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• You are here: Home | AV Ventures | Thailand Venture | Itinerary

Itinerary - Africa and Asia Venture

Itinerary

ARRIVING IN THAILAND

The group flight departs from London Heathrow and will be seen off by one of the AV team. You will fly into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. You will take an internal flight to Chiang Rai, where you will meet Bryan and Rosie Massingham, the AV representatives for the Thailand Venture. Together you will travel to Tha Ton, about one and a half hours through some of northern Thailand’s stunning scenery – your base for the orientation course.

BRIEFING AND ORIENTATION

This is a chance to settle in, unwind after the hectic few days leading up to your departure, long journey and an opportunity to get to know your AV group. The orientation course is important to make sure you are fully prepared when you arrive in your school. It will be led by Bryan and Rosie, giving you a chance to get to know them too. You will be based at Maekok River Village Resort in Tha Ton where they will:

• Teach you about Thai history, culture, customs and polite behaviour
• Teach you some Thai
• Teach you some basic Thai cooking
• Discuss safety issues
• Give you some training in teaching English

During the course you will have a chance to practice teaching on each other and on local Thai children. There will be plenty of free time to relax and get to know each other better over some Pad Thai.

After the orientation course you will head out to the villages. All villages are within 90 minutes of Tha Ton and of the hospital at Mae Ai. Your new home will be close to the school, or actually inside the grounds, at the heart of the village. Here the AV representative will leave you to settle into your new home, but remember they’re never more than a phone call away if needed!

THE PROJECT

Our gap year projects and volunteering opportunities in Thailand join forces with the Maekok River Village Project which works to improve facilities in schools in the Fang Valley. AV volunteers work at primary or middle schools with local children or those from nearby hill tribe villages. Your volunteer placement will involve you teaching spoken English to the children, and perhaps to teachers and villagers.

You will be formally welcomed to the school. It will take a bit of time to know all the staff, but you will be looked after by one of the English teachers (who may not be a confident English speaker!). The school will normally give you lunch, shared with the other teachers. Schools are always at the centre of the village communities, so you will be very well known and your presence much appreciated. Socialising in the staffroom and outside of the school gives you a chance to get to know the staff who will explain the Thai way of life and traditions, perhaps teach you some Thai dancing or Takraw (a sort of cross between volleyball and football). 

The Thai schools’ English syllabus is entirely an exercise in writing, so neither teachers nor children get a chance to speak it. That’s where you come in! You will teach each of the different classes in your school two or three times per week, helping the Thai English teacher with pronunciation and giving the children a massive boost in confidence. Most pupils will be aged between 4-11 years old and class sizes can vary. The children respect older people (you!) but can be quite cheeky and are very competitive!

Outside lessons you may be asked to run separate English classes - teaching reading in smaller groups. Most schools have a quiet period after lunch.

There is also plenty of opportunity to play sports with the children, all schools are built around a football pitch-sized space so there is scope to play football, basketball or volleyball. Alternatively you can help with clubs for art, music or drama. You will need to apply energy to start extra classes for local villagers, for example, to arrange activities or sports with other schools, but it will be worth it! Scouting is important in Thai schools and scout or guide uniforms are worn once a week. On other days different dress is worn.
 
Thailand is intensely patriotic and, at the pinnacle of this feeling, is the hugely respected King.  You may have ‘King Day' holidays. Occasionally, schools have picnics or other celebrations at weekends but otherwise your time is free have fun and explore.  This is also a good chance to pop into the local town to do some shopping, check emails, catch up on news from home, or meet up with other AVs, visit their schools and travel in the local area.

To find out what a typical day on project might be like take a look at our ‘Day in the life of an AV’ feature, written by AVs who have been there and done it themselves!