Thailand,
Chang May (Jan-Feb 2014)
December 2013 we returned to the Netherlands for 3 weeks during Christmas and New Year. It was wonderful to finally see our family and friends again, after 14 months on the road. Unfortunately, our stay was not long enough to squeeze sufficient quality time with everyone; we had to prepare for the 2014 season!
We received support from several veterinary clinics who donated supplies! And we would like to especially thank DAP Pietersberg (Oosterbeek,NL), DAP Batau/ De Meern (Nieuwegein,NL), DAP Wilhelminapark (Utrecht, NL), DAP Europaplein (Amsterdam, NL), DAP Stroowaert (Oud Beijerland, NL) and de Faculty of Veterinary Science (Utrecht, NL) for their generous donations!
The 3 weeks were gone before we knew it, and on the 14th of January we left for Thailand.
This was our second trip to Thailand and after 3 weeks of Dutch cold we were really looking forward to the warm climate, the friendly people (population of Thailand: about 66 milion people) and the food! Pad-Thai and Thai Green Curry are one of our favourite world dishes!
After a short stopover (eating Pad-Thai) we left Bangkok by train heading for Chiang Mai, a 700km train ride. Chiang Mai (which means 'laughing elephant' in Thai) is a famous stop for tourists visiting the northern part of Thailand. The area is famous for its jungle trails and elephants and the city is an important trading place for handcrafts like woodwork and silver. (You should definitely visit the blooming night market when you are there!) Walking through the old city centre gives you the feeling that you are in a little village but the old city of Chain Mai has been merged over time with districts on all sides. It now is a city of approximately 700.000 people, living in a 40km2 area!
In Chang Mai we were guests of an elephant sanctuary for 3 weeks. Apart from elephants they also took care of approximately 400 dogs rescued from the Bangkok floods in 2011. The plan was to help them taking care of the dogs and doing a spay/neuter program for the surrounding villages and in return they would train us in elephant vet care. However, when we arrived, their plans had changed; we were not allowed to work with the elephants, and because the manager had not prepared the village-project the only thing we could do was taking care of the sanctuary dogs. Luckily for us (not for the dogs) there was a lot going on and we were kept busy with bite accidents, sick animals caused by a variety of transmittable diseases, and behavioural issues. We showed the long term volunteers how to manage the dogs in groups; avoiding dominancy fights and other problems. Meanwhile we pushed the management to get the village outreach program started and after a week the first dogs came in for spay/neuter and other treatments!
The volunteers were amazing and the clinic and shelter ran smoothly. We got in touch with the elephant vets who allowed us to follow them during our time off and we met several interesting people who were volunteering with both the elephants and the shelter dogs!
In total we spend 3 weeks in the park and after a questionable start the village project was a success! At the end of the 3 weeks our board member Terry joined the team to go to Laos and we left for Chang Mai in the morning, after we neutered 4 more dogs.
December 2013 we returned to the Netherlands for 3 weeks during Christmas and New Year. It was wonderful to finally see our family and friends again, after 14 months on the road. Unfortunately, our stay was not long enough to squeeze sufficient quality time with everyone; we had to prepare for the 2014 season!
We received support from several veterinary clinics who donated supplies! And we would like to especially thank DAP Pietersberg (Oosterbeek,NL), DAP Batau/ De Meern (Nieuwegein,NL), DAP Wilhelminapark (Utrecht, NL), DAP Europaplein (Amsterdam, NL), DAP Stroowaert (Oud Beijerland, NL) and de Faculty of Veterinary Science (Utrecht, NL) for their generous donations!
The 3 weeks were gone before we knew it, and on the 14th of January we left for Thailand.
This was our second trip to Thailand and after 3 weeks of Dutch cold we were really looking forward to the warm climate, the friendly people (population of Thailand: about 66 milion people) and the food! Pad-Thai and Thai Green Curry are one of our favourite world dishes!
After a short stopover (eating Pad-Thai) we left Bangkok by train heading for Chiang Mai, a 700km train ride. Chiang Mai (which means 'laughing elephant' in Thai) is a famous stop for tourists visiting the northern part of Thailand. The area is famous for its jungle trails and elephants and the city is an important trading place for handcrafts like woodwork and silver. (You should definitely visit the blooming night market when you are there!) Walking through the old city centre gives you the feeling that you are in a little village but the old city of Chain Mai has been merged over time with districts on all sides. It now is a city of approximately 700.000 people, living in a 40km2 area!
In Chang Mai we were guests of an elephant sanctuary for 3 weeks. Apart from elephants they also took care of approximately 400 dogs rescued from the Bangkok floods in 2011. The plan was to help them taking care of the dogs and doing a spay/neuter program for the surrounding villages and in return they would train us in elephant vet care. However, when we arrived, their plans had changed; we were not allowed to work with the elephants, and because the manager had not prepared the village-project the only thing we could do was taking care of the sanctuary dogs. Luckily for us (not for the dogs) there was a lot going on and we were kept busy with bite accidents, sick animals caused by a variety of transmittable diseases, and behavioural issues. We showed the long term volunteers how to manage the dogs in groups; avoiding dominancy fights and other problems. Meanwhile we pushed the management to get the village outreach program started and after a week the first dogs came in for spay/neuter and other treatments!
The volunteers were amazing and the clinic and shelter ran smoothly. We got in touch with the elephant vets who allowed us to follow them during our time off and we met several interesting people who were volunteering with both the elephants and the shelter dogs!
In total we spend 3 weeks in the park and after a questionable start the village project was a success! At the end of the 3 weeks our board member Terry joined the team to go to Laos and we left for Chang Mai in the morning, after we neutered 4 more dogs.
