This was the day we had to say goodbye to our host families in Noen Sai. Two days of amazing experiences and trying to communicate with totally different people were behind us. Now, our focus was slowly going towards the research we had to perform in the coming weeks. We were finally travelling to the island we were told about earlier. First stop: Koh Mak.
Final greetings were said at the pier, thanking everyone involved and slowly, everyone was boarding the boat to Koh Mak. When we heard the boat trip would at least be an hour – everybody was shocked! ‘That is sooo long! I didn’t expect this!’ The boat trip actually was a great moment to relax and reflect on the experiences of the previous days. The last couple of days were filled with new impressions and we did not have a lot of time to take it all in. A holiday feeling emerged – people were lying around the oat and thinking about the experiences of the past days with a big smile.
Koh Mak was in sight. Slowly, people got off the boat and on to the mountain bikes that were arranged to explore the relatively small island. The first destination was the Koh Mak Seafood Restaurant, where groups were made. I went to the Energy Park, where the first signs of reducing emissions were literally visible. The aim of our research project is on reducing emissions. But until this point of the programme the focus was more on cross-cultural experiences. At the energy Park, plastic, glass and other materials were recycled and given a second life. After the tour through the Energy Park, I visited the Koh Mak Museum. The history of Koh Mak and the rise of its tourism sector were explained and of its grittier past; how during the Pol Pot regime Cambodian refugees tried to escape, and mostly fail, to Koh Mak.
After the core programme was finished, our group visited the Cococape – and specifically, Mr. Chai. We were given an introduction to his resort. The resort got most of its energy from solar panels. The electricity from these panels is stored in used batteries the resort got from old fishing boats. The resort also recycles its waste and in return is rewarded with a small monetary refund. After getting this information and our first experience of interviewing people in Thailand, we headed back to our resort. The day was concluded with a large evaluation meeting. When we returned to ‘Happy Days’, we could happily go to sleep with a big smile, sabai sabai style.
