Recently, I traveled to Thailand and visited a refugee camp on the border between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar). Here is a photo journey through the camp.
Driving on the Death Highway en route to Umphium, you pass through verdant and lush mist-shrouded hills.
Umphium is a spread of thick thatched huts, sprawling, sitting back, waiting.
Framed by plants, a view into the infinite.
Students in the English Immersion Program (blog to come) sing a song.
A family sits in their hut, quietly watching us pass by.
Instead of asphalt and brick, Umphium’s alleys are paved with mud and lined with thatch.
An Umphium debutante passes by, beautiful in her dress and holding an umbrella to ward off the rain.
A young boy squats, voiding himself while looking on the valley below.
A classroom of high school students looks at us demurely as we snap their photo.
The refugee camp is sloppily spread onto the land, peanut butter to the hill’s bread.
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Lovely!
Awesome photos!
Yep, it was quite an experience. The mud, the huts, the people…the seriousness yet utter silliness of their situation. And to think there’s other Burmese refugee camps larger than this one. Thanks for sharing these with others, Bobby!
Powerful. Sad. Holy.
~ LaRonda
More “permanent” than I imagined from reading your account. I wonder about the kids… probably many of them were born there. Is that the only life they’ve known?
A difficult situation in a beautiful place. I look forward to your blog about refugees learning English.
Beautiful pictures, Bobby. My wife just flew back home yesterday to Thailand (Bangkok) for another three weeks with our daughter as there is a family emergency back home that she needs to deal with. I wish I could have gone with her as I love Thailand’s beauty. I can’t wait to go back there as I love the serenity and beauty Thailand offers. In fact, I enjoy going to the family’s mountain cabin as I can see the valley below. During the summers, I enjoy going to the beach house on the beach with its awesome breezes and calm seas which relaxes me much more than I can here!
Thanks for posting it!
Bobby, you described the last photo in Peanut Butter (PB) terms. On an empty stomach, all I can think about is crunchy PB now.
Great photoblog!
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for giving us a peek into a different world and allowing us to see what you saw.
Fascinating.