Whisky, www,hilltribes.org, and a snake

This morning I took a long walk in the park and then walked down the new village path. The path connects with other communities. I thought it went to the road, but I was wrong. As the path crossed the canal I met three men, they asked me if I wanted whisky. "Yo Whisky, Whisky in Thailand" laughter. I declined, I am an alcoholic. I have not had any alcohol to drink in over 20 years, alcohol still scares me. In Alaska if I ran into a group of people who were drinking I would be scared, in Thailand I was not. I am not sure why. Also I do not think that the incidence of Alcohol related suicide is like Alaska. Meth-amphetamine is a whole other thing and is devastating to peoples core values the way that alcohol can destroy a persons self-image in Alaska. Anyway. I have many places to explore.

One of our friends drinks 100 Pipers Whisky. There is a whisky glass in his house, on one side it says Friend, on the other "You know who your friends are" When I used to drink alcohol took the place of friendship. A glass like that is a pretty blatant message equating alcohol consumption and friendship, at least it seems like that to me.

In the late afternoon we went to Phra Pradaeng. There was a boat race on the river, large long boats were being rowed very quickly, maybe 14 people to a boat. There was a very enthusiastic announcer. When we went into town to go shopping the race was being broadcast on loudspeakers. Dropped off 11 rolls of film and a CD of pictures to be made. Also picked up another pack of Fuji 400 film. The film and prints should be ready for tomorrow.

Jit got some mattress covers, she already has the packing. Jit's aunt will help her make mattresses for Tone. We also picked up a lot of fruit and vegetables. The road back was fine, the broken poles from yesterday were all cleaned up.

The water was very high today, it was over the path to Jit's old house. A snake came across the path to out house, it was a green snake, not poisonous, but it was another experience.

A phone conversation with John Morris

I called John Morris this morning, we had an excellent conversation, about culture, cultural preservation, processes of cultural change and the similarities and differences between Alaska and the Hill Tribes of Thailand. He described teaching people to use the computers, starting with MSN Messenger, and then letting curiosity lead people to other computer skills including web publishing. We talked about the forces of cultural assimilation and the deep lose to human knowledge and experience when a language is lost. John was aware of the Eyak experience in Alaska.

For me, our brief conversation confirmed my hypothesis that the internet is the key technology that will motivate people to use technology, it is not computers. If there is excellent internet access then affordable computers becomes important, but affordable computers, without the internet is not a motivating technology.

Next Wednesday or Thursday John will be in Bangkok. He is on his way to Kentucky for a visit. I am looking forward to our visit. We have many experiences and beliefs in common. It was an excellent conversation hopefully to be continued.

To see the work the John accomplished visit the Virtual Hill Tribe Museum visit http://www.hilltribe.org/. I would recommend that anybody who is interested in rural Alaska visit and explore this web site in depth. There are many projects and activities that we could emulate in Alaska. There are many common experiences and problems shared between the Hill Tribes of Thailand and the Alaska Native cultures of Alaska. A highly recommended web site.