Me with the flash silver bike

This is Omnoi's favorite bike for obvious reasons!

The race for the King's birthday

One of the biggest events in Phu Khieo is the race for the King’s birthday in December. For the rangers, this serves as a physical examination, and to “pass” they must run the 10 kilometer race in under an hour. For rangers under 25 years old, this time is cut to half! The men’s race starts from the monument to four fallen rangers who were killed by poachers in the 1970’s, and finishes in Tung Ka Mang. For the women, there is a ~5K race which starts at one of the bridges between the monument and Tung Ka Mang. If the time limit and tropical weather were not big enough challenges, you also have to consider that Tung Ka Mang is on a plateau, so the race is also uphill! Between 200 and 300 people will gather in Tung Ka Mang, and as it is the social event of the year, there is a big party that evening and everyone has the next day off work. Seeing as it is probably one of the biggest cultural events in the area, I have started training for the women’s race (yes, you did read that right, I have started to train for a footrace). Carola will run, as will Ba Thong (our cook), in addition to other women from Tung Ka Mang. Right now I can’t go very fast or very far but I’ll keep you updated with my progress- by the time Carola comes back we will have the boys drive us out to the starting line and will run home!

Questions from Gram

As you may or may not know, my grandma in Cleveland is following my blog. She has no desire to email but she did see my request for questions from blog readers so here are the questions and my replies!

Q. How many live where you do and who are they?

A. I think Tung Ka Mang is one of the largest outposts in PKWS, and I also think I was told around 100 Thais live here (though more rangers live all over the sanctuary at other outposts). Most of the Thais that live here are male rangers. Since PKWS is a wildlife sanctuary, it is important to protect the plants and animals in the area. Rangers patrol to look for evidence of poaching and to apprehend poachers when they are found, and go out in groups for about a week at the time (living in the forest and patrolling). Khun Kitti recently showed us the new hammocks that the rangers will use for sleeping when they are on patrol- they come with a built-in mosquito net! Some of the rangers have their families here, but many do not because it is a privilege for rangers who have worked here the longest. Some Thais here do research on local wildlife like hog deer, or are research assistants for Team Macaque. Khun Kitti is one of six assistants to the chief, but I am not sure if the other assistants live in Tung Ka Mang or not.

Q. You spoke of Richard in Bangkok. Is he in your group?

A. Yes. I am one of three field assistants for Team Langur; the other two are Richard (from England; picture of us in the longtail boat) and Zach (from the US; picture of us with umbrellas). The Thai rangers on our team are Omnoi and Chet, and the project is run by Carola and Andreas, the two professors from SUNY Stonybrook in the States.

Q. Are there bugs all the time or can you use your hammock? Does repellant work- some better than others?

A. There are bugs all of the time but I still do use my hammock- it is not enough deterrent not to! In the field we use a 20% DEET spray called Sketolene which works, but not for the 7 hours it promises. The flying/biting insects have been pretty bad lately because of all the rain. The insects at Baan Ling aren’t too bad most days, though there are large bees that are attracted to our food and a peculiar-looking flying insect that bites. Leeches are more of an issue- we kill all that we find at Baan Ling but they still breed out by the generator and the firepit where we burn our toilet paper. So far I have just always put on leech socks when I head out that way, though I am the only one who does this. Once the dry season comes the leeches will be less bad but the ticks will be back in full force. We also have ant and termite problems around Baan Ling, though in many instances (i.e. if they are not in the rooms, kitchen, office, or lab) we can let them go on their way without spraying for them.

Shoutout to Superbio Spring ’08

Last spring I had the pleasure of taking Behavioral and Physiological Ecology, a.k.a. “Superbio” at Colby. One of our lecture topics was climate change and its effects on behavior and physiology, and it came out that under some climate change scenarios, feral Burmese pythons could extend their range from the Southeast (they are illegally “released” into the Florida Everglades when they get to be to big as pets) up the coast to New England. And all of us thought of how crazy this would be, and then I realized they are called “Burmese” pythons because they are native to Burma . . . and Thailand. And then we all thought it would be really funny for me to see one in the wild. Tick that one off the list- this 2 meter python was spotted between Baan Ling and Baan Sip (House #10, where the farangs of Team Macaque live) last night! Just another good reason to carry a flashlight at night . . .

The second Bangkok adventure

We all took four days off to take Carola to Bangkok for her flight home and for a little R&R for ourselves. The drive down was an adventure in itself- it is monsoon season and the heavy rains can cause flooding on the roads. Luckily our Toyota Hilux has great 4WD and made it though multiple feet of standing water without protest. It’s about 8 or 9 hours from PKWS to Bangkok, and the rain didn’t help our situation but we all made it ok eventually. After dropping Carola and the truck off at her hotel we headed across town for some budget accommodation in the backpacker’s area.
Khao San Road is the center of the backpacker’s district in BKK. There are tons of hostels, used book stores, clothing stores, street food, travel agents, bars, nightlife, etc. that cater to backpacker’s needs. We were looking specifically for a cheap place to sleep and some help planning a day trip, but we were also pleased for the opportunity to eat Western food! Khao San Road does not paint an accurate picture of Thailand, but it is worth a visit, especially if you have been in the forest for some time. We really liked the area where we stayed and will return there in a few months when we go back to Bangkok to renew our visas.
The first night we headed to the Indian quarter on a recommendation for a great restaurant. The Royal India turned out to be one of the best places I have eaten in Thailand and definitely the best Indian food I have ever had. Any of you who are planning on visiting me can look forward to going there! It doesn’t look like much from the outside (the directions were literally “turn down the side street so narrow you couldn’t get a car down there”) but the inside and food make up for it. It has won a bunch of awards and they make their own confectionary on site. Mmmm.
The next morning we got up early for a day trip to Ayutthaya (Aye-you-tee-ya), the “mueng gao” (old city). Ayutthaya once was the capital of Thailand, but it was sacked by the Burmese 400-500 years ago, at which time Bangkok became the capital. We hopped on a local bus but then hired a woman with a longboat to give us a tour. Most of the wats (temples) are on an island, and there are few bridges across to the one’s that aren’t, so a boat is a good means of transportation. There had been a lot of flooding in Ayutthaya too so we couldn’t see all of the places we wanted to but it was great to be on the river taking everything in.
Wat Phra Si Sanipet was probably my favorite. It reminded me of walking through Roman ruins when we were on tour with Chorale in Italy, except there were all sorts of crumbling Buddha images and chedis. Ayutthaya is still a working city, so these ruins are dotted through commercial areas. Wat Phra Ram was also really pretty- it looks over a lake filled with lotus plants and the green grass makes a nice contrast with the red brick ruins. Even though it rained a bunch we made the most of our day and returned to Bangkok to bum around on Khao San Road.
The boys slept in the next day but I got up early and headed over to the National Museum. Tours are given in multiple foreign languages on a regular basis, and it was a great opportunity for me to learn more about Thai culture from an English-speaking guide. The National Museum contains treasures from Thailand but also the rest of Asia as well, and is the largest museum in Southeast Asia and the second-largest museum in Asia. Photos weren’t permitted but I’ll try to describe one of my favorite artifacts.
When Buddha was alive, he requested that his followers not make images of him in order to remember his teaching. Granted, this request has not been followed judging by the prevalence and prominence of Buddha images in Thailand, but other images have been used to represent Buddha as well. My favorite piece at the National Museum is one of these images- a wheel of law/knowledge. This stone wheel in particular is about 1 m in diameter and has been weathered more in some places than others and thus is an abstract black and white design from a distance. How it was found is an interesting story.
A member of the royalty or another powerful person (I can’t remember which) once was in a market where a man was selling a crouching deer statue. This type of deer statue always accompanies a wheel of law, reminding worshippers that on the first day that Buddha gave a sermon, even the deer stopped to listen. Seeing this large deer statue, the royal asked where the wheel was, but the seller had no idea and said there was no wheel but that he had found the deer on his farm. The royal offered to buy the man’s farm on the spot, provided that the man show where he had found the deer. Sure enough, a few feet underground was this large, detailed, and beautiful wheel of law.
In the afternoon I met back up with Zach and Rich at Wat Pho for Thai massages. Wat Pho is the site of the reclining Buddha, but also the place where Thai massage was founded and continues to be taught today. Unlike Swedish/oil massage, Thai massage is performed with the clothes on and in a public area. The masseurs use their entire body to bend and press yours in a way that both stretches and relaxes your muscles. We all agreed it was a great way to spend the afternoon!
The next morning we headed across town to pick up the truck and drive back to Tung Ka Mang. Navigating Bangkok in the morning wasn’t too bad and after 9 hours in the car, a stop for groceries and some last Western food (yep, they have KFC and DQ here) we were driving back into the sanctuary and mentally preparing to run the project on our own until Carola returns in November.

Pics from Carabao

Rich took these the night we went to see Carabao. One is Zach with two Thais making the Carabao sign, the other is all of us at the table (left to right: Miranda, Me, Zach, Rich, Sebastian).

Khun Kitti’s rice field

Khun Kitti now has a rice paddy near Khon San, about an hour outside of Tung Ka Mang. Some of Team Macaque and Team Langur took an adventure there last week. It is more than a little off the beaten track and it put the four wheel drive vehicles to the test (See the picture of Rich and the macaque mobile- too bad it had just been washed!). Khun Kitti, Sebastian and I opted for bare feet for our tour but Carola and Rich had a great time in their wellington boots. Khun Kitti has built a small, open-air pavilion where we sat and enjoyed the sunset despite the rain. He has also dug two swimming holes and has other plans for the site. We’ve made plans to go back for the rice harvest in a few months so I’ll post more pictures then!