The Binkle Blog

  Ladda standing in the middle of what would soon be her house. Wood frames the outline of  house and the concrete bases for the posts are already installed. Among the several building projects we were involved in with the Pwo Hostel was building a small house for Ladda. Ladda played a critical role in administering the hostel program and in dealing with the students. So she needed to be readily available throughout the day and evening but also needed to have her own life. So it was decided to build a house for her next door to the hostel building. Yong Yut was selected as the builder and he went to work. Even in the 1980s, American builders and carpenters would have been highly dependent on electric or gasoline powered tools. But in Mae Sariang, almost everything was done by hand. Digging, drilling, trimming, shaping, nailing, measuring, etc., it was all done by hand. About the only power tool I remember being used throughout our time in Thailand was electric planers. Even ...