Volunteer at a gibbon rescue centre in Thailand
| country: | Thailand |
| departures: | 2009: 4 Dec |
| price: | From £900 (4 weeks) - £1500 (12 weeks) excluding flights. Price includes free insurance for UK volunteers, airport pick up, stopover in Bangkok, travel to Phuket, accommodation, local coordinator, 24hr support |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Gibbons are often kept as pets or as tourist attractions illegally in Thailand. Up to the age of five they are cute and cuddly, but at adulthood they can become aggressive and are often abandoned or killed. The lucky ones are brought to the centre to try and rehabilitate them back into the wild or look after them in a suitable environment should they not be able to survive independently. The centre houses over 70 gibbons all of which have come from an abused background. The centre is just outside Phuket, South Thailand. You’ll be staying in accommodation near the centre arranged by the Thai Government organisation. It is basic and with shared bedrooms.
Hours here are full time six days a week. Hours are from 6am until 2pm. You will be picked up by your driver and transported each day to the centre. Work varies between hard physical work and caring for visitors or supporting the administration team. You will work alongside other volunteers and the long term Thai staff at the centre.
a day in a life of a volunteer
This isn’t a hands on project as the aim is to reintroduce them into the wild, but there is lots of feeding, cleaning, cage maintenance, site mapping, trail maintenance, data collection plus looking after visitors too. Volunteers can also assist with promotional work such as creating leaflets and signs plus helping out in the office, answering the telephone and responding to queries too. The hours here are quite long - 6am till 2pm 6 days a week but this is a real spearheading conservation effort that could not function without the efforts of volunteers. Hours here are full time six days a week. Hours are from 6am until 2pm. You will be picked up by your driver and transported each day to the centre. Work varies between hard physical work and caring for visitors or supporting the administration team. You will work alongside other volunteers and the long term Thai staff at the centre.
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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By participating as a volunteer, you will ensure that the centre’s money can be spent on essential items. The centre cannot function without adequate volunteer support, nor can it afford to pay for anymore members of staff. Without the gibbon rescue and rehabilitation centre, gibbons would continue to be ill treated, abused or killed. The centre also provides a crucial education service to decrease the numbers of gibbons illegally kept and for tourists to know that it is illegal for them to be kept as pets.
Travellers are encouraged to use local facilities. None of our placements include food. We encourage our volunteers to eat at local restaurants. Our Thai coordinators advise volunteers on good places to eat locally, supporting the local community and enhancing their experience. We wish our volunteers to become part of the local community. Our staff give all our volunteers a full orientation to the area, showing them all local amenities: shops, restaurants, internet cafes, post offices, etc We pay Thai government organisation to look after our volunteers, approximately 50% of the fee. All our support staff are Thai people. All the centre’s employees are Thai workers or overseas volunteers. All our volunteers receive a briefing kit which talks about dos and don’ts. Moreover our staff are always on hand to advise, help and ensure our volunteers have a positive impact. All of our projects need financial assistance, help with planning, technical support and project management and we support where and when we can. As an organisation we do not print brochures. We minimise paper by using internet and email. We always support locally owned businesses, hotels, etc. We believe in putting back into the local economy and one of our key aims is to support small scale long term development initiatives throughout Thailand. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |