Orphanage in Thailand

I arrived at the Orphanage to a confusing scene. I visited the orphanage as part of my school curriculum. There were children crawling all over an open patio area. There were 2 camera men filming the scene. In the middle of it all was a very beautiful girl dressed in posh clothing. I soon found out that the girl was a Thai movie star, and she was doing charity work by giving gifts to the orphans. Everyone seemed very caught up in this, and no one really even noticed my arrival. I had no idea what I should be doing, so I just sat on a bench and watched.

The movie star was filmed dancing with the children. The children then sang her a song and she happily clapped. Next she handed out flowers as each child clasped there hands in a wai and replied “Ka phoon krop.” Next she handed out clothing and toys. The toys caused a complete uproar as the children ran all over, ripping the heads off of their new Barbies and crashing their plastic planes on wheels into people’s feet.

One little boy noticed me then, and we began playing with his little plane. I still had no guidance form anyone, so I guessed I should just play with the children. The movie star had stolen the show from me, though, and most of the children were not interested in playing with me, despite my efforts to be fun.

The whole situation was odd. No one from the orphanage approached me to explain what was happening. No one explained who these children were, or how they had gotten here. No one explained what the orphanage did, or how they were funded, or what happened to the children after they reached a certain age. No explanation. No one even asked me who I was, or why I was playing with the children. I feel like it would be easy for just anyone to walk in off the street and start playing with the children.

There were other foreigners at the orphanage also playing with the children. I didn’t know why they were there either. Maybe it was common for random tourists to volunteer to help at the orphanage? Maybe they were looking to adopt the children? I did find a bulletin board with pictures and letters of Western families who had adopted children from this orphanage.
All in all this was a strange experience.