GVI, Ethical Impact. Volunteer in Thailand

In September 2022 I volunteered with GVI Chiang Mai for 3 weeks. I got to experience so many incredible things and I made memories that will last a lifetime. Seeing elephants in their natural forest homes was awe inspiring and seeing their relationship with the local village and mahouts was eye opening. I really enjoyed living in a homestay and developing a close bond with my host family, teaching in the nursery became a weekly highlight and seeing Gibbons in the forest was truest special. I fell in love with the village and the project there and can’t wait to return to keep helping the project move forward. Would highly recommend to anyone who loves conservation and community work.

I spent 8 weeks in Thailand at the Phang Nga base doing marine conservation.

The staff are so welcoming and passionate, and i made some amazing friends through living with the other volunteers on base.

Getting to learn about and care for green seat turtles was amazing and definitely the highlight of my time. You can really see the positive impact you are having on their well-being.

I can honestly say you will not regret signing up to a GVI programme, Thailand was my first experience with GVI and i don’t intend for it to be my last!

Went with GVI to Thailand Phang Nga on the community program for 2 months and i absolutely loved it. I’m going again on another program in hopefully a few months. If you’re thinking about, definitely do it -you wouldn’t regret it!

The base is located in such a lovely community and the staff there is honestly amazing. The people i met in the two months i was there was so inspiring from locals to students to other volunteers. I can’t stress enough how this program has inspired me. Go for it, i have nothing bad to say!:)

I travelled to Phang Nga Thailand on the u set 18s course over July/August 2022. To volunteer in the Community and with Turtles and a week of adventure. Every single day was full of new food, places, experiences, we learnt so much and seeing the lifestyles of this country was extremely eye opening. I didn’t full appreciate what we had in the Uk that is just taken for granted. The GVI staff were so friendly, supportive and kind the trip would not have been the same. We explored local communities and visited lots of markets and a Primary school which was incredible. My favourite part was working in the Royal Thai Navy base centre for the conservation of Green Sea Turtles. Been up close to the amazing animals, was so special as they are endangered I felt so lucky. Eve was also so cool to work for, all of us were truly inspired by her and aspire to have the same job as her. During adventure week we explored mangroves, jungles, waterfalls, temples it was non stop! The team spotted many species of wildlife for us to see. Every night we travelled to new accommodation, as my group was quite small we all became close friends pretty quickly and each night we’d be playing card games with our GVI staff ( Jen, Kiz, Gay, George and Kyra) and then sit out on our balcony chatting before bed. Now that I’ve had to come home I miss all my new friends so much! I’d completely recommend this trip to anyone wanting to try something new and make new friends as it was a really great 2 weeks. Travelling alone at 16 was a bit scary at first but I met some other volunteers at Heathrow and the journey was completely fine we were just so excited to land in Thailand and get started. I’d do anything to relive my experience there I loved it so much.

I would recommend volunteer at GVI. I volunteered at GVI Thailand Chiang Mai for two weeks and it's one of the best experiences I've ever had. The staff, the villagers and the other volunteers and interns were very nice and friendly people and you can have lots of laughs with them. The experience here would change you and you wouldn't want to leave the place while being there because everyone else makes this place feel like home to you. There's a lot of good things to do there like elephant hikes and rice picking and I've learned a lot of new stuff and skills while being there. I'll definitely come back again and I've missed so many of my new friends. I would definitely want to volunteer at other GVI programs to learn more about the animals and other new stuff. It was also good to learn about the elephants in GVI Thailand Chiang Mai.

I absolutely fell in love with Huay Pakoot in the two weeks that I spent living in the village. From experiencing elephants in the wild, to living in the homestay of the local family and getting to experience their cultures - I learnt so much. As well as hiking with elephants daily, I also had the opportunity to learn their local language of Pakinyaw, and teach technology skills to one of the villagers from nearby. All of the volunteers were amazing, and I got to meet so many fantastic people that I will continue to see in the future.

I can't wait to take part in more GVI projects in the near future!

My time with GVI Chiang Mai has been one of the best experiences of my life and I'm so sad to have left! I've learnt so much and met so many amazing people... it really is a little family on base. I have a new-found appreciation for the Karen culture as well as wildlife conservation and sustainable living which I'll take with me wherever I go next. If you're thinking of volunteering abroad I'd highly recommend doing it with GVI. It's so much more than volunteering: you learn about why they do what they do and how important this is to the different bases; all the staff I encountered on my GVI journey were amazingly helpful, friendly and truly loved what they do. I'll definitely be volunteering with GVI again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

In January 2022 I was involved in the GVI Chiang Mai project. As part of the project I helped with the collection of health and behavioural data on a group of Elephants in the mountainous village of Huay Pakoot. Each weekday we hiked to where the elephants were eating their breakfast and observed them, recording their behaviour and interactions with other elephants at set intervals. Seeing these creatures in the wild gave me a greater understanding of why it's so important to protect them. I didn't fully comprehend the complexities of the tourism industry surrounding Elephants but speaking to the locals and GVI staff has educated me on the most ethical ways to experience these animals- in their natural habitat! I was lucky enough to be able to complete this project and travel to and around Thailand with my boyfriend. I'd highly recommend having a travelling companion because it's wonderful to share the experiences together and reflect on the trip when back home. However, I wouldn't let a lack of travel buddy stop you from travelling! You meet so many amazing, like-minded people along the way that you soon have a great group of friends to share your time with. Before deciding to volunteer, I had no idea what I wanted to do with the next stage of my life. I thought I'd enjoy doing something that involved helping others and protecting the world around me but I wasn't sure what that looked like. Having this experience has reassured me that I really want to be a part of something important and impactful. If you have the opportunity to volunteer with GVI, take it.