Bangkok (Lonely Planet) - Andrew Burke [223]
Australian Volunteers International (www.australianvolunteers.com)
US Peace Corps (www.peacecorps.gov)
Volunteer Service Abroad (www.vsa.org.nz)
Voluntary Service Overseas VSO Canada (www.vsocanada.org); VSO UK (www.vso.org.uk)
The more popular form of volunteering, sometimes called ‘voluntourism’, is something you actually pay to do. This is a fast-growing market, and a quick web search for ‘Thailand volunteering’ will turn up pages of companies offering to place you in a project in return for your hard-earned. With these companies you can be a volunteer for periods ranging from a week to months or even years. Fees vary, but start at about €500 for four weeks. The projects can be very good, ongoing affairs with a solid chance of success. But some are not. The list below is a starting point and should not be read as a recommendation. Do your own research and check out all the options before making a decision; consider phoning them to ask, among other things, where your money will go.
Locally focused organisations include Volunthai (www.volunthai.com) and Thai Experience (www.thai-experience.org). Other general volunteering sites worth looking at are the Global Volunteer Network (www.volunteer.org.nz), Idealist (www.idealist.org) and Volunteer Abroad (www.volunteerabroad.com), which lists available positions with a variety of companies. Multicountry organisations that sell volunteering trips:
Cross Cultural Solutions (www.crossculturalsolutions.org)
Cultural Embrace (www.culturalembrace.com)
Global Crossroad (www.globalcrossroad.com)
Global Service Corps (www.globalservicecorps.org)
Institute for Field Research Expeditions (www.ifrevolunteers.org)
Open Mind Projects (www.openmindprojects.org)
Starfish Ventures (www.starfishventures.co.uk)
Thai Volunteer (www.thaivolunteer.org)
Transitions Abroad (www.transitionsabroad.com)
Travel to Teach (www.travel-to-teach.org)
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WOMEN TRAVELLERS
Contrary to popular myth, Thailand doesn’t receive a higher percentage of male visitors than most other countries. In fact around 40% of visitors are women, a higher ratio than the worldwide average as measured by the World Tourism Organization. The overall increase for women visitors has climbed faster than that for men in almost every year since the early 1990s.
Everyday incidents of sexual harassment are much less common in Thailand than in India, Indonesia or Malaysia, and this might lull women familiar with those countries into thinking that Thailand is safer than it is. If you’re a woman travelling alone it’s worth pairing up with other travellers when moving around at night or, at the least, avoiding quiet areas. Make sure hotel and guesthouse rooms are secure at night – if they’re not, request another room or move to another hotel or guesthouse.
When women are attacked in Thailand it usually happens in remote beach or mountain areas, and very rarely in Bangkok. So while common-sense precautions are recommended at all times, be especially vigilant if you’re on a beach, and even more if you’re alone and you’ve been drinking.
Whether it’s tampons or any other women-specific product, you’ll have no trouble finding it in Bangkok.
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WORK
Bangkok’s status as the heart of the Thai economy provides a variety of employment opportunities for foreigners, and tens of thousands live and work here. Having said that, fà·ràng are not allowed to work in certain professions (such as medical doctors) and finding a job can be more difficult than it is in more developed countries.
All employment in Thailand requires a Thai work permit. Thai law defines work as ‘exerting one’s physical energy or employing one’s knowledge, whether or not for wages or other benefits’, so theoretically even volunteer and missionary work requires a permit. Work permits should be obtained via an employer, who may file for the permit before the employee arrives in-country. The permit itself is not issued until the employee enters Thailand