Eye Opening Excursion

Subject: Eye Opening Excursion Sat 8 Mar 2008 - 22:26

Quote :: Overnight stay at a national park prompts dark thoughts about the selfishness of people who drive under the influence

ALFRED THA HLA

A group of people with various disabilities were driven in a convoy of mean-looking 4x4 vehicles along Highway No. 12 recently to see the golden grasslands and morning mist of Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, some 110km from downtown Phitsanulok.

There were 19 of them in all - Down's syndrome, autistic and blind people plus a few who had suffered strokes or spinal injuries - each accompanied on this special excursion by a personal minder. The "Thailand Savanna Field Experience" was the brainchild of Phetchnumpnong Srivardhana, host of the Puean Dern Thang TV travel show, herself a paraplegic since the age of 17. She sold the idea to local businessmen Somsak Viwatthanat and Santichai Wangtrakuldee, who borrowed an assortment of vehicles from the Lum Nam Khek and Buddy ORP off-road clubs for this adventure in the great outdoors...