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In 1982 I went with a group of twelve college students to northern Thailand
to teach English to Laotian refugees at Ban Thong Refugee Camp on the Thai/Laos border.
Chiang Khong, the small Thai village
where we stayed, was on the Mae Khong River across from the Laotian village of Huay Zai.
The next few photos are of the group at our home in Chiang Khong. Cliff Parks and Nina Lovelady The photo above is of the house Ian Bell and Don Duchene shared in Chiang Khong. The photo above is the house Dirje Childs,
Nina Lovelady, Melody Machin, Kathe Steele and Felecia Kurcke shared in Chiang Khong. Ben Johnson The next few photos were taken in the regugee camp. Manope, a camp soldier I had become friends with. Our group formed a
basketball team and Manope formed another team with the soldiers, and we played
each other on occasion. They always beat us. I bought Manope a pair of basketball shoes, for
which he was forever grateful. Nina Lovelady at work. Kae Orn Saechao below and his wife and daughter above. Kao Puu and his wife are pictured above. Nina Lovelady and two Thai women who worked at the camp. Felicia Kurcke (above) From left to right: John Gue, Chu Gue, Chong Yang, ?, Chai Gue, ?, Yang Pao Gue, Nou Too, Ewang Saechao The gentleman pictured above is Ewang Saechao, a Yao (Mien) refugee, soldier, and a
student/friend of mine. Mr. Saechao and I corresponded for some time after I
returned to the States, but I lost track of him as he was transferred from camp to camp.
The following letters are among those I received from him as he tried to keep me
informed on his station in life. Photos above and below are some of my of Lahu students who sought refuge at the camp. In
the late 60s the CIA recruited Lahu hill tribes men to help "open up" an area to paramilitary operations to combat opium traffic.
Yang Pao Gue, picture below, became a good friend of mine in Thailand. His mother is in the photo above. Yang Pao is Hmong
Kathe Steele (above)
Some of my Lao Thung students
A group of Hmong and Mien (Yao) men in my most advance English class. We formed a Toastmasters-like club for these men to give speeches, speech evaluations, and topics discussions in a formal club format, in English of course. The highlight was the year-end club night attended by Abbot PraDharmmarajanuwat (who was then known as Abbot PhraThepsopon), chairman of the board of Wat Thai of Los Angeles and for decades led and served at Thailand’s largest Buddhist temple—Wat Po in Bangkok. These men became proficient in English and mastered the use of English idioms and tongue-twisters.
Above and below: photos of Nina and me (Tim) at the camp library with the librarians.
The following letter if from Tormsaeng Nampraseurt, pictured above, receive in November '82 at the Chiang Khong Post Office. Tormsaeng was a student of mine at Ban Thong Refugee Camp, but was writing from Phanatni Khom Processing Center near Bangkok, where he had been transferred due to the imminent closure of Ban Thong Camp.
The open door market in Chiang Khong
Chiang Khong's elementary school
Below: Felecia and me at Phinat Nikom processing camp near Bangkok. Phinat Nikom is a famous among the Vietnam Veteran crowd. It housed a huge refugee camp for the Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians during and long after the Vietnam War. It was often the last camp a refugee would experience before being repatriated to a new country.
Above and below: a small village outside of Chiang Khong
The Mae Khong River between Chiang Khong and Huay Zai