Travel For Teens: Thailand

After traveling with TFT last summer to Paris, France, Cinque Terre, Italy, Florence, Italy, and Interlaken, Switzerland, I thought nothing could top the memories I made on this whirlwind trip. However, traveling to Thailand this summer as a Counselor in Training gave me a whole new level of appreciation for TFT and the impact the staff truly has on shaping the campers' experiences. I loved the balance between community service, cultural exploration, and exhilarating adventures. Everyday brought something new and different, especially as we traveled across the country to experience the natural beauty, bustling cities, and breathtaking islands Thailand has to offer. I can't recommend this trip enough for future campers and am so excited to continue working with TFT in the future! Go TFT!

I got to go on the Thailand Elephant and Explores trip with TFT this summer! It was my 4th trip with TFT and one of my favorites. We got to do amazing service work taking care of elephants at an elephant sanctuary, getting to work hands on with the enormous animals. We also got to go on a two-day white-water rafting trip down the Pai river, which allowed us to see Thailand from a completely different perspective. The food on the trip was delicious, and every activity we did was so much fun! staff were always there to help and answer any questions I may have had. The counselors on my trip were approachable, fun, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable of the country we were in. They made sure the trip ran smoothly the entire time, as well as making sure everyone on the trip was having a good time!
got to learn so much about the Thai culture thanks to Travel for Teens.

Thailand. We have all heard of this incredible country before. It’s your perfect tropical Southeast Asian paradise. Everything from encounters with amazing wildlife to some of the best beaches on the planet put this country on everyone’s bucket list. Unfortunately, with this being such a popular tourist destination, it has become overrun with foreigners in recent years. I realized this when I signed up for Thailand Elephant Service & The Islands trip, and I was quite worried that my trip would not live up to the “Thailand paradise” expectations. Fortunately, Travel for Teens understood this as well, and the only time I saw large amounts of foreigners throughout my entire vacation was at the airport, as you would expect. Outside the airport, I was blessed with what I can confidently say is my absolute favorite trip I have ever had the pleasure of going on (and I have been to 30 countries and 6 continents in total, including Antarctica). Travel for Teens seeks out activities to participate in that your standard teen tour group will not do. Nearly all other Thailand “adventure programs” listed on this website will in fact not be much of an adventure at all. They will instead take you to major tourist destinations, and that’s it – that’s where Travel for Teens sets itself apart from the crowd. Of course, one of the major highlights of this trip were the incredible few days up in Northern Thailand where we had the privilege to work with elephants in their retirement parks. Here, elephants rescued from the lumber business and street performing in Bangkok were provided a safe haven to live out the rest of their days in peace. Being able to get up close and personal with these creatures allowed my group and I to see how gentle they truly were. There was a sense of kindness in their eyes that I haven’t seen before – anywhere. It’s truly an incredible experience. We were quite a ways away from the city and in an area where there were more elephants than people, and in this situation we were able to escape the “standard Thailand vacation”. We helped bathe the elephants alongside feeding the baby elephants – they were very cute. We learned a ton about these massive creatures: everything from how they only sleep 4 hours a day on average to how it costs upwards of $300,000 per year for food for each elephant to how riding an elephant for a prolonged period actually gives them back problems later on in life. All of this wouldn’t be possible on a standard Thailand vacation where you may actually ride an elephant yourself, or just see them briefly perform. Travel for Teens gives you the unique experience to work with the elephants themselves and that is something I truly treasure. Another incredible experience this Thailand Elephant Service & The Islands trip provided me was a two-day rafting trip out in the remote Thailand jungle. For nearly two full days, we saw no trace of civilization: no roads, no houses – nothing. This is a true Thailand adventure, given we traveled over one hundred miles downriver between the towns of Pai and Mae Hong Son in far northwestern Thailand close to the border with Myanmar. We camped overnight alongside the river, and despite it perhaps not being your “luxury” overnight stay, it was the time when everyone bonded the quickest. Being in a raft for many hours amounted to great conversations and before long, I realized just how incredible the group I traveled with was. They made the trip fantastic as much as the trip itself did, and that’s saying quite a lot considering just how amazing the itinerary was. Everything else from scuba diving in some of the most pristine reefs imaginable to trying some of the most delicious food you could possibly fathom summed this trip up to be my absolute favorite I have ever been on with Travel for Teens. I have participated in nine trips in total with the company, and this is number one on my list. Do not miss out on an incredible opportunity to see and experience things you will be unable to see anywhere else on Earth. This trip is the trip of a lifetime.

This trip is the perfect way to expose yourself to Thai culture and participate in a fun community service experience. The first part of the trip we went to two different elephant sanctuaries. The information that I was able to obtain from these sanctuaries was intriguing and I learned so much about Thai history in regard to elephants. Along with informative talks, we had the opportunity to wash the elephants, give them mud baths, feed them, and take them for walks. To be able to touch and interact with such huge animals was the coolest thing I have ever done and I will never forget it!
After a few days at the elephant sanctuaries, we explored the cities nearby. I tried food I had never even heard of and by the end of the trip I was obsessed with Pad Thai, a delicious noodle dish. We also spent time on the islands. We spent a day on a private boat and I went scuba diving for the very first time!
This trip really opened my eyes to Thai culture and allowed me to experience things I could have never imagined! By far one of the best trips I have ever taken. I got to bring home so many new memories and months later I still talk to my new friends I met on the trip. Overall- amazing trip!

I traveled with TFT the summer of 2016 and have not forgotten a moment of it. From the beautiful site seeing to adventurous white water rafting, I had loved every minute. Travel for Teens did something to me that no other experience has been able to do: Give me the travel bug. I have such a love and yearning to travel and experience new cultures and have TFT to thank! The staff was incredible and I can honestly say that they were the ringmasters to making the trip as wonderful as it was. The travelers with me were kind and funny and I still think of them often! I went on the “Thailand Elephant Service and the Islands” trip and although I had never been on a trip like this before, I felt completely safe and like I had been traveling to countries like it my entire life. We experienced swimming in a serene waterfall, feeding and bathing gorgeous elephants, and relaxing on the beach. With a perfect mix of calmness and adventure, there isn’t a trip I could recommend more!

Going to Thailand was an experience I will never forget. I traveled with a couple friends I had met on a previous TFT trip, which was awesome! TFT gave me the opportunity to experience things I probably never could have if I had traveled on my own, like doing community service with elephants! Through doing community service, exploring Thai markets, and island hopping I was able to experience many different aspects of the country. I happened to get sick for a few days near the end of my trip, but my TFT counselors made sure to take great care of me and help me in any way they could. I definitely felt a little out of my comfort zone camping in the jungles of Thailand, but it was a learning experience that I will value forever! I had so much fun traveling with TFT!

This was my Fourth TFT trip and definitely the most fulfilling!! I went to Thailand the summer of 2017 and had an amazing experience. We had some thrilling adventures, like zip lining and scuba diving, but my favorite part was the service aspect. We helped with renovations to a school in a small village near Chiang Mai. I was also lucky enough to participate in the optional excursion to Angkor Watt in Cambodia. The temples were breathtaking and I consider it one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. We had a small group so everyone on the trip, including the counselors got pretty close. I recommend this trip to anyone looking for an experience of a lifetime.

Traveling with TFT was an amazing experience. I felt I was able to become immersed in the local culture of Thailand. We took traditional Thai cooking classes, learned some of the Thai language an interacted with the people. Being able to work with the elephants was an eye opening experience. I loved learning about their day to day life at the reserve. After the service, traveling the country was very cool. We visited ornate temples full of history, explored the colorful markets of several cities, and enjoyed the quaint villages along the countryside. The islands were full of animal and human life and the water was a beautiful blue. I became very close with my counselors and the other teens on my trip and created memories I will be able to cherish forever.