againstthegrain.blogs.com > Koh Lanta vs. The Tsunami

Tsunami Water Level
The Chocolate Bar
Tong's Internet Cafe
Woofers/Tweeters
Tong's Stereo
Thank You CD Case
Somnuk's Son
Steve from the NGO
Mr. Yabeh and Mr. Somnuk
Mr. Somnuk
Mr. Yabeh
Mr. Saksit
Mr. Saksit's Boat
Playing in the waterfall
Thai Cigarettes
Dinnertime
Tong at the ATM
Ice Cream Man
Ice Cream Sandwich Thai-Style
Andres
Tsunami Destruction
Tsunami Devastation
Thai Breakfast
Fiona After
Fiona Before

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Mr. Yabeh

Mr. Yabeh

Here's Mr. Yabeh with the government compensation forms he had to fill out. When we got there (four months after the tsunami), he had not seen so much as a single baht from the government. Wit said it was because "he didn't have the right friends".

After we gave them your donations everyone was sitting around talking (in Thai, of course), and Fiona and I were trying to understand as much as we could. Jaew would try to translate for us, but on-the-fly interpretation is difficult, to say the least.

At one point, Mr. Yabeh was talking, and I heard him say the word "government" followed by the word "corruption". Apparently the words have been taken directly from English. We all had a laugh when I said "America, same same" and made the motion of putting my hand out and then sticking it directly into my pocket.

Some things are the same all over the world.

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