Travel to Teach: Volunteer in Thailand

Thailand is a wonderful country to volunteer in. The welcoming attitude of the Thai people, their desire, at all ages, to learn English and the beauty of the landscape coupled with the integrity of Thai culture makes Thailand an ideal place for volunteering.

There are many reasons for wanting to volunteer abroad and whether you are taking a Gap Year, career break or working vacation, Travel to Teach can introduce you to all aspects of this extraordinary culture.

Thailand

From downtown Bangkok to the rice farming villages of the Isan region, Thailand is a nation that is moving into modernity. Thailand has recently experienced relatively strong economic development, but large parts of the population are being left behind. There is still a strong desire for Thailand to keep its village/community based culture that is so strong and that fascinates so many Westerners.

Volunteer Locations in Thailand:

Travel to Teach is based and began working in Nongkhai in the North Eastern, Isan region of Thailand, however we have expanded into other areas of Isan and now have volunteer programs in the North West

North East / Isan:
The North Eastern part of Thailand, Isan, is separated from Laos by the Mekong River. Isan is the poorest and least developed region in Thailand with rice farming the dominant source of income. The region exports labour to Bangkok and the beaches in southern Thailand, as well as abroad, mainly to Israel and Taiwan. Isan people are ethnically and linguistically closely related to the people of Laos. In the North East region volunteer work consists of teaching English as a foreign language, school development projects and temple teaching.

In Isan currently have volunteer programs in Nongkhai, Phon Phisai, Namsom, Sri Chiang Mai and many different villages in the Isan region. For volunteers interested in meditation and Budhism we also have a program at Wat Nuen Pananao, a forest temple close to Nongkhai where volunteers stay in the temple and teach English in a local school during the day.

North Region:
Chiang Mai is Thailands second largest city size, the capital of the North and Thailands culturally most intresting city. T2T has set up our own school in Chiang Mai and teach children and young adults that for different reasons can not go in Thai schools.

Our second North Western volunteer location is the small backpackers town of Pai, situated in between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son on the Burmese border in breathtaking surroundings. Our volunteer's teach English in local schools, to the Pai community and we are developing a program to teach Hill Tribe people.

Volunteer Programs in Thailand

Thailand Facts

General: A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been colonised by a European power.
Location: Southeastern Asia, bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma
Area: 514,000 sq km
Population: 65,444,371
Ethnic groups: Thai 75%, Chinese 14%, other 11%
Languages: Thai is the national language and is used in all schools and understood by the vast majority of people. In much of Thailand including the North West, North East and South people speak various regional dialects, which are often distinctly different from standard Thai. English is taught in schools although levels vary dramatically.
Religions: Buddhism 95%, Muslim 3.8%, Christianity 0.5%, Hinduism 0.1%, other 0.6%
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.6% male: 94.9% female: 90.5% (2002)
Government: constitutional monarchy
Money: Thai Baht (approx 50 baht/Euro)
Climate: Tropical climate with three seasons, wet season, June till October, cold season, November till March, hot season, April till May.
Economic overview: Thailand has a well developed infrastructure, a free-enterprise economy, and welcomes foreign investment. Thailand has fully recovered from the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis and was one of East Asia's best performers in 2002-04. The government's expansionist policy, including major support of village economic development, has raised concerns about fiscal discipline and the health of financial institutions.