It's a Chopper, Baby!

Well, I've done it. I have officially entered Thai society (albeit a touch prematurely-- don't have that visa yet) by buying my own moped. Yes, it's used and it may be as old as I am, but it's mine. His name is Chopper (I was going to name him Zed but then realized that no one would get it and I would just be dating my self for those who would-- do you realize that Pulp Fiction is TEN years old?!?) and he's a 100cc Honda dream. Ugly as hell, but as they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the fact that I hold 'er makes Chops the most beautiful bike in Thailand. Here's our picture-- you'll notice that I chopped off my hair to complete the butch dyke biker look.

Other then that, things have been pretty quiet. Still have a slight hangover from my visa run in Mae Sot this weekend. There has been a lot of shady security stuff going on. For starters, there has been a ton of helicopters buzzing CLC. Kyaw says that he likes it when they are flying around because it means that they feel safe enough to fly-- if there is fighting, they don't show up. In Mae Sot, there was a lot of stuff going on. Mostly the NGO workers were being harassed because two "activist tourists" were protesting on the Myanmar-Thailand "Friendship" bridge (the bridge I cross to get my visa) and then vanished, causing the Thai authorities to do a door-to-door looking for tourists. This has wreaked havoc in the volunteer community of Thailand, and I am terrified that it might jeopardize my visa!

See, morons like this really mess things up for people that are trying to do real work. "Activist Tourists" (a group that I belonged to in my Palestine days) are my new public enemy #1. These are the people who show up in a hot spot for a week or two, take a few pictures, get arrested, and then go back bragging about what a hero they are (sound familiar, Dylan and Sarah?). As good as their intentions might be, they really just fuck things up for people who are trying to do real work in these countries, and make it harder for us to get in and out and extend our visas.

Finally, the other bizarre thing is the forest fires. Sorry, I don't have a picture but it seems that half the jungle in Thailand is on fire. The locals (most of which who live in bamboo huts that would go up like a matchstick) aren't very concerned about it. They seem to just shrug and nod when the fires are pointed out. Today there was a fire on the other side of the road. I don't think that they are set, I think that they are natural. And it isn't even the hot season yet! Thank God that I live in a brick house with a metal roof, although I am still pretty worried about the school and the people who sleep under the leaf roofs!