Sirindhorn Dam

A week ago I went on a school excursion with my grade 5 students to Sirindhorn Dam. I teach every one of the kids below, and that's only half of my students - I teach just as many grade 3s.


We needed six buses. When I boarded mine, the students all cheered. It's nice to be loved. :)


Question: What is a bus?

Normal Answer: A mode of transport.

Thai Answer: A karaoke box on wheels. (Oh, and it happens to take you places, too.)

It was over an hour's drive to the dam (damn... hehe) and there was more travel time inbetween our other destinations, so there was plenty of time for karaoke.

I found the karaoke setup amusing. Next to the bus driver sat a woman, literally holding her PC to stop it from sliding away, and occasionally typing in song names. It can't have been good for her computer, what with all the bumping and shaking the bus was doing, but who am I to question Thai karaoke methods? Besides, the kids were loving it.


The kids broke off into two groups to learn about the dam, and the teachers sat outside and chatted. I was a bit surprised that they weren't supervising inside, but there's not much strictness here in Thailand. As long as we were in the general vicinity, we were doing our job. Still, I took a moment to wander off by myself to take some photos, knowing that no one would stop me.


Once they were finished, we visited the hydro power plant and solar farm, then it was back to the main group for lunch. I was starving. All 320 or so kids lined up for pad kapow (sweet basil, onion and chicken on rice), and it looked really good. I was looking forward to sitting down with the kids and getting stuck into it, but just before it was my turn to be served, the teachers pulled me to their table, where a bunch of other foods were waiting for us. I couldn't believe it. I spent my entire childhood trying to upgrade from the "kids' table" at events to the "adults' table", and now that I'm an adult I want to each lunch with the kids!


We had two more destinations. Tana Rapids was next, although the river looked pretty flat to me...


This was followed by a market. The kids were really excited about spending all their money on candy, sunglasses, hats and wooden swords, and I was constantly surrounded by kids showing off their new toys and feeding me snacks. Then I got a phone call from one of the teachers: "Where are you? Come and join us."

I sighed and made my way to the park behind the market. The teachers had set themselves up for another meal (Thais love eating). It made me wonder. If all the teachers were here, eating and relaxing under the trees, who was looking after the 320 kids for the next hour? Clearly no one. And clearly no one cared.


When we got back on the bus, the Thai teacher called out, "Is anyone missing?" At once all the kids called out "No!", and the bus took off. A flawless system! Even now, there are still moments where I wonder if we unknowingly left someone behind...

It was the end of the day. All the kids will be tired now, I thought. It's going to be a quiet bus ride back.

This was not the case. In fact, now that they were all sugared-up from the stop at the market, they were even wilder than before. As the bus bounced and shook its way back to Ubon, wind whipping in through open windows, the kids poured into the aisle of the bus for another hour of karaoke.


Even though some of the songs played 5 times (that is not an exaggeration, by the way), they absolutely loved it. I admit, it was a really good day.

When I got home, I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep.