In line with the Thai school summer holidays, April is a quiet month regarding the actual projects, yet this means you get to experience the Thai New Year celebration of “Songkran”, which traditionally occurs between 13-15 of April, when the entire nation throws water over each other and generally have a good time. One of the best locations for water activities is Khao San Road, or KSR, as it is known on the backpacking trail, where the street is zoned off to vehicles and with everyone armed with their water guns and on foot, you are fair game when you enter the arena!
Bangkok & Chiang Mai Projects
The 7th of May sees our first set of projects starting in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and so far we have two volunteers for our Bangkok projects, while six people are off for the Chiang Mai experience (one that is not to be missed if you love nature!), and the projects cover a wide scope of areas, including Medical Internship, working with children in a Bangkok orphanage, which is always a favourite with the girls, while the Chiang Mai projects include spending time at the Chiang Mai Children’s Home and a women’s empowerment project. We have Danish, American and German volunteers on their way over to join in the above projects, with a lot more volunteers expected in the coming month, and it isn’t too late if you want to come along. Please visit our projects page to view our different volunteer and intern opportunities.
Project Aims and Objectives
At Friends for Asia, we aim to provide a safe working environment for volunteers to assist in community projects in a hands-on way. It is a good feeling when you know that your hard work is helping small communities to develop using local resources, and with a range of project types, there is something to suit everyone. If, for example, you are entering the healthcare industry, a Medical Internship would be ideal, or if you are going into the teaching profession, you can hone your language teaching skills and get some valuable hands-on classroom experience in a quality Thai school.
Develop your Leadership Skills
When you become part of a team of volunteers, this gives you a platform on which to build your skill-sets, and with challenges on a daily basis, if you have leadership potential, a volunteer experience with Friends for Asia (FFA) will bring it out. Classroom instruction is all well and good, but it is only when you apply the theory in a real life environment that you become competent, and improvisation is frequently the solution. Working with people from different cultures and backgrounds widens your perspective, and such is the popularity of our South East Asia operation, there will be many like-minded young people, so expect to make lots of new friends.
Medical Internship
Friends for Asia has a working agreement with top hospitals in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, which is ideal if you are studying health care, or would like to help sick people, and part of this experience involves doing the daily rounds with a doctor, which really gives you an insight into the way Thai people lead their lives, and the wide range of situations you will encounter means there’s never a dull moment. If you like helping others, then a medical internship is for you.
English Teaching Projects
There’s no better setting than Thailand for a bit of hands-on teaching, and as you are a native speaker, you already know your mother language, and spending some time in one of the many Thai schools that we are associated with, is an ideal way to develop your teaching skills. You might prefer to stay in Bangkok, where we have a lot of Thai schools that we work with, and whether you’d feel more at home with the toddlers, or the secondary students, you will be delivering a fun based curriculum that focuses on speaking and listening, and with all the support and resources you need, you will enjoy working in a Thai school, with Thai students and teachers, all of whom really want to practice their English, so there’s no lack of motivation! If you would prefer a more rural environment, we have projects in Thai schools where simply seeing a foreigner brings a smile to the students’ faces, and living with a rural community really makes you realize how much in harmony these people are with nature. The fact that you are meeting people constantly and sharing your knowledge, makes the English Teaching projects very popular, and if you would like to know more about volunteer English teaching opportunities in Thailand, here is a link.
Working with Elephants
This is an exciting new project that we at FFA have managed to set up, and you can spend a whole week bathing and generally being with elephants at the Elephant Camp, which is about 2 hours’ drive from Chiang Mai, and nestled in a stunning jungle environment that most call paradise. You’ll spend a large part of your day with these gentle giants (who happen to be incredibly intelligent) and your main task is to assist the Mahout, the person who manages and cares for the elephant. You will be cutting grass and sugar cane for jumbo’s breakfast, and after a scenic ride down to the river, you will bathe with the elephant, under the supervision of the mahout, of course. If you’re an animal lover that has a fascination for elephants, spending a week at the Elephant Camp is the perfect start to your volunteer experience, but you’d better book well in advance! If this sounds appealing, and you’d like further details, click here. If your gap year is fast approaching and you have yet to make any plans, contact us and we’ll guarantee you an amazing experience.
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