Off to Ubon and Northeast Thailand!

The project I am researching is located in the Thai-Laos-Cambodia border area. The largest town in this region on the Thai side is Ubon Ratchathani with a population of about 100,000. I flew from Bangkok to Ubon (as it is called) on a quick one hour Air Asia flight. I think big airlines could learn from their efficiency, they had the plane completely boarded in less than 15 minutes - no joke, and no snacks - boo hoo!

Upon arriving in Ubon all I knew was the name of my hotel and the phone number of Dhan my contact at Ubon University. They don't really have taxis in Ubon, just people with cars who say they are taxis, or tuk tuks. But as the woman at the little travel kiosk gave me the nod it was OK to go with this particular driver so I agreed to the 80 baht fee to my home for 10 days - the Ratchathani Hotel. My taxi driver spoke a little English and showed me a pic of his 2 year old daughter and I think hoped to find a way to become my regular driver while I was in Ubon. Little did he know that even though I'm a farang (foreigner), I am a public transit gal.

The Hotel Ratchathani is apparently where many of the government folks stay when they come to town. My contact Dhan reserved it for me at 600 baht per night (about $15). I might have found cheaper but it was convenient and safe, had a good breakfast, as well as two movie channels, mainly in English, what a treat!

The region is known for weaving both clothing and baskets so there were many such shops in town. And as the town is on the Mun River (which later intersects with the Mekong) there is also a lot of fish in the local cuisine. The area is also know for its plethora of Buddhist temples and monestaries including the International Temple which I later found out is tangentally related to my research due to their conservation activities and the initiatives of a Canadian abbot who lived there many years.

The area also produces some of the best Thai boxers. Thai boxing is a sport unlike any other and while I didn't go to a match (didn't have the stomach or the cash for it) I met a woman, yes a woman, an Aussie woman training to be a Thai boxer who gave me a lot of details of the sport. She said the boys start around 8 or 9 years old and that in Ubon most of the trainees were Thai but there were also a few Japanese boys. Once she moves to Bangkok she will be able to get about 5,000 baht per fight (about $120-130). It combines punching with kicking and seems overall like a pretty bloody spectacle.

My first night in Ubon I was a little nervous to venture too far from the hotel so I went to the place next door and due to my basic Thai (thanks to my Thai colleague Pop in Tokyo) I was able to get a veggie stirfry with rice. At the restaurant a guy called over to me in English - a big surprise - and asked me to join him and his wife for dinner. Sadish (the husband) is Thai but of Indian descent and spoke perfect English. He publishes travel magazines for foreign business people travelling to Thailand and was there with his wife on a charity project to give blankets to people in Ubon. They were even on the local TV news that was being shown at the restaurant. Sadish insisted on paying for my meal and gave me a slick little pen he had just bought over the border into Cambodia. He had grown up in the region until he was in college so I figure this was my first taste of the famous Ubon hospitality I had read about.