Muay Thai & Meetings

When someone takes you and two of your volunteer friends to a backwoods village in the middle of the north thai mountains and then takes you to a random house with about 8 or 9 teenage boys hanging around who stare at you upon arrival your first thought might be RUN!  I was no different.  It all seemed a bit shady.  Then you walk into the back yard... a mix of mud and scraggly grass and mosquitoes and you see an old punching bag hanging from a metal stand that was probably hung about 30 years ago.  One of the kids pulls out some familiar looking boxing pads and you breathe a slight breath of relief.  MAYBE they won't kill and rape you. 

This is over dramatic but somewhat grounded in reality.  Three american women hanging out with a bunch of guys that could obviously beat the crap out of us isn't the safest place in the world to be... unless they find you humorous.  And this they did.  Our trainer Ton looks to be in his forties (but probably is in his 50's because every thai I know looks about 10 years younger) and he thought us rather humorous as well.  At one point he teamed me up with one of those teenaged boys (who at one point said I was fat and I promptly flipped him off) and then let us go at it.  I had head gear, gloves, and a body sheild-- the kid had gloves... and kept laughing.  Humility, apparently, is necessary when training with 18 year olds who've been training since they could walk.  Ton got a little annoyed when I took a body shot-- apparently this wasn't allowed in this exercise... so he put on the gloves on and had a little fun with me.

Ton has a habit of puffing up his cheeks and making weird faces at his opponents.  It is distracting.  It is done on purpose.  And he was playing with me... the dude could have punched me a thousand times and I missed punching him just as much.  That guy could duck faster that any dude I occasionally was paired up with in the United States.  Regardless it was an adventure, it was fun, and my body is pleasantly sore because of it.  I will be going back today. Um.. and tomorrow.  And probably the next day too.

Note the old man in the background. He came out to watch the crazy American girls.

Today, before Muay Thai can happen, I will be surrounded by the wonders of Thai meetings.  We'll be going to the local village of Hoi Sai to talk to the villagers about their needs.  While most of the teenagers will be hanging out in their local spot I'll have a chance to talk to the parents and grandparents about how many teenagers they have-- to get an idea of the population of kids and how many may or may not need our services.  In the afternoon I'll be stopping by the local police station to suck up and see what services they'll provide (or how much they'll stay away from teenagers while we work with them). 

The teenagers in that area regularly congregate at a covered bus stop about 30 feet in front of the police station.  There both girls and boys (a big no in thai society) hang out together doing all sorts of sordid behavior from drinking and drugs to sexual stuff.  On days when they can't get loaded or they're bored of it they routinely use the police station's soccer feild and basketball court.  This has been going on for years and it stays that way because the parents are tired of dealing with them-- they don't want them in the village to begin with.  SO. My job is to get the police to let US use their courts and fields when we run our program since the same kids we'll be helping are using them already ANYWAY.  In order for them not to mess with the kids while they're in the program we'll throw them a huge BBQ with lots of whiskey and karaoke.

Is this a bribe?  Perhaps. But I'd like to refer to it more as a lovely gesture of our appreciation of their support of our program.  Welcome to the world of Thai politics ladies and gentlemen.  The best way to get things done in this country is through meat and whiskey and lots of it. Obviously.

Keep in mind that this is Thailand.  All of these meetings might happen.  But its possible that none of it will happen too.  Its possible all of it will happen and a few meetings will be squished in with it as well and its possible I won't even leave the office today.  I have learned the exercise of patience when it comes to meetings.  This is progress.