Saturday, October 18, 2008

Thailand Journal – Entry 8 – The Day that Never Comes

The reason I came to Thailand was to help tigers and when I had landed in Bangkok, I felt a surge of confidence. I wanted to get out there and help. However, over time, I found myself not being very much of a help at all.

I think it was foolish of me to get so worked up before getting here because I wouldn’t start my field placement (thus, having a more direct impact) until January. Rather, the first half of the year would be spent in the classroom and not necessarily anything that has direct relevance to tiger conservation. I came in on a high and quickly crashed down into the ground. At this stage, I wouldn’t be doing anything and that really bothered me. Ever since I knew I wanted to help tigers, I wanted to be in a tiger range country because that would allow me to help, but here I am and I’m not doing much of anything at all... school or not, I never saw it as much of an excuse. After all, Mark Twain tells us that we should not let schooling interfere with our education.

I decided to go out into the streets of Chiang Mai to see if I can find any products made from tigers and other endangered species. The plan was that anything I found I would report to the proper authorities and they would check it out. I took several trips to the Night Bazaar, perused the nooks and crannies of the city and found very little. What I did find was isolated and rather than reporting them to a police that likely wouldn't bother with small fish, I read them the riot act and informed them of the risks they were taking. I took a taxi ride far from home to “Chinatown”...well, actually, the driver didn’t know where it was so I got dropped off and walked the rest of the way. I thought that, considering violations could be found in the Chinatowns of Toronto, New York and Vancouver, I should have no trouble there. It turned out that “Chinatown” was more like a ghost town and though the buildings were not derelict, they were certainly unoccupied. “Coming soon”, perhaps...

I made long journeys home with blistered feet and a calloused spirit. The “glass-is-half-full” people would say, “Why are you upset if you aren’t finding these products?”. Well, the problem is that I know the illegal wildlife trade has a place in Chiang Mai...I know it is out there and if I am not finding it, that means I’m not doing a good enough job. Perhaps, I should have tried to look in Bangkok...it is far more prevalent there and I probably could have been put to good use. Another place that could be checked out would be Thai-Burma border towns, but I would need advising from experts before I go there.

My frequent trips around town left me with a lingering frustration that turned into a small bout of depression. This wasn’t helped by the cold that I had been afflicted with; the medication I was taking had the unfortunate side-effect of frequent and persistent nose-bleeds. My pride was also hurt by the fact that no one seems to give a damn about tigers here, despite the fact that there used to be plenty. It is all about elephants here, which is a good thing, but I’m disappointed that the tiger isn’t more culturally prevalent.

Oh well...every experience, no matter how much of a failure it seems, is an opportunity to learn.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Eric, if you're having any trouble getting in touch with Wildlife Alliance staff in Southeast Asia, just drop me a line in DC and I can give you email, cellphone, etc. contacts.

Anonymous said...

We understand your disappointment and frustration; after all, you've gone halfway across this earth with a clear vision . . . and yet you're forced to wait for your field placement. Please believe that the universe IS conspiring on your behalf . . . everything will happen when it is supposed to. Just wait and see, the timing will be perfect. Hang in there, Kuba! You're following your heart and that's a good thing (so don't be too hard on yourself).

Marilyn & Rob