Mango Nicky Rice

Mae means “mother” but in a glorified sense. It can also mean “near the River.” So far, I haven’t found anyone who can tell me what Sot means.  I also discovered that, in addition to being a known area for refugees and migrant/displaced people, the region is notorious for: Gems Narcotics Teak wood  At least I can enjoy the teak haha. So much for the other two.  I was here 7.5 years ago, and there wasn’t much here. The Tesco (Walmart/HEB/Hannaford/H-mart) here was the most modern place in town. There was a little food court and some make-up stores.  Now, it also hosts a Dunkin Donut, Dairy Queen, pizza joint, Watson’s drugstore. And in the grocery section you can find QUINOA chips, Mission brand tortillas, Greek yogurt, Cheetos, pre-sliced bacon, an entire section for different kinds of milk and nondairy milk.  I half-expected to see cro-nuts and Whoopie pies next.  Some things are so much more advanced now. The mediocre motel I stayed in last time is now on...

In the car ride from the Sukhothai airport  to Mae Sot, I was looking up Thai words and trying to ask the friendly drivers for help. I wanted to hear the phonetic difference between 2 words.  Turns out that the formal Thai word for physician is แพทย์ (Pronounced  paaad).  The Thai word for fried noodle is ผัด. Pronounced  pad.  However, they thought I was either asking to eat pad thai noodles or calling myself “Doctor Pad Thai.” They fell into a fit of giggles. So maybe I should call this blog Doctor Pad Thai. (see photo and video below for quaint airport amusement park-esque train cars and quintessentially Thai airport arrival gate / botanic garden / temple) 

After waiting for 2.5 years to come to Thailand with Coastal Maine Global Health, I finally made it here!  Thailand takes COVID-19 very seriously.  They require special COVID health insurance, quarantine rules, vaccination card, multiple PCR tests to obtain official Certificate of Entry into the country. This is the special COVID screening section at the airport before you can go thru immigration or customs #No filter view from my “captivity” resort balcony  #Nofilter Morning Walk on the beach. (Nota bene I.e. after 3 hours of walking to the nearest town and failing to find a Thai SIM card store. A man on motorcycle asked me if I needed a ride and where was I going. I said “Tesco” which is like Walmart/HEB/Costco here.  Realized I was lost and he probably thought I was crazy when I started walking uphill towards the trees and surprise, surprise there was no Tesco LOL) I later had to pay a taxi 50USD to go all the way across the island to the only mall with a SIM card...