Jara

Jara (pronounced 'Yara') was born on 15th April 2007 (or 2550, BE).
It was Songkran public holidays (Thai New Year) and we decided to go on a little holiday in Hua Hin (200km south of Bangkok). I had been to the doc the day before departure and been given all-clear to go on holiday. Oh boy, how things turned out differently!
To be honest, we did make the decision to go to Hua Hin as it has hospitals where staff is likely to speak some English (Hua Hin is a major tourist destination in Thailand, especially popular among the expat community of Bangkok) and we had rented a car, 'just-in-case'. Of course never bothered to actually check out any hospitals or take any baby stuff with us.

So on the 15th, we were (like one does on holiday) hanging out by the pool, having a nice cup of coffee and a cheese cake, played some games, read some books... a very relaxing holiday! In the late afternoon on Sunday eve , we were walking down the streets of Hua Hin when around 5.30 pm I suddenly realise I am wetting my pants ... Only, I can't really stop it and slowly it dawns to me that it is more than just wetting my pants.
I tell Thorsten we better get this checked in the hospital... hmm, what hospital should we go to?


Decided to go to the Marriott Hotel and ask where they would send tourists for emergencies (hoping to get one of the better hospitals in town recommended). They send us to the (only) private hospital in Hua Hin.

After arriving at the hospital, the doctor initially wanted to examine me in a full and bussy ER room... I kindly refused. After examination (in a seperate examination room) the doctor decided that, yes, it had started, but it could still take anything from 6 to 20 hours before the baby is born. So can we still make it to Bangkok then? Yes, if you leave now now.
At that time, I wasn't really having real contractions yet, just some back ache. So we drive to the hotel (which was actually another 20 km south of Hua Hin) to pack and go. But... on the way, I suddenly got very, very strong contractions, very close to each other. I remember watching the clock in the car and realizing the contractions weren't spaced out as they had told me they would be (more like every minute rather than every 20 minutes!). I told Thorsten to go straight back to that hospital, I was sure I wouldn't make it to Bangkok.

And indeed, upon arrival at the hospital again (about 1.5h later) it became quite clear I would never have made it to Bangkok as by the time it was 10.07 pm, Jara was born (4.5 h after my waters broke).

It surely was a bit of an adventure as with the language barrier you're never really sure how much the person has understood of what you say.
In Bangkok, we had to sign up for a 'birth package' where you choose how you want to deliver (natural birth, natural birth with pain relief, Ceasarian section, etc) and it is well known that the number of C-sections are exeptionally high (especially in private hospitals). Often the woman chooses for an elective C-section but equally often, the doctor decides to do a C-section and you're never sure whether it's medically appropriate or whether it's for the doctor's convenience (faster, more money).
So when we got to the hospital in Hua Hin, we made it very clear from the beginning that we did not want a C-section unless things were going wrong. I had a bit of a scare when the doctor was examining my belly and said 'hm, the baby is very big' (which is a classic in Bangkok to do C-section).

But there was no need for our worries, the doctor was very nice and gentle and did respect our wishes (and spoke English!).

Although the hospital staff was kind, there were still things that disturbed us a bit and made us feel uncomfortable. Thorsten, for example, was initally constantly being guided away from me, out of the room. Until he made it quite clear that he was going to be IN the room the whole time. In Thailand, though, childbirth is a 'women thing'. Thai men do not assist their women; it's the woman's mother or/and sister that accompany them during this time. For me of course, I was having none of it!

Unfortunately some of the staff didn't speak any English at all (and our Thai isn't very good either), which led to some misunderstandings. For example, when I asked if I could come and learn when they were going to wash and dress Jara, the nurse said very politely 'wait a moment please' and the next thing I know, she comes back with Jara all nicely washed and dressed...

In the hospital, Jara got a 'goody bag' with some nappies and... 2(!) tins of formula milk. That really shocked us. Especially since I learned that most hospitals in Thailand are "baby friendly hospitals (BHF)" where 90% of the women exclusively breastfeeds their baby in the hospital. To qualify for a BFH the hospital has to comply with 10 steps, which include informing the mothers about the breastfeeding benefits and management, show mothers how to breastfeed, give newborns NO other food or drink other than breastmilk unless medically indicated, encourage breastfeeding on demand, help mother breastfeeding within a half-hour of birth etc.
In Hua Hin however, that was not the case. I had to insist right after birth to put Jara at my breast, and still then they took her away for washing, measuring etc. , nobody showed me how to breastfeed Jara and the nurses wanted to give Jara formula milk (since it as a free goody) from day 1. Luckely Jara stayed in my room so we could watch over her.

All in all, it was a good experience, the staff was nice and it showed us that however good you are prepared and set up to have your baby, it may not go as planned...

Now, almost 2 weeks later, we slowly slowly start to figure things out on our own (missed the prenatal classes, didn't have a clue on how to wash a newborn by the time we got home, etc...).
And as a friend of us said: you come home with the baby and there's no manual that comes with it... you have to figure it out on your own.

So that's what we do and it's a great experience!

Griet's trip to Uganda

My MPH (Masters in Public Health) is slowly slowly coming to an end. But before ending it, I have to do a research study in a related field. I am (as the majority of PH professionals) interested in the still growing HIV/AIDS problem, I have an undying love for Africa and have my parents currently living in Uganda... So it became quite fast pretty clear where I would do my research. The one thing that could have caused problems was my pregnancy... would it be to late for me to fly?

Well, I got back about a week ago and I have had an amazing time. Both on professional and personal accounts.

The topic of my research is male condom use among female in-school adolescents. Upon our arrival in Fort Portal, where we conducted the study, everything was organised. The local NGO I was working with had contacted all the schools, we could stay with colleagues of my dad and could use their car. The first day we did all the official visits to District Offices and Municipalities and the second day we could start collecting the data.

Already during the data collection and when going through the questionnaires later on, it became very clear there is a great lack of information and even more misconceptions on condom use, HIV transmission, reproductive health and so on. 18-19 years olds who ask about how their menstrual cycle works, 15-16 years olds who are worried about abstaining from sex because they've been told that if they abstain till 20 or older, they would have problems producing children. Cultural beliefs and misconceptions make the girls believe that using condoms will cause cancer, having sex while standing will prevent them from becoming pregnant or that they can get their virginity back by taking some herbs. Others were told that if they have sex as a virgin, they cannot get HIV nor pregnant.
About 40% doesn't know that mosquito's do not transmit HIV and only less than half knows you cannot get HIV through kissing. About 23% (nearly 1/4th!) believes that semen does not transmit HIV.
A girl asked me "I went for HIV testing 3 times. The first 2 times they told me I was negative, the last time they said I was positive. What does that mean?"

Another major problem in the society are schoolfees. Although president Museveni implemented the Universal Secondary Education (USE) while we were there, still a lot of the students we worked with had paid their schoolfees as the school year had started before the launch of the USE (provision of free secondary education). Because of the risk of rape on the way to and from school, a lot of famlies want to send their girls to boarding schools, which in return are more expensive. Often girls are promised 'gifts' or their schoolfees paid in exchange of sexual intercourse. These men are often a lot older and their HIV status is not known. The girls have no power to deny sex without condoms as they would not get their 'gifts' or schoolfees paid.
One girl asked me "there is a man who wants to have sex with me but he is infected, how can I be protected?"
And I can go on like this forever!

Apart from the research, I also had the opportunity to spend some time with my parents, which was very valuable. We did a lot of talking and catching up on each other lives as well as visiting some nice places like Queen Elisabeth National Park and the Crater Lakes near the Rwenzori mountains.












As the time drew closer for me to leave for Bangkok, I must say, I did get a bit anxious about the flight. Although I did have a medical certificate that it was safe for me to fly, Ethiopian Airlines does have the habit of refusing pregnant women beyond 6 months on the plane. But luckely this did not happen.

Back in Bangkok, I needed to adjust to the overwhelming heat and concrete jungle of roads and bridges. But it felt good to be back.

We wish you a Happy New Year 2007!

This year will be extremely exciting for us with lot's of changes. Griet will finish her Masters in Public Health in April, our baby will be born in May, we will marry in August and then go off on Honeymoon probably September or October.

We wish you all a very exciting year too and hope you stay healthy, have something interesting to do and enjoy your life. Our thoughts are with you all and we hope seeing you all this year!

Griet and Thorsten

Our Year 2006

I remember telling to Griet that 2006 will be 'our' year. I don't know why I knew it but I had this gut-feeling and should be proven right. It was an excellent and exciting year and I thought I share some of our moments of 2006 with you.

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January

We had a a fabulous start into 2006 as we stayed with friends (Sophie, Sven, Rikke, Jenny and Derek) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We just had returned from Con Dao Island and enjoyed a couple of nice days in the city at their home. Next stop was Hanoi in the North where we met up with Nicole, my (Thorsten) sister. It was a nice coincidence Nicole had decided to fly over from Manila to visit Vietnam at the same time. So we had a little family reunion.

Mid January we went to Europe for a short visit to visit our families. On a short stopover in UK we visited some of our friends there and I surprised Griet with a ticket to a 'Cirque du Soleil' performance in the Royal Albert Hall in London. There we also decided that we know each other well enough to get married! However we decided also to take it easy with the wedding and postponed the ceremony to 2007.

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February

We had a couple of lovely visitors from UK at our place in Bangkok and so much enjoyed their company. Elaine, Jenny and Derek made our time so shortwhile with their presence and we loved having them around. Amazing how much we laughed and what fun we had.
For Thorsten it was also the month he got a new manager at work. After much time without any direct manager Mark's arrival was a welcome one. In the meantime he has proven himself a fantastic manager and working under him is a pleasure.

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March

Griet had a hard time during the last half year or so as she could not find a job in Bangkok. Unfortunately Thailand has a relatively strict labour market for foreigners and it is rather difficult finding jobs in the health sector. Luckily Griet came across an advertisement for a Masters in Public Health (MPH) offered by Mahidol University in Bangkok. She enrolled and started the pre-course in March. This course has catapulted her from a relative calme to an extremely busy live schedule. Since then her free weekends and evenings are of past memories and the words 'nothing to do' are history. In April 2007 she is expected to complete the course, something Griet is very much looking forward to.

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April

In April Thorsten took on a permanent position as Country Program Coordinator at RECOFTC, the organisation he had worked for as secondee of DFID. He has a two year contract and is glad he can work longer for the organisation as he really enjoy working with them. The decision to stay was however not easy. Bangkok is an exciting city but not if you are unemployed. Therefore we are both glad Griet enrolled for the Masters and is occupied with something that is of interest to her.

With a friend of ours - Tanu - we made a stunning jungle trek in the South of Thailand. That was so amazing that it is difficult to describe in words. We actually stayed in the middle of the forest in our own tents and mosquito nets and enjoyed the company of millions of bugs and other insects. We were accompanied by a couple of village boys who went out for hunting. They returned with our breakfast a couple of hours later: loads of Mountain Frogs. We have to say they tasted delicious. We also bumped into a group of Sak Gai - a nomadic tribe living in the dense forests of Southern Thailand and Malaysia. That was very surreal as their features resemble the ones of Africans far more than Thais. They were such lovely people living in and from the forest without any modern amenities. The only luxury was some local tobacco for the cigarettes. Very little is known about the Sak Gai and many Thais themsleve have never heard of them. Thailand has a range of different ethinc groups and tribes with the Aka, Karen and Mongs being the more known ones. Unfortunately the remaining native forests in Southern Thailand are declining and with that the livelihoods of the Sak Gai. More and more are forced to work in the rubber tree plantations as cheap labourer.



April is also the month of Songkran - Thai New Year! That is the time when everybody celebrates and trows water at each other. Especially in the North of Thailand this can get extremely crazy. We went to Chiang Rai and enjoyed the Songkran festivities there.

Songkran is the only time of the year when everybody in Thailand can really behave like crazy. Old and young gets their water guns and splashes the water around. It is great fun and is accompanied by loads of parties and celebrations in the evening. An extra 'treat' is to add some colour and ice to the water - even at 35°C that's a special feeling. The downside of the event is the excess of alcohol that is consumed and accidents caused by drunken drivers. The target of the Thai government was to keep the number of through accidents killed people under 450 (!) down from 600 (!!) a year before. We are speaking of 5 days only and trends in traffic death's are horrific in Thailand! We ourselves rented motorbikes but had to realize it is too dangerous! After Griet crashed on the road when she had a bucket of cold water mixed with soap thrown in her face, we decided to give it up and returned the bikes.

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May

We went for vacation to Koh Chang, an Island near the Cambodian border. Unfortunately we managed to pick the only week with solid rain in the whole season which left us no choice but to explore all coffee shops on the island and play many, many times Rummicub. Nevertheless it was beautiful and good for both of us to get out of the 'City of the Angels' - The official name of Bangkok. May was also the month we finally bought our own Vespa! Now we are exploring Bangkok on our own two wheels and enjoy the freedom. Even though Bangkok is somewhat lunatic if it comes to traffic, one has to adapt and adjust to the Thai driving style.

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June

What else can we add than the King's celebrations. King Bhumibol (or King Rama 9) has been on the throne for 60 years, the longest reigning king in the world. And when Thai people say they are going to celebrate it, they mean it! We had 2 extra public holidays, which were packed with celebrations and activities all over Bangkok.
The King gave a speech which was attended by milions of people. One of the most remarkeble things during this times was the colour yellow... In Thailand every day of the week has a colour. Now, the King is born on a Monday, which happens to be a yellow day hence yellow is an auspicious colour. Since June Thailand is yellow, where ever you look.



The draw back though is that people 'have to' wear a yellow T-shirt on Monday, especially if they are working for the government. If you're not wearing one, you do not love our king... And that's the worst one can do in Thailand. Hence every Monday for the whole year, it's like a walking field of daffodils. In the streets, on the skytrain, in offices, even in Griet's university, the professors wear yellow T-shirts every day of the week...
To join the celebrations, royalties from around the world were invited to join the King's celebrations and to watch the famous royal barges on the Chao Phraya River. We did not make it to the river, but had a much better view on big screen in town centre. It was beautiful!

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July
In July, not much happened worth mentioning. Thorsten went to work and Griet went to Uni. We did go away for a long weekend with Tanu (our friend from the jungle) to Trat, in the South East of Thailand. It wasn't as spectacular as our trip to the jungle, but still a very nice break from Bangkok.

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August
We were honored by a visit from Belgium, Griet's cousin Lore came over for a couple of weeks with her boyfriend Roeland. As ususal, we act as local travel agents and give advice and recommendations where to go.
The university also organised a trip for the MPH students to Ayuthaya. We had been there before in 2005, but it was quite an experience going on an 'asian' tourist trip. It was very well organised (we're not used to that, when we travel, it usually isn't organised at all...) but it was also 'in the bus -out of the bus - visit temple, take pictures - in the bus - up to the next temple - out of the bus etc. It was nice to see our friends and students in a different setting and go out with them in the evening for a drink - although the majority preferred to stay in the hotel singing Karaoke, we did manage to go out with a few. And it gave Thorsten the chance to meet some of Griet's classmates and get them to know better. It's a very nice and mixed group of people from countries like Myanmar, Bhutan, Tibet, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal etc. It gives us the opportunity to learn more about these countries and only have made our passion for travelling bigger... now we have so many more countries we have to go and visit!!

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September

The big headline of the month was the Coup d'etat that took place on 19 September. Political problems were mounting in Thailand as the Government of Prime Minister Thaksin was accused of corruption, nepetism and fraud. Speculation of an overthrow of the Government was widespread however reality took us all by surprise. The coup was bloodless and resembled a festival more than anything else. Nevertheless it was scary to see tanks and armoured vehicles at major junctions and at our Universities. I could not help myself but tried to see it with my own eyes to take some shots. See for yourself.

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October

End of September and beginning of October Griet had a 2 week semester break so we spent some time in Europe to visit parents, grand parents and friends. Unfortunately the time was again too short to catch up will all of our friends but we both had a very good time. During our trip to Belgium and Germany we also announced our pregnancy! Yep, we are expecting a baby and are looking forward to receive a little family member in early May 2007!

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November



November was unspectacular but we enjoyed the beginning Xmas decorations in town. We spent a nice weekend out of town with some friends - Michael and Claire - and very much enjoyed their company. Again, we tried to see some places we haven't been before so went down the coast, south of Hua Hin, visited a small but beautiful national park with mangrove forests and 300 peaks with beautiful views over the coast line.

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December

The year flew by and we found ourselves celebrating New Year in Nan province in Northern Thailand. New Year's eve was a bit tempered when we heard about the bombings in Bangkok, but luckely nobody we knew was affected. Finally temperatures came down to the twenties and every body caught a cold and shivered at night. We are not used to temperatures below 30 degrees any more!
Nan province is absolutely lovely and we would love living there. So much nature and fantastic people (we got lost in the mountains and drove about 100 km in circles, but it didn't matter, it was just too beautiful). That is really a hidden treasure in Thailand. We spent a night in a hill tribe village but needed a bombfire and 5 blankets to keep us warm at night... Watching the sunrise in the early morning, with the dew on trees and grass is quite an experience when you're used to 30 degrees and more.

Amazing Nan

A couple of weeks ago Thorsten was on an amazing field trip to Nan Province in the North of Thailand. Together with a colleague of mine and colleagues from UNDP we visited some of their field sites in the remote area of Nan province. What we experienced there war truly magnificent. I would call the area up there as the hidden corner of Thailand, far away from all the beaten Tourist tracks. At times I felt like 25 years back. Already the city of Nan itself is of stunning beauty with some of the Wats dating back to the 5th century. But going into the countryside tops even that. In the valleys in and around Nan some 30 different tribes have found their homes. Most of the tribes originated from Laos and Yunnan province in South-West China, some 300 kilometers further North. This potpurri of tribes gives the area a very distinct beauty and atmosphere.
A highlight of our trip was our stay at the Bamboo Huts in Ban Toei. This Eco Tourism place is in the midst of a beautiful valley populated by the Lawa tribe. William the owner speakes perfect English and offers a number of fabulous treks in the surrounding area. Depending on the condition of the clients he offers 1 to 3 day treks of various difficulty. His wife and two sons are good fun and the whole area is of extreme beauty.
The downside? There isn't really any exept that it is basic and one should not expect Luxury, but everything is very clean, food is super delicious and the whole place is well managed. The price is absolutely competetive and one is inclined to top the bill up. William owns a mobile phone but reception is poor, thus most times he cannot be contacted. However, there is actually no need to book in advance as he has a number of huts and if these are full he can arrange for rooms in the village.
Ban Toei is in between Pua and Doi Puhka National Park in the midst of the mountains. The place is signposted but without own transportation difficult to reach. For people who want to escape the city to relax and be closer to real nature, that's the place to be!

A saturday night in the Bangkok Red Light district

Hi all!!
Sorry it's been so long but lots of things have been going on here hence little time to write...

However, we did manage a trip down to Patpong the other day, one of the famous red light districts in Bangkok.
As you all know (or not know) Bangkok is quite famous for it's sex industry. And contradictory to what most people think, it is mainly catering for the Asian population. Only about 10% of the clients come from the West. So we wanted to see with our own eyes what the fuss is all about.
Chris, a friend of mine from Uni, is doing his research on street based sexworkers. Not the people working in massage parlors or bars. We thought he might be the right guy to introduce us to Patpong...
As soon as you arrive in Patpong, you get bombared by people who want you to come into their club to watch 'ping pong shows' or 'banana shows'. I'll leave it up to your imagination what would be on show... Anyway, Chris led us through skillfully and we ended up in a gogo bar. Life on the inside is quite different from life on the outside! First this: more than half of the girls and women are actually transsexuals. An experienced eye (like ours!) can make them out immediatly. However, there are lots of (drunk) men who will never find out they actually slept with a woman who was a man not so long ago. The girls that used to be man, often have much more bony features in their faces (unless they had operations there too). Other than that, there's not much difference! They look as feminine as the 'real' girls and often dance better and are more beautifull.

Once you enter (this is thorough observation and investigation!) someone in a tiny bikini will guide you to the bar, or a stool where you have full view of the bar. Behind the bar, girls are pole dancing in tiny bikini's on the stage. Not for long, maybe 5-7 minutes and then the scene changes. This continues throughout the evening. While the girls are on stage they try to catch your eye (I'm talking from the point of view of a single man - they very decently leave you alone when there's a women within your company) or you try to catch theirs. Once their dance is over, she'll come over and gently starts seducing you. Some just take the empty seat next to you and start talking. After some time (depends on the rush you are in, some guys took over an hour, others were gone in 10 minutes) you'll pay the 'mamasan' the barfine (my experienced eye saw it was 500THB - 12 Euro) and the girl will go and change. You'll then take her upstairs to a room or to your hotelroom. Obviously you'll have to pay the girl for her services on top of that.
Next to the girls on stage, there are hundreds of others parading around in the club trying to chat up men while they're waiting their turn to dance.

The mamasan is the owner/manager of the club, often a woman. 'Our' mamasan seemed very nice and even though we were obviously not in for bussiness she let us stay and watch as long as we wanted. Mamasans offer the girls protection and jobsecurity in exchange for the barfine.
Officially all the girls are 18 years or older, but we did see 1 or 2 that looked younger. Mind you, all asian girls look much younger than they are so she might as well have been 18.

As there is a closure time of 1 am in Thailand, a lot of bars close between 1 and 2. A lot of them have obtained 'licences' though to stay open all night or have hidden entrances for regular customers.

So, glad we could share that with you and when you're coming to Thailand next, we'll be able to guide you in the right direction to find the gogo bars!

Rainy Season

Finally it has started to rain again. Since July we should have had regular rains but most of the last couple of weeks was pretty dry and very hot and humid. Temperatures climed up to levels known otherwise only during the hot season. Not so yesterday. It seemed the sky had opened and all the water you can imagine poured down. We were having nice Indian dinner with a couple of friends when the rain started. Not thinking much we enjoyed lovely indian naan, dal and raita and had a good chat. Once we wanted to leave we had to realize the roads around the restaurant were all flooded. We felt like on an island surrounded by 30 cm deep brackish water (ironically enough next to the tallest building in Thailand). Thanks to the dirt of the water we could not see anything and wading through would have been too dangerous - where was the sewage canal again, the whole in the street...? Somehow we managed to take some detours and reached a spot where we could waive down a Taxi without being splashed on entirely. And yes our feet were still reasonably dry!!! Floods usually mean Taxi prices skyrocket and the bargaining is more like an auction where the highest bidder gets the Taxi. But luck was with us and we found a empty Taxi willing to take us.
We managed to climb into the Taxi with dry shoes just to realise too late that the Taxi was full of water as well!!! Thus all the effort of keeping dry shoes was useless as we had wet shoes (and feet) anyway. Well, that is one of the moments one remembers that Thailand is still developing.

Thorsten & Griet

bussy bussy bussy

It's no excuse, we know, but it's true. It's amazing how, when you're not working, you've got too much time and once you're bussy, there's no time at all...
Anyway.

July already! Time's flying. I have now officially been going to University for a month and I'm still enjoying it. Yes, there are lectures which don't seem to make any sense and we've got professors who don't know how to transfer their knowledge, but I guess that's nothing new.

We had an international day a couple of weeks ago and guess what... I was nominated for Miss International Day... Everyone was (supposed to be) dressed in his/her national or traditional outfit and as I haven't got one from Belgium, I decided to go Asian.

I had a Karen shirt (Karen is a local tribe in Myanmar) and a Laotian skirt. Obviously it did attract some attention.


Last month, we had some great celebrations in Thailand. King Rama IX (or King Bumibol) as reigned for 60 years and is the longest reigning king in the world. Reason enough to celebrate the Thai people decided. And celebrating they did!
There was lots of firework, nicely lit streets (it looked like Christmas!), activities happening around the Grand Palace, but the one thing everyone was waiting for, were the Royal Barges on the Chao Phraya river.

Because it would have been impossible to get close enough to the river, we went to watch the barges on a big screen.
Which gave us a much nicer and more detailed view than if we would have been at the river we found out later...

Because the king was born on a yellow day, yellow is an auspiscious colour (and the King's colour). So everyone was wearing yellow T-shirts.

So far, Thorsten and I have been able to resist the pressure to get a yellow T-shirt. It does have a bit of a negative taste aswell because now, every civil servant is expected (doesn't have to but...) to wear their yellow T-shirts to work on Mondays and Fridays to show they love the King. If they don't do it, they often get looked at 'you don't love our king?'.

But the best thing about the celebrations of the King were the empty streets!!!

It was so nice to be able to get around easily and fast.
The junction you see here is one of the bussiest junctions in Bangkok (with the skytrain running over it) and because of all the royalties from other countries they had closed major roads in Bangkok. You have to imagine this road is usually packed, absolutely packed with cars, busses, motorbikes and tuk tuk's.
It was quite a sight!



And other than this, nothing much as happened really. Except for the World Cup obviously and this is also being celebrated immensly in Thailand. Unfortunately not always for the best reasons... Betting is very big in Thailand and the World Cup is the opportunity to win (or loose) a lot of money.

That'll be it for today. Please keep writing and keep in touch!

Griet and Thorsten

Welcome to our Blog!

Dear Family and Friends! Welcome to our Blog!
Well, we are not sure how you will like the idea that we will post our experiences and stories on a blog format now, but we both had to realize it is difficult to keep up with you all on a regular basis via phone, letter or email as often we are out, travelling or simply do not feel in the mood to sit in front of a computer again (as we do most of the week for work or study).
Actually we feel this idea with a blog is fabulous as we now can share pictures, happenings and news with you all via the blog. Please enjoy the blog and let us know what you think!

Have a good time and cheers,

Griet and Thorsten