Days nine-through-eleven of our mission will be spent in Mae Sot (แม่สอด) a town in the Tak Province of northwestern Thailand. Mae Sot is a border town located on the eastern bank of the Moei River which serves as natural boundary between the nations of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). In fact, some refer to Mae Sot as the 'Gateway to Burma.'Wikipedia's entry on Mae Sot provides a good jump-off point in your online search for more information about the city. There is no municipal website, as is the case for larger cities in Thailand, but there are pages to devoted to Mae Sot on websites maintained by the Japan-ESCAP Cooperation Fund, Thai Airways and the Thai Tourism Authority that offer good online sources of information.
The economy of this town is closely tied to its border location, with marketplaces devoted to various commodities - including gems - flowing out of Burma to the rest of Asia, and to the world. That same border location also makes the presence of Burmese refugees a significant factor in the town, its economy and its interaction with the outside world.
Mae Sot is a smaller, less developed town compared to other cities that will be visited by the Thai Mission Team ..... but things could change. In this report, Sai Silp of The Irrawaddy News writes that, "Thai authorities have unveiled an ambitious plan to develop Mae Sot, on the Thai-Burmese border, into a metropolis, which they say could make the riverside town a regional commercial hub and a major trading post on the road through Burma to India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan." It is also reported in the Thai Manager Online that there are plans to create a new province - centered in Mae Sot - comprised of five border districts from the existing Tak Province.
Mae Sot is home to Partners Relief & Development, a group working in refugee camps on the Thai/Burma border to aid victims of oppression, and displaced persons. Partners takes its inspiration from the words of John the disciple, who said, "let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:18). This is done through four programs: an orphaned and displaced children's program; emergency relief; a development program; and, a capacity building program. (More information on each of those programs is available HERE)
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