Volunteer in Thailand with Friends for Asia

Bangkok Volunteer Projects that Make a Difference

Volunteer in Bangkok, Thailand

As a Volunteer in Bangkok go beyond the well-beaten tourist track and find yourself on the front lines of this amazing city. Apply for one of the volunteer projects coordinated by Friends for Asia, and you’ll do much more than visit temples, view the sights and sample the cuisine. Instead, you’ll join a dynamic group of people dedicated to changing lives and transforming communities by promoting better education, facilitating healthcare and providing support to those who need it most.

Bangkok, Thailand Volunteer Video

This is one of the most important cities in Southeast Asia, and there many excellent Bangkok volunteer opportunities on tap for FFA applicants. This city welcomes upwards of 16 million overnight visitors from around the world each year. Globe-trotting tourists rave about its vibrant festivals, modern amenities and hedonistic nightlife. In fact, major polls – including those conducted by Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveller – consistently rank Bangkok as one of the finest cities to visit and explore in the world.

However, tourists rarely scratch the surface of what this city has to offer. Our Bangkok volunteers forge meaningful relationships with locals, find themselves behind the scenes in temples, hospitals and orphanages and end up seeing a side of Thailand that’s all but inaccessible to package tourists and backpackers. Check out the following Bangkok volunteer projects that Friends for Asia coordinates in Bangkok and submit your application today. This could end up being one of the most meaningful experiences in your life.

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Our Bangkok Volunteer and Intern Accommodation

One of the challenges of signing up as a Bangkok volunteer is finding a practical accommodation located within reach of the project site where you’ll be working. That’s why we go out of our way to arrange convenient accommodation within a short distance of public transport lines and other basic facilities.

Most who sign up to work on FFA’s volunteer Bangkok projects stay at our main volunteer accommodation just outside the city center. It is located along the BTS Skytrain, which makes it easy to connect to most of Bangkok’s prominent sites and attractions. This accommodation is located in a safe, up-market neighborhood where you can easily rest and get to know other volunteers after a hard day’s work. There are also several restaurants, street stalls and a coffee shop within about ten minutes’ walk of this location.

Discover Different Volunteer Opportunities in Bangkok

Friends for Asia has developed several volunteer opportunities in Bangkok, which take applicants behind the scenes in schools, temples, orphanages and slums. The following is a list of the volunteer projects we offer in Bangkok:

Women’s Empowerment Project in Bangkok

women's empowerment 1 Women Empowerment

Single mothers and young women from broken homes are faced with many challenges in Thailand. Challenges are compounded in Bangkok, where the cost of living is high and high population density makes it easy to be overlooked by organizations that offer support and welfare. FFA volunteers are currently working with underprivileged women in Bangkok to provide them with the tools, support and education they require to overcome poverty.

Medical Internships in Bangkok

Medical Internship

Medical Internship

We connect medical interns with private and teaching hospitals in Bangkok. They shadow real doctors while they are making rounds, performing surgeries and otherwise treating patients.




English Education Volunteer Project in Bangkok

English Education

English Teaching Volunteer Project

Improving their English-language proficiency is one of the most effective ways that an underprivileged person in Bangkok can establish upward mobility. Join the ranks of volunteer English teachers in Bangkok by teaching at one of our partner schools in Bangkok.



Teaching English to Novice Monks in Bangkok

Teaching English to Novice Monks

Teach English to Buddhist Monks

Working with Buddhist monks in Bangkok is an amazing experience. Opportunities like this are difficult to come by – which is why FFA works so hard to develop relationships with temples that would like to welcome English education volunteers to Bangkok.

If you are planning to travel to Thailand, make the most of your experience by spending a couple weeks volunteering with organizations that could really use your help. Contact Friends for Asia to find out more about the volunteer projects we coordinate, or send us your application today to get the process started. This could completely transform your travels in Asia.

Help people in need, change lives and see the world in the process. Friends for Asia can show you how.

Kindergarten Volunteer Project in Bangkok

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Kindergarten Volunteer – Bangkok

This project works specifically with preschool- and kindergarten-age children in Bangkok. The focus in this project is one helping children from a local slum develop strong and constructive social skills and to prepare them to thrive in Bangkok’s school system and society at large.



Orphanage Volunteer in Bangkok

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Orphanage Volunteer – Bangkok

Working with children is one of the most rewarding ways to volunteer in Thailand. It’s obvious from your first day on assignment that these kids are delighted that foreigners take a genuine interest in their lives. Volunteers at the Bangkok orphanage project work Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.



*All of Friends for Asia’s Bangkok volunteering and internship projects are a two-four week minimum and include orientation and training, accommodation, and 24-hour support along with international injury and accident insurance.

All Friends for Asia volunteering and internships are a two-week minimum and include orientation and training, accommodation, and 24-hour support along with travel insurance.

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Bangkok Volunteer Accommodation Location

Bangkok Volunteer and Intern Accommodation

You’ll be staying in a quiet, up-market neighborhood just outside the city center along a line of the BTS skytrain (between Ari and Saphan Kwai stations). There are several restaurants and street stalls serving authentic Thai fare, as well a local coffee shop, within about ten minutes’ walk of our accommodation.

The Bangkok volunteer accommodation is a haven away from the chaos of Bangkok. It’s an ideal place to unwind and visit with other volunteers after spending the day at your volunteer project site. We have enough space to accommodate up to ten volunteers at a time, with three shared bathrooms for getting ready in the morning.

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Volunteers are welcome to use the on-site kitchen to prepare meals. As part of our volunteer packages, we provide everything you need to make breakfast as well (cereals, toast, eggs, coffee, etc.)

Free broadband Wi-Fi broadcasts throughout the house, and we supply a computer for volunteers to use if they need to prepare lessons, research local sights or send out emails. We also have common areas where you can visit with others or simply kick back on the sofa to watch television. We host volunteers from all over the world, and you’ll probably learn as much about other parts of the world in the volunteer house as you do out on assignment.

Bangkok – A Unique City and Unforgettable Experiences

At first glance, you could easily miss the attraction. Bangkok is a sprawling metropolis of 8 million people where even locals are apt to get lost if they wander off the main thoroughfares. Rapid development has gifted the city with some of the finest modern infrastructure on the planet – including Siam Paragon shopping centre and Bangkok Hospital. But growth comes at a price, not least pollution, gridlock and conspicuous poverty.

No doubt, there are as many reasons to love Bangkok as there are people to love it. For some, it’s the food – piping hot noodles, savory curries and spicy stir fries. Others find the culture intoxicating. In Bangkok, you can light a joss stick at the opulent Temple of the Dawn (Wat Aroon), enroll in a Thai massage course, practice your bargaining skills at Pratu Naam or simply kick back with a local brew at a Muay Thai boxing match.

But underpinning all of this are millions of some of the friendliest, most hospitable people you’ll ever meet. Even if Bangkok wasn’t overflowing with tourist attractions, exotic cuisine and a vibrant cultural legacy, the Thai people that call it home would still make a visit worthwhile. In short: this is a place you want to see at least once in your life.

Getting involved in Asia’s City of Angels

The official name for Bangkok is actually the longest place names in the world. But it begins Krung Thep, which is the name most often used by the local people. Krung Thep means the City of Angels. You could spend years in Bangkok and only scratch the surface of what this city has to offer. Short-term visitors can wear themselves out trying to see and do it all. At Friends for Asia, we believe that the best way to maximize your time spent in Thailand is to get involved.

English Teaching Volunteer

Our volunteers teach English, help care for elephants and lend a hand at orphanages in the rural countryside and inner city. Some work with novice monks in temples; others have lent a hand with construction and beautification projects. As well we offer internships from observing doctors in modern hospitals, to magazine and multimedia projects. Regardless of where they are or what they are doing, FFA volunteers and Interns stand side-by-side with local people who are committed to transforming their communities and the people who live in them.

Friends for Asia oversees volunteer project sites all over Asia, with project research currently underway in Bangkok. We believe that the best projects take time to develop, which ensures high-quality projects and the opportunity for volunteers to experience the real Thailand.

Our Volunteer Coordinators

We also employ full-time Thai coordinators who are on-site to assist throughout the day. They’ll help you locate your project, introduce you to the staff you’ll be working with and show you the best way to get home at the end of the work day. We’re picky when it comes to staff selection, and we only hire coordinators who have a strong command of English and an open mind when it comes to foreign cultures. Along those lines, many of our coordinators have spent some time living or studying abroad.

Thanks to FFA’s volunteer coordinators, you’ll never feel like you’re alone while volunteering in Bangkok. They know the city, the people and the project sites forwards and backwards. If you have any questions or concerns, they’re there to provide you with everything you need.

Bangkok Climate

Climate Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Daily highs (°C) 32 33 34 35 34 33 33 33 32 32 32 31
Nightly lows (°C) 21 23 25 26 26 25 25 25 25 24 23 21
Precipitation (mm) 9 29 28 64 220 149 154 196 344 241 48 9

According to the World Meteorological Organization, Bangkok is one of the hottest cities in the world. Located just 14 degrees north of the Equator, Bangkok is sunny at any time of the year with temperatures over 30°C (86°F).

The most pleasant time to visit is the cool season that lasts from November till February. It is both the coolest and driest period — the Emerald Buddha statue in Wat Phra Kaew even wears a scarf during this period. Don’t think that’s necessary though — daytime temperatures still hover around 30°C (86°F), but it does cool down into the lower 20’s as it gets dark. March and April represent the hot season, and hot it is — 35°C (95°F) on average, but don’t be surprised to see temperatures rising towards 40 degrees Celsius.

This is the worst season to visit Bangkok, so plan a lot of air-conditioned shopping mall visits and get a hotel with a swimming pool. Then there’s the wet season that runs from mid-June until mid-October. Expect massive downpours resulting in floods all over the city, and spells of thunder at times. It’s not all bad though — the afternoon showers are actually a pleasant way to cool down from the heat, and while they may last all day, usually they’re over within an hour. Extreme rainfall can happen in September and October, so these months are best avoided.

Whatever season you’re visiting, don’t take the weather lightly — temple-tramping in the scorching afternoon sun can be a challenge, so come well-prepared. Dress lightly for the weather, but cover up for the sun (watch the local people, many of whom will have umbrellas for shade). Also, keep in mind that some palaces and all temples (notably the Grand Palace) have a strict dress code. Also be sure, and this cannot be said enough, drink enough fluids. You don’t have a reason not to, as 7-Elevens and other convenience stores are abundant in Bangkok and they sell cooled beverages for as little as 10 baht.

Map of Bangkok

While there are many free maps that can be found throughout Bangkok in tourist areas and travel agencies, none of them compare with the well-known Nancy Chandler’s Map of Bangkok now in its 26th edition. This map is for sale in bookstores throughout Bangkok as well as online at Amazon. The map is not cheap, around 250 THB these days. However, for an additional 50-80 THB, bring the map to a nearby printing/copy shop, and they can seal it in a durable plastic, to make the map last a lot longer. Along with the general purpose map of Bangkok is a new Nancy Chandler Map of Khao San Road and Old Bangkok for more detail about these popular locations.

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