Thailand Volunteer Journals

I’ll be finishing up at the centre Wednesday and leaving Thursday morning. It’s going to be sad going, but work has been hard and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to my stay on Koh Samet. I’ve booked a bungalow on the beach (http://www.thai-tour.com/thai-tour/East/Rayong/hotel/saikaewbeach/index.html) and am excited about a few days of solitude. I’ll be heading back to Hua Hin tomorrow night for one last night out with the volunteers - last week was loads of fun. There are going to be so many people (AND ANIMALS) I will miss; I can’t even begin to think [...]

Hua Hin is really a fun town, but once you check out of your guest house all you do is sweat and stink. You can jump in the ocean, but all that does is coat you in a salty film. So, I’m trying to cool down while Connor and David get a Thai Massage down the street.
Last night we left the centre at about 7, checked into the hotel, and started drinking heavily. We had dinner at some itilian restaurant which gave my stomach a bit of a problem. After the oiliest pizza I have ever eaten, we headed to [...]

Zoe and I decided to take a day off from work and are spending the day in Hua Hin. After about two hours we decided to get off the beach and cool down a bit. The only places with Air Con are the internet cafes and McDonalds, and after wanting to throw up all my french fries we decided to go to the internet cafe down the street from the beach. We started off the day with a little starbucks, made the worst sand castles in the world, and came within to inches of a jelly fish. Although the beach [...]

et’s recap the last week:
Thursday night three crazy Europeans and I went to the Petchvarin Resort in the middle of nowhere. It was lush. Me and my roommate kept our room at about 18 degrees (as compared to the usual 40 at the centre). We were the only 4 in the entire resort and had the bar (which I used a little too heavily), the pool, and both restaurants to ourselves. We spent the entire day in the pool, only leaving the water to eat. As you’ve probably guessed I am currently the color of a lobster. Well worth it [...]

After about 40 hours of travel I’ve finally made it to the centre. On my way there was an unexpected (but very plesant) stay in Taiwan. I had to get a room for the evening and, thanks solely to Amanda, I stayed at the very nice Grand Hyatt Taipei, who sent a limo to meet me at the airport.
After making it to Thailand I found my taxi driver without a problem. Once - three and a half hours later - I made it to the centre, everyone was very warm and welcoming. I’ve spent the day feeding the bears, cleaning [...]

I’ve been vaccinated in every part of my body and have a small pharmacy to carry abroad, but have I packed yet? No. Packing will begin the day before and probably the morning I leave. I am getting excited - I cannot wait to be with people from all over the globe with similar values. And to be back in Thailand again; how could I have picked a better location? Working with primates/bears/elephants, etc.. on the outskirts of Kaeng Krachan National Park. It hasn’t really sunk in that I am going back, but I think that is overshadowed by the [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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