the River Cruise

pic 0: vanessa and the kids on the boat

pic 1: the kids getting the plants out from the river

pic 2: me and Bird, notice my new hairstyle!

pic 3: from near, Sai chun, Misty and fook on the paddle boat at Lumphini Park

pic 4: the Grand palace from the river cruise

Another trip to the Chao Phraya River within 7 days, thanks to Vanessa generosity. This time, I suggested to bring my fellow house mates (Jodie called them outcast of Mercy 2) Bird( a boy with autism), Sai Chun ( is getting blind) and Fook ( has weak IQ).

Fook has never been on the boat trip, he is new to the Mercy family, hence he has been elated the whole time, he named and shouted every thing he saw from the trip; Sai Chun vision is getting worse, so he has to depend on Misty’s Camera screen to see the beautiful scenery along the river; while Bird has longed for freedom for sometime now, most of the summer holiday, he spent time with himself, sitting at a corner of the house, talking with his imaginary friend or studying the pictures from the outdated baby magazines.

Chao Phraya River was filled with floating plants. None of us knew where those plants come from. According to the boat driver, they were floated in from Ayutthaya due to heavy rainstorm. Even the cyclone in Burma has something to do with these plants too I guess. So it is no wonder the boat is so much slower, avoiding ‘traffic’ of leaves, the kids didn’t even get to play with the water.

I am not gonna "ooooo" and "aaaaaa" about the whole departing from the hi-class Oriental hotel and the pretty delicious picnics, for me, the nicest part is to see Bird , Fook and Sai Chun having some time out. After saying good bye to Vanessa, Misty, Jodie and I brought them to the Lumphini Park. Once again, we sat on the paddling boats, taking pictures while the boys were in action, bumping into each other, seeing the greenery, feeding the fish etc.

Vanessa is an international photographer who has been visiting Mercy for five years. She has been taking pictures of the Mercy kids and produced a book called ‘Slaughterhouse Angels’. Faces that I known by heart will be published throughout the world and all profits will go to Mercy Centre. Funny thing is the kids don’t even know how famous they will be in the next few months.

I seemed to do a great job translating English to Thai throughout this trip. Applause!!!