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Friday 9th Jan 2004. My first tour since arriving back in Thailand two days ago. Today I am going to visit a village, visit the school, and visit a furniture making village. There are only 3 of us visitors on the tour today, together with our guide, Suphab, and our driver. Suphab tells us as we drive off from the hotel that there has been a change of plan, the school is closed for the Children's Day holiday. but, we would be going to see the children at a village party instead. After visiting the village, where possibly some of Doikum School`s pupils live, and a short drive, we arrived at the party, which was held in a field next to what I think was the local community centre. We were met by Jai, one of Doikum School`s teachers and some of the pupils, some of the girls were wearing their traditional Karen costume, you can see in the photographs below. The pupils led us by the hand to seats by the side of a central stage, upon which Doikum and other local schools were performing songs or dancing in between prize-givings. I was asked to present a prize, a large stack of colouring and other books and packs of felt tip pens and pencils to a Karen girl - that's her running across the stage in the "Karen Dancers" photograph below. Some way back and in the front of the stage were a row of chairs which were for very special guests, one of which, I think, from his uniform, was the Chief Police Officer. The festival was crowded, lots of excited, but very well behaved, children running around, and lots of adults. Some of the adults were preparing lunch for the children.
As the children had their lunch, we ate our packed lunches which we had brought with us, rolls with meat or cheese, a hard boiled egg, crisps, fruit, and chocolate cake. It was too much for us to eat, so we gave the cake and crisps to the first children we saw after we had finished.
We stayed for an hour or so after lunch, then, sadly, we had to go, as we were going to visit a village which made furniture. It was a very nice surprise to visit the Children`s Festival but I was a little bit sad that I had not seen the school. When I got back to my hotel, I went and paid to go on the same tour again the next week.
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