Chris and Jeremy's 2002 volunteer adventure in Thailand

Welcome to Chris and Jeremy's volunteer adventure in Thailand!

A couple of notables to keep in mind while navigating this website :

1.) There are 2 copies of every photo…A small thumbnail photo for quick viewing and a high-resolution photo ideal for printing. Clicking on the small thumbnail photo will cause a new browser window to appear with the high resolution photo.

2.) Check out the mini photos of everyone in our international group in the "Addresses and Emails" links to the left, and don't forget to visit the message board.

3.) The picture in the upper left hand corner of this page changes every time you reload or
refresh the page. Fun, huh?

And now a brief background of the trip: the who, what, when, where, and how.

Who: A group of international volunteers from the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Japan, New Zealand, and Thailand.
What: Environmental volunteer work with the Khao Yai Conservation Project sponsored by international wildlife organization Wild Aid (www.wildaid.org), and in conjunction with the volunteer organization Greenway-Thailand (www.greenwaythailand.org).
When: July 22-August 4, 2002..
Where: In and around Thailand’s Khao Yai National Park, Thailand's oldest national park located approx. 200km northeast of Bangkok.
How: Although volunteering was actually done directly through an organization called Greenway-Thailand, logistics are handled through a participants local volunteer sponsorship organization. These organizations include: Volunteers for Peace in the United States (www.vfp.org), the Association of Volunteer Service Organizations in Europe (www.avso.org), & the Never-ending International work-Camp Exchange in Japan (http://nice1.gr.jp).

Why in the world did we volunteer in Thailand?

Well, as quoted from a fellow work camp volunteer from Italy, who also told his girlfriend this; “it’s my duty as a citizen of the world to help…..I will be out in the savage jungle, with no running water, phone, or computer…all to help with the environment.” Now doesn't that sound benevolent? Well, there was a kernel of truth there, but honestly for us it was more related to the principle of helping yourself by helping others. In the process we had the opportunity to travel to an exotic land, meet people from all around the world, experience another culture, help out with an environmental cause, promoto international good-will, and increase world cultural awareness. Suffice to say the experience was beneficial to everyone involved.

What exactly did we do?

There did seem to be more volunteers than work at times, but who really wants to work hard anyways. The Khao Yai Conservation Project worked in three teams: (1) a forester patrol team that protects wildlife from poachers, (2) a scientific team that counts animal populations to measure the park’s biological health, and (3) a community outreach team that works with local children and villagers surrounding the park. Although it would have been nice to partake in all three teams, our volunteer group only worked in the community outreach team. This involved working on a mushroom farm to reinforce the people farming rather than poaching, working at a park ranger station to stimulate and reinforce the rangers in their work, and working in schools with children as venues to cultural exchange. The group also spent time involved in recreational outings such as white water rafting, swimming in a dam, partaking in a night safari, visiting ruins & places of religious significance, seeing the beautiful Haeo Suwat waterfall & climbing through its rapids, and enjoyng a Saturday night outing to a dance club where some of us were treated like popstars!

For a more in-depth look and the specifics check out the Greenway Khao Yai Conservation Project information sheet here:

Chris and Jeremy’s Final Verdict

Two enthusiastic thumbs up! The workcamp was an overall great experience and provided us the participants with what was expected: the opportunity to work side-by-side with other international volunteers away from the beaten tourist path.. Thailand is a travelers meca for southeast Asia, and rightfully so. The principle city, Bangkok, has a reputation for partying, clubbing, go-go girls, and openness to travelers. There certainly is a lot to do and see in Bangkok and luckily we planned sufficient time before and after the work camp to do just that. Thailand is known as the Land of Smiles and everybody should place it on their list of must sees.

And now you are left with the following thought:

Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original
dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Check out Jeremy and Chris's 2003 Volunteer Adventure to India here!

Check out Jeremy's Travel Chronicles here!

This website was created and designed by Chris Hughes and Jeremy Enright.