Mae Sot

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 one of the highest rated, luxurious hotels. There are Frappuccino-esque drinks and modernish coffee bars everywhere. You can even get steak, ribs and salmon on a bed of pasta. 

On the other hand, there are street dogs everywhere that don’t really have owners but do have open sores and mange. After dark they can get fairly aggressive so I stay in after about 5:30 or 6m every day. 

The streets still have swirls of cat poop, so you can’t mindlessly text as you walk unless you want to step in some hot sh*t. 

The traffic police stop whoever they want in order to check identification and papers. “Are you Burmese? Foreigner? You’re not Thai.” 
They think I’m Thai, I guess because of darker skin and bigger eyes. At least til open my mouth. Or I forget abd wave like a bumbling American👋🏽. instead of bow like a polite Thai woman. 🙏🏽

There are still street food carts everywhere. I happen to love street food. Today I bought 10 pork siu mai dumplings for 40 baht ($1.35)
Just prior to that I ate a bowl of khao soi gai, which is a northern curry with egg noodles and vegetables. 45 baht 
I’ll definitely be a frequent flyer there!


Up until today I’ve been experimenting with how to nourish myself here and did it with a pretty bachelor-style mashup of yogurt from 7-Eleven and Lays chips with Thai-inspired flavas. 
I tried a few restaurants that made my intestines happy at first then very sad overnight. 
The worst was a Chinese Cantonese place where I got a very common dish, ma po tofu, and veggies with garlic. The next day I had to silence several calls from clinic staff because I was chillin’ in the restroom. 
Who’d have thought it’d be the Chinese food that did it rather than Thai chilies. 
Betrayed by my own people, man! 🥡🥢

To survive here, I’ll need to learn some basic Burmese (for the hospital patients) and Thai (so I stop accidentally referring to myself as a man, which I did for the first 10 days; I’m sure there’s some lurking curiosity among Thai folks about whether I’m transgender). 

Thus far, in Thai I can say “can” and “can’t,” “bathroom,” “chicken,” and “auntie.” I guess I could make a sentence out of that 


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