Hey Everyone,

Well this is my last entry for Thailand, I have now left Wildlife Friends of Thailand for my next GVN program in Vietnam.

These past two months I have spent at the centre have been wonderful, it has been an amazing experience! I hope to come back and volunteer again in the future.

There is so much I am going to miss:
-The animals of course, over the two months I was here I really got to know the animals and I am going to really miss them!
-The people, I met some lovely people! it was really nice being surrounded by people with similar values as myself, we are all there for the same reason, to help the animals!
-The surroundings, the centre is in a lovely location it is in the middle of nowhere! it is so peaceful! there is a beautiful lake opposite the centre you could gaze across while having breakfast.
Being surrounded by nature and all it’s beauty really is something! waking up in the morning to sounds of wolves howling (which is actually the 15 dogs that live at the centre), gibbons singing (a sound I will never forget, it is beautiful)and roosters cock a doodle do ing, it’s just magical!
-The wonderful food, the Thai cooks do a fantastic job at cooking for such a large group, I know I would struggle. The assortment of fruit is fantastic! I am going to miss my fresh fruit salad I had for breakfast every morning!
-The weather, I love the weather! it is so nice waking up to blue sky and sunshine every morning and knowing you get to spend the day working outside in it! my tan I managed to get while at the centre will not last long when I get home in a months time, it will be autumn so not much sun around then.
-The Thai people! they are such lovely, friendly people.

The one and only thing I am definately NOT going to miss are the creepy crawlies!(ants, mossies, spiders and cockroaches)

I would like to say a big Thank You to Wildlife Friends of Thailand for an amazing two months, these are two months of my life I will never forget!

Also Thank you to GVN for all their help in preperation for this trip, and all the follow up emails throughout my placement making sure everything was running smoothly!

Well that is it for me, I am sad I am at the end of my Thailand program, I will miss it very much, but I am looking forward to my next adventure of a month in Vietnam at the orphanage program. Thanks for reading, Take care, and to my family and friends see you in a month!
Love Ang XXXX

Hey sorry this is going to be another long one, so much for writing smaller amounts more often aye!

Well I have now been at the centre two months and I love it!
Alot has happened in the last month so I will fill you in as briefly as possible or you will be here all day.

Well where do I start?. . . There was a fire on one of the gibbon islands, the one furtherest away from the centre, we are not sure howq it started. It was around 5.30pm so most people had just finished for the day. I had just got out of the shower and was getting dresssed when there was a knock at my door, it was my room mate telling me the island was on fire. We gathered as many people as possible for that time of day (alot of people go to the village around five to email and do shopping) so there was about eight of us, we grabbed buckets and headed on foot to the island. We got as close as we could by land then had to swim the rest of the way. This sounds like an easy task but it is not when you are fully clothed (wearing jeans and t-shirt, you can’t take anything off as there were local Thai people helping to put out the fire and it would have been very offensive to them) we were also carrying a bucket each so swimming with a bucket is a real mission as it keeps filling with water and weighing you down. When we got close to the island (we can’t actually go onto the island as the gibbons are part of the rehabilitation and release program they have been rehabilitated and are waiting for release so they hate humans, they have no human contact at all as their food is prepared by us but taken out to them by the Thai staff who throw it onto the island from a boat) we started throwing buckets of water onto the fire to put it out, we formed a chain and eventually we were able to put the fire out. It was very tiring work and the smoke made it quite hard to breathe so the swim back to shore was alot harder than expected, we were all exhausted! The poor gibbons were quite stressed of course with their island being on fire and also with all of us coming so close to their island, they knew we were there to help them and thankfully no gibbons were hurt.

I was one of the seven lucky volunteers that got to go and check out an area for the new marine project Edwin is looking at setting up. We spent three days at a beautiful beach (approx 3 hours south of Phetchaburi) we spent most of the time snorkeling, it was amazing! there is a whole other world beneath the surface of the sea, it is magical! we saw so many different types of fish and we got to explore several coral reefs, we had such a good time. The area is perfect for the new project.

We have had several new arrivals lately, mainly people’s pets who have become too much for them to handle or have been rescued because they are being mistreated in some way. We now have some hornbills, civets and a leopard cat that came from the Bangkok area. In the last two days we have had a baby long tailed macaque which is tiny and was handed into the centre, and a baby bear that was rescued from Hua Hin. It is so upsetting to see such young animals at the centre, they should be with their mothers in the wild. I imagine both these animals have been subject to the illegal pet trade where the mother / family are killed by poachers so they can then take the baby and sell it as a pet. The only way this will stop is if people stop purchasing animals as pets, then the poachers will stop killing these innocent animals and taking their babies as there would no longer be a market for it.

Back to the gibbon islands again. We have eight gibbon islands, seven of which are in use. Now the only thing keeping these gibbons on the islands is the fact they are surrounded by water, gibbons do not like water, they can not swim. So these islands have no cages or fences, they are lovely green islands that have alot of trees, bush and grass for the gibbons to play in. Now it has been very hot lately (the whole two months I have been here) so everything is very dry, and the water level of the lake has been gradually declining, so much so that one of the gibbon islands (the one closest to land) had water shallow enough that without us realising and with the help of rocks as stepping stones two of the five gibbons on this island came onto land and actually attacked a group of volunteers who were returning from the forest where they had taken the elephants to spend the night. The group of volunteers managed to run into the water and swim out to where they were safe since the gibbons do not swim, but before getting into the water one of the gibbons jumped onto one of the volunteers back which would have been very scarey for her, she wasn’t hurt she just had a few scratches. So now that we were aware that the water had dropped so low the gibbons can get off the island it was time to relocate them to the island that was not being used, this island is further away from shore so the surrounding water is a lot deeper. The gibbons have settled in to life on their new island and are very happy.

Speaking of animals escaping, we had just had lunch and Sue and I were taking Sam the horse his lunch time bowl of rice when we heard a strange noise, further investigation found that a macaque Ritchie had escaped and was sitting on Dundee the crocodile’s fence making these strange noises. Sue ran to tell Edwin that a macaque was on the loose and as soon as Sue had gone another macaque started running my way, so we had two macaques on the loose. Edwin came along with the vet and by this stage Ritchie had gone back in to his enclosure but the other macaque was having a great time running all around the outside of her neighbours enclosure, it’s funny that when they escape they never go far from their enclosure, I guess they know they have got it pretty good at the centre. Edwin managed to catch the other macaque with bananas and put her back in her enclosure. The next mission was to find how they managed to get out. I was standing talking to the vet, I was facing the enclosure and Mark the vet had his back to the enclosure, I was saying “I wonder how they managed to get out” just as I said that another macaque was squeezing out of a hole in the fence just above Marks shoulder. She had her head and shoulders out of the hole, when Mark turned around she backed back thru the hole into her enclosure. Someone went and grabbed some wire and Edwin wired up the hole. Two days later a similar thing happened and the same two escaped again thru a different hole they made in the fence, but again they didn’t go far, they probably think it is a fun game (make a hole in the fence, escape, then we get extra bananas when we get caught)it’s great enrichment for the macaques!

Well last but not least is my stressful walk with Sam the horse. Now I will mention I have not had a lot to do with horses and have not taken horses for walks before coming to the centre. Now Sam and I are friends, I often take him his bowls of rice so he likes me because I feed him basically. Well this particular morning I had done all my duties and had about an hour to fill in, my friend was on quarintine which is wher Sam lives but he is normally out around the centre during the day, so I went to see my friend who was about to take Sam for a walk and asked if I would mind taking him instead as she had a few things she needed to do. I said sure thinking it would be fun. Well off we go for our walk, I let Sam decide which way he would like to go and he seems to know the way, we are having a lovely walk when Sam just drops to the ground and starts rolling all around, he is on his back kicking his legs all around and his eyes are open but rolled back into his head, I was terrified thinking there was something seriously wrong with him! I was thinking maybe he ate a poisonious plant or maybe he is really dehyrated as it was very hot and we had been walking for a good 20 minutes. Well after a few minutes Sam got up off the ground and was a bit wobbly on his feet he then started stamping his foot and making funny noises but he wanted to continue on so I thought I will just keep an eye on him and if it happens again we will head back. Off we went and he seemed back to normal, then he did it all again so I told Sam we were heading back and he just stood there and wouldn’t move! (he was having a great time and didn’t want to go back, mean while I was panicing thinking he must be unwell) eventually we headed back and on the way back he did it all again! when we got back I tied him up to a tree in the shade, took him a bucket of nice cold water and off I went to find the vet. Well other than maybe having a bit of a sore stomach Sam was fineand after to talking to a few other volunteer aparently this is normal horse behaviour, it was Sam’s way of telling me he was having a good time! if only someone had told me that before we went for our walk!

So that is my summary of the last month, as you can see I am having a great time, full of adventure, no day is the same. I love working outside all day every day, it is hot but I love it.

Well I had better get going, sorry again that this entry is so long. To my friends and family reading this thanks for all of the emails, sorry I don’t get much time to reply but you are all in my thoughts. Take care.
Love Ang XXXX

Well where do I start? . . . I have now been in Thailand for two weeks and I love it!

This journal entry will be a long one as it covers the two weeks I have been here, in future I will try to do shorter entries more frequently.

I arrived at the new Bangkok airport 30/01/07. After walking for what seemed like half an hour I collected my luggage, then came the mission of finding my way out, finally mission accomplished. my next task was to find a bus heading into Bangkok to my hotel, I found the bus, hopped on and a Thai lady who spoke English came around with her clipboard asking the passengers destinations so she could let us know which stop to get off at. She wrote mine down and told me the nearest stop to my hotel was at the monument and from there it is a ten minute walk. So far so good until the bus leaves the airport without the English speaking Thai lady who is supposed to tell us all where to get off so we are left with a Thai speaking driver and her clipboard with our stops on, about know is when I start to regret saving money by taking the bus rather than catching a cab. I looked around the bus at the other passengers who do not seem to be alarmed and seem to be getting let off at their stops ok. After being on the bus for about 45 minutes and passing a few monuments (there are heaps of monuments everywhere) I decided to approach the driver to ask how far away my stop is, he managed to communicate that he was really sorry but he had missed my stop and I had best get off at the next stop. By this stage it is almost midnight and it is dark outside and we are not in a very well lit area that goodness there is a cab right beside the bus stop so I caught the cab to my hotel. So the bus driver missing my stop was a blessing in discuise if he hadn’t missed my stop I would have had to walk in the dark by myself from the bus stop to the hotel which would not have been a pleasant walk.
My hotel was lovely, I would definately reccommend staying at The Hotel De Moc it was 1000 baht a night and had all the luxuries of a swimming pool, a spa for beauty treatments and massages, large rooms which were very clean, air conditioning, bath, hot showers, complimentry breakfast the next morning and also a free tuk tuk to Khaosan Road. The staff were lovely and really bent over backwards to make you feel welcome. So I arrived at midnight had a great sleep, had a lovely breakfast and took the free tuk tuk to Khaosan Road. I spent the morning shopping and when I was all shopped out I headed back to the hotel for an afternoon by the swimming pool, it was lovely. That night the hotel had a pool party and provided complimentry food and drinks to the hotel guests. This was a great idea especially for someone like me who is travelling alone and would normally be dinning alone it got everyone mingling, I met some lovely people and had a really good night. After the pool party I treated myself to a traditional Thai massage. This I found out is not really what you would call a relaxing massage, it is a cross between massage and yoga, it is quite firm massage and actually quite painful at times with alot of stretching and uncomfortable positions. It is very thorough they work from toe to head including cracking your toes and massaging your scalp and ears. The massage was good, I did feel much better for it!
The next day it was time to head to my placement at Wildlife Friends of Thailand in the Phetaburi province. I caught a cab from the hotel to the southern bus terminal which I had expected to be a bus station but in fact it is just a open area with alot of buses parked there. My cab driver took me to the correct bus which I was taking to Cha Am. I purchased my ticket on the bus for 140 baht (huge difference in price to a cab which costs anywhere from 1500 – 3000 baht depending on the cab)when purchasing my ticket on the bus I asked the guy selling the tickets to please let me know when I get to Cha Am (after my experience the night before with my bus I wanted to make sure I got off at the correct stop)the bus journey was very pleasant with air conditioning and a movie (in Thai of course)it took about 3 1/2 hours and by the end of the trip there were actually three other people also getting off in Cha Am so we all got off together. I would definately reccommend this bus trip to anyone who is wanting to go from Bangkok to Cha Am. In Cha Am I borrowed a local Thai guys mobile (everyone is so friendly, there was a pay phone but you needed a phone card which I didn’t have so he offered me his mobile) and called the centre to organise my pick up, within minutes there was an unmarked taxi there to pick me up. The driver knew my name and told me the centre had sent him to pick me up, he pointed out the pineapple farms as we passed them, it sounds really silly but I didn’t know pineapples grow close to the ground I always thought they grew on trees like coconuts!
I arrived at the centre at lunch time which I guess was a good time to arrive if you want to meet everyone all at once, everyone at the centre has all there meals together like one big family.
The meals are great, they cater for vegetarians and vegans as well as meat eaters. The meals are mainly traditional Thai food with some western food now and then.
I was shown to my room which is nice, we have basic accommodation which you normally share with one other person, we have our own bathroom with non flush toilet and a cold shower.
I then had a tour of the centre, it is huge, it took me a few days to find my way around, I am really impressed with the animals enclosures they are a really good size, most of them have swimming pools and climbing frames the animals are really well looked after, they even get filtered water in their water buckets!
It’s amazing waking in the morning to the gibbons singing and calling out to the other gibbons.
Every day you have different duties at the centre and with different people which is great but I will tell you more about next entry as I am aware this is getting very long.
You get one day off a week so I had one last Thursday which I spent in Hua Hin and then today which I spent in Cha Am.
Hua Hin is about an hour away from the centre, I left on Wednesday night with two other girls from the centre, we spent the night in a lovely hotel, had an full body oil massage the next day and then spent the afternoon on the beach swimming and sun bathing. A group of people from the centre came to Hua Hin after work and we had a lovely dinner together at an Italian restaurant then headed to the night markets, a lovely day had by all.
Cha Am is about forty minutes from the centre, I left on wednesday night with two other girls from the centre (a different two girls)we stayed in a lovely hotel which is really good value called Cha Am Villa Beach Hotel we got a room for 800 baht my room mate and I shared a room as we share at the centre anyway so it was 400 baht each (NZ$15)which includes a complimentry breakfast. The hotel has a swimming pool, free internet, hot water, flush toilets and is so nice and clean (bug free), the rooms have wee balconey’s at the front, it is right across the road from the beach, surrounded by lovely cafes and restaurants and the staff are so lovely and friendly and they speak English! we will definately be coming back here on our days off. My once a week treat on my day off and for that price you can’t go wrong! We spent the day having a look around Cha Am, swimmming and lying on the sun lounges by the pool and eating non Thai food since we have it twice a day at the centre.
Also just a tip for any of you heading to Thailand anytime soon, don’t panic too much if your taxi drives all over the road the lanes just seem to be a guide here same goes with red lights and stop signs we haven’t stopped at any yet they just go straight on thru without really looking, at first we were hanging onto our seats when coming to a blind corner on the wrong side of the road and running red lights and stop signs but now we are used to it.
Anyway better get going as taxi will be here any minute to take us back to the centre.
Well to my friends and family reading this, I miss you heaps but I am having a fantastic time. Take care and I will try to write again soon.

Hey everyone,

Im just giving this journal a test run to make sure I can keep in touch with you all while I am away.

Just two days to go and I am off to Thailand on an exciting adventure! I hope to be logging on regularly to share my experience’s with you all.

My next entry will be from Thailand, I can’t wait!

Take care and we will talk soon

Love Ang XXXX