Volunteer Stories  |  Moa

It's a bit over two weeks since I left Nong Khai to go traveling around Thailand and South-east Asia. Since I've left I've realized how great the need for English teachers really is, and what impact we actually had on Nong Khai. In Phitsanoluk, a city comparable to Nong Khai in the number of tourists transiting through, the overall English ability is much smaller.

In several of the places I've visited during the last few weeks I've been offered jobs teaching English. I think teaching in Loei, and certainly in a remote Lahu village, would have been much harder than working in Nong Khai, with no-one to help out with culture chocks, language difficulties and all sorts of other problems that can arise during a volunteer stay.

In Nong Khai there was Kerstin, who had lived in Thailand for several years, and therefore knew a lot about the differences between, say, Thai and Swedish societies. Also, there was Mooy , Poo, Maam I made friends with and learned a lot from about Thailand. Also, there where other volunteers around to talk to hand hang out with.

Before I came here I was a bit worried about teaching English, since it's not my native language. That, however, was no problem as I spoke much more English than my students, and trying to explain English grammar I actually think it was an advantage having learnt it as a foreign language, and knowing the theory behind it.

All in all, I definitely think I made a great decision to spend five weeks in Nong Khai in the beginning of this trip. I learnt a lot about Thai society and even some Thai language, something which is definitely an advantage traveling off the beaten track in other parts of Thailand.

Moa Westerlund, 20