From Tiffany Schauer, June 30, 2008:
"I have just traveled to Mae Sot, Thailand to visit the Burmese Refugee Camps and outlying projects serving the refugee communities. My guide for my visit was Ka Hsaw Wa, Co-founder and Co-Director of Earthrights International, and Karen ethnic member of the Burmese nationality. Ka Hsaw Wa was the recipient of the 1999 Goldman Envionmental Prize, the 1999 Reebok Human Rights Award, and the 2004 Sting and Trudie Styler Award for Human Rights and the Environment. To me, Ka Hsaw Wa is our modern day Ghandi. Ka Hsaw Wa and his wife, Katie, are the subject of a recent documentary, Total Denial, about their human rights work in Burma. (Read a NY Times review.)
On our road trip from Chiang Mai to Mae Sot, I was also accompanied by Ka Hsaw Wa's fellow Karen tribe members, Trayla and China. The drive is approximately four hours. There is opportunity on the drive to visit some interesting sites including the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre and the Thung Kwian Market. The market has an excellent fried bug section. Back in the car, Trayla was chomping on the biggest bug I ever saw :). I did eat a small worm to feel part of the pack. Apparently, you can also fly from Bangkok to Mae Sot via flights available twice a week. The drive is an adventure and worth the effort.
Slightly beyond Mae Sot, I also made a quick visit to the Highland Farm and Gibbon Sanctuary. www.highland-farm.org. Also refugees, the gibbons and monkeys at this sanctuary have been rescued from deforestation, hunters, abusive lives in captivity, including zoos, and pet owner abandonment. You can not only visit this site, but you can stay for three days to several months as a volunteer learning about these exquisite animals and helping to provide their daily care and feeding. The sanctuary is in constant need of financial support--you can make a difference by donating at the website. I think visiting this site with a child would be profound.