Respect for Father Joe

In my 3 trips to Klong Toey I have often heard the name Po Joe mentioned. Father Joseph Maier is highly respected amongst the Thais of Klong Toey that I have met. There is almost a reverential awe, a quietly spoken respect that comes into a Klong Toey residents face when the name Po Joe is spoken. I have not mentioned his name once first but maybe 10 times in the 3 trips Thais spoke his name first. When I tell them I read his book back in Canada and came to Klong Toey because of it to make photographs and to learn about the people of Klong Toey there are smiles all around.

I look at the Mercy Centre, look at the good Father Joe has done for the children and others here and my respect for him grows. I hope I get the chance to meet him, if not this trip then on some future trip to Thailand. What a wonderful way to spend your life, helping and fighting for a better life for others. When Father Joe dies he will have left powerful positive inprint on the life of tens of thousands, including my own life.

This trip has shown me two different types of Thailand farang. In the sex tourist areas of Thailand I think back to a man like Mike who owned two bars including a shortime sex bar (I wrote about him in an earlier blog). Mike is like many farang males who visit Thailand, he lives here for his own selfish pleasure, to be serviced in many different ways, everything is about ME! The opposite kind of farang is like Father Joe or John P who came to Thailand for a different reason, to give and to work for others. They wanted to make a positive difference to the lives of the poor, to work for a greater good, small step by small step. There is no ME first in their philosophy of life.