Volunteer with elephants in Thailand
| country: | Thailand |
| departures: | 2009: 3 Jul, 7 Aug |
| price: | From £900 (4 weeks) excluding flights. Price includes free insurance for UK volunteers, airport pick up, stopover in Bangkok, travel to Surin, accommodation, local coordinator, 24 hour support |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Surin is the province of elephants. It is famous throughout Thailand and beyond for its annual Elephant Round-Up. We assist the communities that look after the elephants. In the morning our volunteers plant bamboo, wild grass and other crops to help feed the elephants during the dry season. Most afternoons you will have the opportunity to learn to control the elephants under the supervision of the elephant's handler, or mahout. Most afternoons you will take your elephant down to the river for a swim. After the heat of the day elephants love to cool off and roll in the river. This is an amazing experience you will remember for the rest of your life.
Our work also extends to supporting the local community. A number of development projects have been planned including helping local schools, poor families and government run projects such as child day care centres. With Thai government initiatives or with our own projects without the help of volunteers and their fees the work simply wouldn’t happen. Volunteers pay a vital role in all our work.
Our work also extends to supporting the local community. A number of development projects have been planned including helping local schools, poor families and government run projects such as child day care centres. With Thai government initiatives or with our own projects without the help of volunteers and their fees the work simply wouldn’t happen. Volunteers pay a vital role in all our work.
a day in a life of a volunteer
Volunteers are picked up at their accommodation at 8am and taken to the village to start their work. Journey time is about 30 – 40 mins. Each day will be a mixture of a number of activities; from caring for elephants to planting trees and organising games and activities for local children.volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are 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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In 2007 our volunteers’ fees enabled us to donate goods to two old ladies with no family for support, make two large donations to the elephant village, plant 250 fruit trees at a local school and arranged a party for the elephant village. Volunteer’s fees goes along way enabling to continue to support, develop and invest in our projects. You will be staying in rented accommodation in an area off the tourist trail, therefore contributing directly to the local economy. We provide bicycles for volunteers to get around on. We do not provide food for our volunteers, but encourage them to buy from small restaurants and local market stalls.
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 ,br> 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 our support staff are local Thai people. 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. |