Saying goodbye to the island and the people I'd met there was really hard for me and if it hadn't been for my commitment to take Tor to Bangkok I wouldn't have left.
Back in Bangkok I booked myself onto a two day trip to Kanchanaburi National Park that was recommended to be by a semi-drunk Deniz. All in all it was awesome. I hadn't really looked at the itinerary which was great because it meant I had little or no expectation of what was to come.
The cemetery where 6,982 of the tens of thousands are commemorated.
Our first day was mostly about World War II. We visited the bridge over the River Kwai and the crematorium and Hellfire pass museum and took a train ride along the river. I didn't really know what the whole thing was about - no I haven't watched the film and I hated history at school - so I was blown away by it all.
I don't really buy into war. I don't like the idea of armies. To me they're people employed to put their lives on the line for the ideas of other people who have more power. And I don't trust anyone with that much power.
I've always felt that where a dispute comes to blows or even just to an argument there's been a miscommunication of just lack of communication or understanding. And if you get to a situation where someone's "won", you've both lost.
The railway path was manually cut through the rock by 30,000 odd prisoners of war kept in horrendous conditions and beaten or tortured if they were too slow. Less than half survived.
Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe in turning the other cheek either; bullies need to be stood up to (the Nazis and communism to name a few), but I want to live in a world where, when someone tries to take more than they need, especially if it's to the detriment of others, (e.g. the disregard of the environment and general rape of natural resources to sustain "quality of life" in the USA and no doubt many other countries including the UK), the other peoples of the world would unite to make a standpoint. It's an unrealistic idea and requires a large number of people having the same values: regard for human life, a desire for greater universal happiness etc. but it doesn't feel like our current politics are working towards a better solution or situation.
We're so stuck in our ways. All I ever see in the houses of parliament are stupid little men and women trying to take the mick out of one another to make their teams laugh at the embarrassment of the opposition. They're like flipping bickering children the lot of them.
These outdated systems prevent (necessary) change and it's tragic.
My point is that I don't ever want anyone to have to die for me. No one has a duty to put down their life for someone else's argument. Yet so many of the 6,982 gravestones said "he did his duty". I respect those who put their lives on the line for my rights: the right to vote, the right for free speech etc etc but we're in a modern society in an age of education and enlightenment - no one should be put into these situations. We shouldn't have people in power who are so bad at negotiation or have such low compassion or morality that they would force other people to die to make their point.
What would you do if you caught a (influential) six year old paying some heftier six year olds to kick the ass of someone with a nicer set of toys?
Life is more precious than these arguments and greed and selfishness are so universally accepted. Why?
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