ISV - Volunteer Projects in Thailand

ISV is a wonderful organization that is conscious of providing an authentic experience and always practices sustainable and respectful tourism! I am from America and it was definitely a challenge to be in such a different culture and cut off from instant technology, but that's also one of the many reasons it was so awesome. It's important to control your expectations and know that you are only volunteering for two weeks and that long term development takes time. Go in with an open mind, patience, and sense of adventure and you will have an incredible journey

In 2013, I spent four weeks of my summer volunteering in Thailand, "the land of smiles." I participated in the ISV program at Wildlife 1 Rehabilitation Center in Chiang Dao.
Every day, we would wake up to the glow of the sunrise as it danced over our eyes through the wooden shudders of our sleeping quarters. The sounds of awakening jungle creatures acted as our alarm, never failing to raise us from our cots at the crack of dawn. Thirteen volunteers and five employees sat together at breakfast, discussing the plans and duties of the day below the radiance of the rising sun. Our days began early, but they ended early to avoid the powerful heat. The volunteers were always split in half; one half tended to the animals while the others continued work on the property. Everyday tasks included feeding animals and cleaning their cages, enriching new enclosures with infrastructure, and tending to the garden. A beautiful component of Thai culture is its unyielding appreciation for nature. At Wildlife 1, this gratitude and respect for the environment was heavily emphasized.
So little can be understood about life if we remain in our comfort zones, afraid to accept differences and grasp the complexities of other cultures. Thailand and Wildlife 1 taught me more in four weeks than I have learned in the twenty-one years of my life. I learned about the magnificence of another culture. I was struck by the glistening smiles of individuals as they walked barefoot through the streets, all of their belongings fitted in a bag slung over their back. I gained insight into the dark world of wildlife trafficking, and helped to nurse victims back to health. I discovered how much is taken for granted in the U.S. where we complain when our food isn't cooked right, or our hot water heater is broken. But above all, I learned more about myself than I ever thought I would.
Whether you are an experienced traveler, or you may be considering your first journey out of the country, ISV Thailand is a great program. ISV is very structured, so you don't have to do much in the way of planning. But you also have the freedom to choose different activities, and shape your experience towards your own personal goals.
Before embarking on my journey to Thailand, I was overpowered with nervousness and excitement for weeks leading up to my adventure; I had no idea what to expect. But upon my arrival, it didn't take long for me to realize that this was the best decision I had made with my life thus far. Traveling abroad is one of the most eye opening and mind expanding experiences in life, but volunteering abroad adds an entirely different element.

My advice to all:
1. Break your safety bubble, and jump out of your comfort zone. It may be scary at first, but it is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
2. Be flexible.
3. Open up. ISV is wonderful in the fact that you are surrounded by people with like minded ambitions. Get to know the strangers around you, and in turn you will learn more about yourself, and create lifelong friendships.
6. Work Hard! Volunteering is extremely rewarding. The more effort you put in, the bigger the impact you will make, and the better you will feel.
5. HAVE FUN
6. Bring bug spray...

Such an adventure-great project! Built enrichments for animal enclosures, fed rescued animals, planted permaculture garden, taught English and conservation at local school, set up camera traps, visited temples and explored the local culture. Project leaders were kind-hearted, organized, and knowledgable. Intimate project experience with a large impact.

Exceeded my expectations and changed my life. I am already saving for my next ISV trip. The organization was outstanding and I loved both my 3 ISV leaders as well as my local volunteer guide from ENP.

While many aspects of this adventure made it worthwhile overall, it absolutely was not what I was expecting. I did the Hill Tribe Village/Elephant Nature Park volunteer trip. I worked nonstop for 6 weeks to fundraise the money for the program because I applied so last minute, and only wanted to go to begin with because of the elephants. As an American, our journey there was incredibly long - but I expected that. I wasn't happy to have to front the cost of my flight to LA in addition to everything else, but I did anything necessary to make sure I could help the elephants. After 57 hours of continuous travel, we landed in Chiang Mai. From there it was another hour van ride, 30 minutes PICK UP truck ride [in the bed, not the cab] and hike to our destination.

Our first assignment was to build a new temple for a monk in a very remote Hill Tribe Village. Living conditions here were beyond horrid. Never mind the zero contact with the outside world, I'm talking the basics. No way to flush a toilet. No running water for showers [showers were bucket style, where you take a bowl of freezing FILTHY water and pour it over your head in a room with no hooks for clean clothes, and crawling with hundreds and hundreds of insects]. We only had one western style toilet, the rest were Asian squat, and no toilet paper after the first 2 days. The same filthy water for showering was used for cleaning ourselves after toilet visits.

The kitchen was outside, and our food was prepared on the same cutting boards that flea infested cats, dogs, and a number of other animals lounged on throughout the day. There were no sinks, only a filthy bucket to rinse our plates and pots and reuse them. There was also no soap. And the sponges that were used to 'clean' the items was black with dirt and mold. Nevertheless the food was somehow always delicious and only one in our group got sick. So I'll take that as a win.

As far as the physical labor went on this assignment - we were FAR from safe, but it was actually enjoyable work. We mixed our own cement by hand and cut our own bricks to build and sheet-rock a small temple for the village monk. For scaffolding, we used random pieces of wood haphazardly nailed together to climb and balance on while we held bricks over our heads to put into place. Some of us were lucky enough to climb up three wooden benches that we had borrowed from the local school and stacked atop one another to stand on. This lasted all day every day for a little over a week.

Air conditioning was obviously non existent. And we slept on hard mats on a wooden floor in one room together. Some of our group had to sleep outside for lack of space. It also rained every day, so we were in a constant state of dampness, but that wasn't so bad at all.. Except that our luggage was always damp and smelly and by the end of the tour, one in our group was left with a backpack covered in mold and legitimately growing mushrooms.

We finally left the village and headed to the Elephant Nature Park. The trip was DRASTICALLY improved at this point. The Nature park was wonderful, though the assignments were challenging and tiring. Housing was comfortable, showers were, at times, warm, and toilets were western. Food was AMAZING and prepared in a lovely kitchen with full time staff. [though there was a monkey in the kitchen at one point]. The buffet lines were also seemingly endless with dish fter delicious dish offered. Coffee and tea was available all day. Gift shop opened most of the day, too. Activities and local performances at night. Hour long Massages available for mere dollars [$7, I think]. AND wifi was avaiable and free. And the view was unbelievable. It was an incredible experience.

We were able to be with the elephants up close a few times through out the week. The experience isn't one I am likely to forget in my lifetime.

My favorite part of the nature park, in addition to the elephants, was the structure itself. It was like living in a MASSIVE tree house. The building was so expertly built into the land itself.. No picture could ever do that place justice.

Overall, my experience was worth it. I learned so much through the challenges. I would recommend, however, that you research as much as you can before setting out on your own journey.

In January this year I visited Thailand with the volunteer group ISV.
I completed a conservation project and an adventure tour.
Travelling with ISV was one of the best decision I ever made. I got to spend two weeks working with monkeys, elephants and bears, feeding and bathing them. cleaning out their cages and building new cages and just experiencing a once in a lifetime moment with these animals.
I then spent two weeks doing an ultimate adventure tour where i did everything you could ever imagine. I zip lined through the jungle, spent 2 days kayaking around islands. Spent new years with a local hill tribe family, spent a night in a treehouse where my shower was a waterfall.
I not only had the best time of my life, but i also met some of the best people who I will stay friends with forever. Thank you ISV for giving me the perfect volunteering experience! It was definitely the holiday of a lifetime.

My experience in Thailand was awesome. I lived with locals in the Ban SamChong Village. Our days consisted mostly of waking up to breakfast (sweet rice, pastry things, fruit and instant coffee), painting a Mosque, learning different types of weaving (baskets, fans, etc), eating a delicious home cooked thai lunch, making a lesson plan and then teaching the local kids english and playing games, then another tasty meal and off to bed. The family who housed me were very welcoming and when I became sick my house mother treated me just as my mom would at home, giving me hugs and making sure I was okay. The fruit is absolutely fantastic, I found mangestine at home but its just so much better in Thailand! It was rainy during my stay, the village is on stilts above the water so it did flood and we would have to wade through the water to get around. This also made the walk ways rather slippery so we'd have to watch our step so we didn't fall. It's much hotter in Thailand so the rain wasn't always a bad thing as it cooled us off. We formed great relationships with our host families as well as the children we taught and the morning we left, the dock was filled with people wishing us off in the torrential down pour of rain. It was humbling to see how much of an impact our efforts had on their village. The other half of the trip was the adventure tour. The next accommodation was tree houses in the jungle. This was beside a river, which also happened to flood and although inconvenient, also very cool to see. We sea kayaked, learned muay thai, rock climbed, learned to cook and did so much more. The adventure tour was great fun and the other volunteers helped make the experience that much better. I made great friends and memories of a life time.

I travelled with ISV to Thailand in January 2012. It was my first overseas experience, and one that I can confidently say changed me for the rest of my life.

My specific project was volunteering in a local fishing community in the south of Thailand. Upon arriving in the village by long-tail boat, we were introduced to our host families who warmly opened their homes to us for the duration of our stay. Most host families spoke little to no English, but this did not prove a problem, in fact it resulted in many fun and amusing interactions. The housing was basic, but very clean and homely, with running water and electricity.

Every morning we would eat breakfast at our homes, with lunch and dinner provided by a local cook and eaten communally with the volunteer group. The house I stayed in was on the river-front by the small dock, so each morning we would get to watch as people went to and from the boats to cross over the river for work or the markets.

Following breakfast, we would meet at the school to commence one of our main projects during the volunteer stay; to paint mural on the new water treatment plant in the local primary school. Our other project was teaching English to the children, so we painted murals with Australian animals, shapes, weather and common sayings, all with Thai and English translations.

Following our delicious traditional Thai lunch, we would then do different activities each day; such as a cooking school, learning how to weave reeds into baskets, visiting the rubber tree plantation (how many locals made a living), rubbish collection and mangrove replantation.

Later in the afternoons (once school had finished) we taught English to local primary school children; aged anywhere from four to twelve years old. With younger children we played educational games such as Simon Says, while the older children enjoyed sitting down and learning vocabulary and grammar. This was the most rewarding part of the volunteer experience. Many children in Thailand do not continue on to high school, and it was inspirational to see how many children came to class of their own free will wanting to learn as much as possible.

The evenings were filled with way too much food, reflections on the days work, educational discussions and many fun card games.

The main focus of our volunteer project was to improve the lives of people in the village through promoting eco-tourism. This is obviously a huge project, and not something that can be achieved in two weeks, but the work that we did is one part of a whole that is continually being built on. For these children, learning English not only improves their future opportunities, but promotes their self-esteem and knowledge of the world. The increased self-confidence of the children is something that truly could be seen in two weeks.

While my volunteer group did give to the community, I felt as though they gave so much more to us. It opened my eyes to both the struggles that other people face, but also how happy people can be with seemingly less than what I felt I had. I have come to realise what is important to me, and have changed the way I live based on this. Since then I have travelled to another four countries, and look forward to a life-time of learning about other societies and cultures.