After one night in Kanchanaburi, we spent a couple days in an area about two hours to the northwest. It was the closest we got to Myanmar (Burma) and it is also an area that has very few foreign visitors. In fact, our trip leader told us that Intepid is the only company that now brings people to the village of Thammadue, where we did our homestay. It was great to be in a place that has not yet been "spoiled" by tourists. But for how long? Actually, our hostesses took us to see the location where the villagers were putting up some new bamboo huts for guests to stay in. Paula said that they may be expecting some new business soon from additional tour companies. The homestay program was started by a government program called ETAC, which stands for Eco Tourism Activities Coordination. The village enrolled in the program, so they chose to have the tourist business, so who are we to criticize the "westernization" of their village? It is what they want, and the the additional tourists will help their economy, but surely change their village forever. It’s called progress. Thammadue is about 50% Thai people and 50% refugees from Burma. Paula said the refugees are not allowed to leave the province unless they get special permission.
Our hostesses in Thammadue were Pa and Noi. They were the friendliest women, always smiling and wanting to practice speaking English. We slept on the upper floor of their home, where they had built bunk beds and had put in two bathrooms. They cooked us an amazing meal. After dinner, we walked down to a sort of community center. The village children, under the direction of their schoolteacher, performed some dances for us. The girls were beautifully dressed, with their hair and makeup all done up for the show. You could tell they had practiced long and hard, and it was exciting for them to dance for us. The boys played bongo drums in the background and also worked the stereo.
It was very nice, and afterward the teacher wanted us to teach a song or a game to the children. We taught them how to play Red Light, Green Light, which they LOVED. I didn’t do very well at it – I think one of the village kids won the game. From there everyone got carried away having a great time. One of the couples in our group knew how to swing dance, so they danced to one of the songs they kids were playing on the stereo. Then one of the older village girls taught us and her friends how to do a line dance. A line dance of all things! What a crazy night! Eventually we all got it down and we danced for 3 songs, until the teacher told us it was getting late and it was time for everyone to head home.