of Lampang. It is the only center in Asia which rehabilitates elephants for free from anywhere in Thailand and allows them to live in the refuge for the rest of their lives (many live to be over 70). 
I was thoroughly impressed. 15 elephants were being treated in the hospital from a variety of ailments – a landmine victim, an elephant with a toilet-bowl sized tumor on his leg from a gunshot wound, a few with diseases, and most with general malnutrition from negligent owners.
This elephant has a drip bag…they care for broken legs - nobody gets “put down” here for broken bones – tusk infections, expectant mothers.
Indeed, I saw the first artificially inseminated elephant baby, just 7 days old! He weighed 100 kg at birth and could walk within hours!
There is also a “show” component of the center where the elephants demonstrate their talents moving and stacking logs, playing musical instruments, and painting. A very neat place, considering that most elephant shows are like circus acts with the elephants doing degrading things to make money for their mahouts (owners). 
Elephants are very sacred animals in Thailand and have been used for centuries to log forests and construct roads. Since logging has decreased dramatically in Thailand, many of the elephants and their mahouts are out of work. Many mahouts (who spend their whole lives caring for one elephant) can no longer feed or care for their animals and turn to abusive elephant shows or roaming around big cities looking for handouts.
Elephants are very sacred animals in Thailand and have been used for centuries to log forests and construct roads. Since logging has decreased dramatically in Thailand, many of the elephants and their mahouts are out of work. Many mahouts (who spend their whole lives caring for one elephant) can no longer feed or care for their animals and turn to abusive elephant shows or roaming around big cities looking for handouts.
There is a big drive to put these highly-trained elephants back to work as part of the eco-tourism industry. This center is a major player in the preservation of this endangered species. They also use all that elephant poop to make biogas and paper – pretty efficient!
ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY IN THE ANDAMAN SEA
At the end of February I was invited to help design a long-term post-tsunami revegetation survey on a tiny island in the Andaman Sea. I flew down to Phuket with Bryan, the owner of a really great outdoor education program up near Chiang Rai (he is setting up a satellite center on this island), and Adrian, a fellow biology teacher from Bangkok Patana. After a 2 hour car ride north and a 45 minute deafening longtail boat trip, we reached Ko Phra Tong – a tiny island which was devastated by the Tsunami. Houses were demolished, trees were uprooted, one woman was carried 1 km on the wave and dropped down…on TOP of a 5’X10’ water tower 30’ in the air! While the people who survived this tragedy may never recover, the vegetation is quickly gaining ground – primary succession species grabbing hold and filling in... We spent the long weekend eating excellent Thai food, swimming on the all-but-deserted beach, snorkeling on the tsunami-destroyed reef and tromping around the beach and forest brainstorming fieldwork areas for the students who will be coming to the center.
Adrian spent many years teaching biology in Phuket and new the names of most of the beach vegetation – so Bryan and I did a lot of learning while exploring. It was interesting to compare Ko Phra Tong island biogeography to Isle Royale/Slate island biogeography (Dr. Rebertus – once again, you are an amazing teacher!)
ISLAND BIOGEOGRAPHY IN THE ANDAMAN SEA
At the end of February I was invited to help design a long-term post-tsunami revegetation survey on a tiny island in the Andaman Sea. I flew down to Phuket with Bryan, the owner of a really great outdoor education program up near Chiang Rai (he is setting up a satellite center on this island), and Adrian, a fellow biology teacher from Bangkok Patana. After a 2 hour car ride north and a 45 minute deafening longtail boat trip, we reached Ko Phra Tong – a tiny island which was devastated by the Tsunami. Houses were demolished, trees were uprooted, one woman was carried 1 km on the wave and dropped down…on TOP of a 5’X10’ water tower 30’ in the air! While the people who survived this tragedy may never recover, the vegetation is quickly gaining ground – primary succession species grabbing hold and filling in... We spent the long weekend eating excellent Thai food, swimming on the all-but-deserted beach, snorkeling on the tsunami-destroyed reef and tromping around the beach and forest brainstorming fieldwork areas for the students who will be coming to the center.
Adrian spent many years teaching biology in Phuket and new the names of most of the beach vegetation – so Bryan and I did a lot of learning while exploring. It was interesting to compare Ko Phra Tong island biogeography to Isle Royale/Slate island biogeography (Dr. Rebertus – once again, you are an amazing teacher!)
