Volunteer with animals in Thailand

Environment

Social responsibility: Before volunteers depart we provide them with a detailed information pack on the area they will be visiting. We try to educate and encourage our volunteers to understand and respect the local cultures and customs and get involved with local communities.

Economic responsibility: For over 10 years we have been providing volunteers to help at charitable projects around the world. A UK charity has now been launched to build on this success by providing financial assistance to overseas causes as well. The organisations we work with are often struggling to fund the work they are doing so every penny raised makes a real difference.

The majority of the fee that volunteers pay goes directly to the project which provides employment for local staff. While volunteers are in-country, we encourage them to buy locally and support local businesses.

Environmental responsibility: One of the main negative impacts of our volunteers travelling, is the carbon dioxide created from flights. We work with a 'carbon neutral' charity to help ensure that an amount of carbon is sequestered through tree planting or the promotion of low energy technologies.

Volunteers are accommodated in simple shared accommodation with low environmental impact. While our volunteers and customers are overseas, we identify and encourage simple steps to minimise their impact on the local environment.

Community

The project which is based on Koh Lanta was established in 2005 during the construction boom after the Tsunami. During the boom, construction workers came with their dogs but left them behind when the buildings were completed. In addition to this problem, the number of tourists feeding these dogs increased which resulted in their high survival and reproduction rates causing over population.

The project has the following objectives:

Prevent and control the overpopulation of dogs and cats on Koh Lanta in a humane way through sterlization programmes. By doing this, the suffering through hunger, disease, abuse and injuries will be greatly reduced
Provide animal care for those who are injured and abused
Provide education and promote awareness of animal care & respect

Volunteers support local businesses in the area and many locals choose to also volunteer at the centre and truely appreciate the hard work of the volunteers at the centre. The project actively promotes animal welfare in the surrounding region of Thailand.