Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [27]
Mae Tao Clinic (Dr Cynthia’s Clinic; 0 5556 3644; www.maetaoclinic.org, Mae Sot) was established in 1989 by Dr Cynthia Maung, a Karen refugee, and provides free medical treatment to around 80,000 Burmese migrants a year. The clinic also helps pay for medical care at one of Mae Sot’s hospitals if the treatment is beyond its capabilities. If you have medical training, the clinic offers volunteer positions for a minimum of six months. There are also administrative and English-teaching opportunities with three-month commitments.
Mirror Art Group (0 5373 7412-3; www.mirrorartgroup.org; 106 Moo 1, Ban Huay Khom, Tambon Mae Yao, Chiang Rai) is an NGO working with hill tribes in the Mae Yao area, 15km west of Chiang Rai. Its volunteer teaching program focuses on developing English-language and IT skills. The program goes for a minimum of five days. Donations of books, toys and clothes are also appreciated.
Ban Thai Guest House (Click here) in Mae Sot can help visitors find informal volunteer spots in schools, child care and at HIV centres. The minimum commitment is usually one month.
Central & Southeastern Thailand
Hilltribe Learning Centre is set on a remote hillside 10km south of Sangkhlaburi and is where Buddhist nun Pimjai Maneerat built her outreach school for ethnic minorities. It was a spot where she used to meditate and where she was approached by villagers hoping to obtain a basic education. The rudimentary school has 70 children, mostly ethnic Karen, and they learn Thai language and basic life skills. Mae Chee Pimjai runs the place virtually single-handedly, welcomes volunteers who can teach, especially English language, or help with daily chores. Basic accommodation is available for anyone wanting to stay a few days (contact P Guest House, Click here).
* * *
The king has sponsored agriculture projects in northern Thailand since 1969 to stop slash-and-burn practices and to eradicate opium production. About 274 villages in six provinces grow mainly chemical-free produce for the royal project.
* * *
Baan Unrak (Click here), in Sangkhlaburi, and Pattaya Orphanage (Click here), in the resort town of Pattaya, are orphanages with long-term volunteer positions.
Homestays
You can travel independently without isolating yourself from the culture by staying at one of Thailand’s local homestays. More popular with domestic tourists, homestays differ from guesthouses in that visitors are welcomed into a family’s home, typically in a small village that isn’t on the tourist trail. Accommodation is basic: usually a mat or foldable mattress on the floor, or occasionally a family will have a private room. Rates include lodging, meals with the family and cultural activities that highlight a region’s traditional way of life, from rice farming to silk weaving. English fluency varies, so homestays are also an excellent way to exercise your spoken Thai.
Every regional Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) office has a list of registered homestays; however, do note that the term ‘homestay’ is sometimes loosely applied to generic guesthouses rather than cultural immersions.
* * *
EXPLOITED CHILDREN
A struggling or fractured family relies on all members of the family to work, a situation that often leads to children working in the sex industry. Although technically illegal, prostitution in Thailand is a well-established cultural phenomenon that employs many consenting adults. But a disturbing subset of this industry is the brothels and karaoke bars that employ children as well as the street prostitution of children.
Urban job centres such as Bangkok and Chiang Mai and border towns such as Mae Sai and Mae Sot have large populations of displaced and marginalised people (Burmese immigrants, ethnic hill-tribe members and impoverished rural Thais) and an attendant occurrence of underage prostitution (younger than