Langur Behavior

I decided to accept a 13 month position working as a field assistant in Thailand next year (starting in February 2003). Although it is unpaid there will be few expenses and I am interested in exploring primate behavioral ecology. The researchers I will be working with are studying feeding ecology, feeding competition, and female social relationships of Phayre's langurs as well as group structure and ranging behavior of Rhesus macaques. My work will include searching, habituation, maintaining grid-trails, and line transect sampling. I will be living at the headquarters of the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary (in northeast Thailand). I have to get special permission to work in the sanctuary because it is closed to the public and am still waiting for my visa to be approved. Other than a community of guards for the area and other scientists, we will be fairly isolated. Sounds like cold water showers and electricity only a few hours each day.

I started learning Thai last month; however, I'm having difficulty and not feeling confident speaking. I finally got a set of "teach yourself Thai" books along with an audio tape. I have to learn quickly because the majority of the time I will be working with local park rangers that do not speak English. I have so much trouble just hearing the differences in pronunciation of the words! Because Thai is a tonal language, its pronunciation really matters. Different tone equals a different meaning for the same word! A word can be pronounced with a mid, high, low, falling, or rising tone. Plus, there are short and long vowels sounds and other sounds that have no comparable sound in English. All I can do is try to study a little bit each day.