Volunteer Assignments in Thailand and Southeast Asia

I first came to Openmind Projects in 2023 after spending a year teaching english in Vietnam. I was on my way home to Ireland after a late Gap Year!! I am a solo mature female traveller and working with Open Mind Projects in Nongkhai was an absolute joy. I stayed almost 4 weeks at that time teaching english to students from a college for Disabled Students who are upskilling in all areas. This wasn't just english for the sake of giving instructions - this was to help these students to add to their list of developed skills and enable them to have choice moving forward in the workforce in their local communities. They were an a motivated group of students who fully committed to the class with determination, fun and laughter. I came back for a week in 2024 and have subsequently now come again in August 2026 for another 2 weeks. I take 2 classes a day in the college and I can honestly say that the 2.5 hours I spend there with the students feels like 10 minutes. They are lively and engaging and not afraid to try out their english vocabulary. There are a total of 46 students in the college at the moment and they are learning IT SKills, Cooking, Life Skills as well as english and other subjects they are particularly interested in. Whatever skills you have or want to volunteer with - the team here in Open Mind Projects will find fulfilling work where you will genuinely feel like you are making some sort of small difference in the world. We are not going to change the world - but we hope to contribute in some small way to these young people who will inspire you with their attitude.

I never volunteered after school. Studying and then starting the work / marry / family grind immediately after school always left me with a lingering feeling that I missed out on a very valuable experience. However, OpnmindProjects gave me a an opportunity and taught me a lesson: It is never too late and life doesn’t have to be linear. We spent two weeks as a family (Mother and three daughters) volunteering at OpemindProjects Foundation. It was a truly wholesome, special experience for all of us. The care and training of the Openmind team, the amazing kids we got to work with (we were focusing on teaching English), the food and even Nong Khai - all of it has created memories we will cherish for ever. We loved the aspect of volunteering but also staying in one place for slightly longer than one would for a normal holiday, getting a deeper understanding of local culture and language. I can wholeheartedly recommend this organisation and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

To be able to work alongside local staff and trainees from Laos and Myanmar was also a very joyful experience as well as a two-way exchange of experience.

The 3 days training was fun as well as a very efficient way to get into the team very quickly.
Everybody was very welcoming and nice, and all in all it was a very rewarding experience.

I miss everybody, and look forward to do it again soon

Keep up the fantastic job

Francis Ponce

Excellent program and believe me, i'm not sugar coating it.

At first, Openmind Projects took me by surprise - the size of the training centre / facilities / living conditions / way of life but with every new place, environment and culture, it has its own challenges and i knew i had to learn how to adapt.

Adapting was easy for me because of the extremely helpful and genuinely nice local staffs and trainees. It didn't take long for me to feel at home.

One of my bestest experiences were the learning camps in October. They were out of the norm with engaging and exciting programs like debates and v-logs. It pushed me out of my comfort zone to patiently interact and converse with locals who speak minimal english. Despite the language barrier, it was so much fun making videos, preparing for debates, cheering them on and the best part, was to see the change in them overtime. It was very, very rewarding!

Indeed, my highlight of 2016 (:

I volunteered with Open Mind projects for about 4 months and I had sooo much fun! I taught English in the volunteer center in Nong Khai for a month and in a village in Phuket for the rest of my stay. In Nong Khai i received a 3-day intensive cultural and language training which really helped in the communication with the locals and the students as well as behaving respectfully towards the locals, so if you are thinking about volunteering for this organisation, I absolutely recommend it. It a bit tiring, because for 3 days you learn so many things, but it is also very helpful. The accommodation in the training center is not great, but it is comfortable, even though it can get a bit warm at times, despite the fans. Also, the stuff of the organisation are very friendly and helpful.

While I was staying in Phuket I lived with a host family. At first I was feeling a bit nervous about doing that, as it was my fist time volunteering abroad etc. but they people from open minds talked me into it and i never regretted it.The family was very welcoming and polite and I had my own room with 2 fans! The assisted me in every way possible and they were just amazing :D In Phuket I taught in a school and helped in the promotion of the local activities for tourism purposes.

Teaching at schools was a wonderful experience and the children give you so much love and most of them are really interested to learn. Yet, it is school so there are always troubles with some. Also, Open Mind projects encourages the "learning by doing" teaching method which I found very beneficial for the students, as it helped them memorize things better! So, you have to be creative and come up with games to teach them things, which can mean as much fun for you as for them.

Also, Thailand is so very cheap! Both Nong khai and mai-khao, the village i stayed at in phuket, were very cheap. You can have an hour for massage for less than 10 euros! An extra bonus to the very low fees of the open mind projects, which are very reasonable.

I'm now back at Openmind projects for the second time this year. I was here for a month in march/april and I loved it so much I came back again in june for another two months.

I've done/still doing teaching English at the centre in Nong Khai, teaching English at a village school in Cambodia and also took part in two holiday camps in april.

Everything has been so much fun, an experience i'd never want to be without. At the centre you all live together and it didn't take long til I felt like a part of the Openmind family. I really enjoyed staying with a local family in Cambodia too, Hak and his family are absolutly lovely and it is such a great way to experience a new culture.

Thank you my openmind family for everything! x

Malin

We had a new experience in Ubon Ratchathani and Samrong Hospital as nurse students. We were the first ones who did it was amazing. Our hostfamily was great! They took very good care of us, learned us thai language and important things about the rules and culture things.

Hospital staff was great! They loved us because they do not see much white colored people, so we were also the first western people for some of the thai people! They learned us about the thai style of nursing but at the same time they learned things from us as well.

Great experience overall and Openmin staff took good care of us from first beginning and all the way to the end.

This will not be my last time cooperating with openmind! I will be back helping them soon as possible :)

I spent a total of 2.5 months at Openmind projects barred at the head office in Nong Khai helping with various projects including development of staff members and trainees at the centre. I also took part in the two October camps and did some teaching in a local school.

From day one I was given a fantastic amount of support and made to feel like part of the Openmind family.

This is something I'd really recommend to anyone looking to get up closer and personal with a culture that is very different from that of what we consider a western culture. You learn a whole lot more about life here in southeast Asia than simply just traveling and you get to make a difference to so many people lives here that really need it.

The main thing I'd recommend to anyone looking to come volunteer at a place like this is not to have too many set expectations and to never assume that everything runs to a strict plan all of the time. Take each day as it comes and learn to enjoy it even if it's not what you had originally planned. It all works out in the end!!

Come for the experience, come for the enjoyment, come to help in every way that you can. You'll be making a difference even when you thing that your not.

Thank you to everyone that made my time in Nong Khai so special!

Daniel