Hi, thinking of taking a career break and doing some voluntary work in Thailand coupled with some travelling around the country. Have you ever done anything similar or have any advice for me?
Yes, I did a few weeks as part of a long holiday.
It was expensive (compared to the rest of the time of traveller's expenditure) and probably not what you're looking for. Lots of gap year kids and doesn't sound like what you're after.
It was for a wildlife charity who do seem to be doing a better job of rehabilitating mistreated and wild animals than some of those in Thailand.
Had a smashing time around the rest of Thailand too. If I went back I would spend much more time in the north for wildlife and mountains.
What could you do that couldn't be done cheaper and better by a local?
Lived and worked out there for best part of 4 years. Never volunteered to do anything.
I know there are charities that deal with refugees on the Burmese border. I was talking with one years ago about taking over someones position there.
I'll dig through old emails and see if I can find their contact details.
remember you do really need to have a work permit to work as a volunteer out there. There were all sorts of problems after the tsunami with volunteers working.
When applying for your visa try using the Hull consulate and apply for a non-immigrant O or you might be able to apply for a non-immigrant B if you have a charity that will support you. It's harder work changing a tourist visa into non-b with work permit than having a non-b or non-o to start with and once out in asia it's a right faff to get a non-b or non-o.
The visa you get on arrival is just a 30 visa on entry and isn't changeable without hard work again.
If you find you have to stay on tourist visas for a while out there, you can (think you still can) back to back tourist visas which just require you to leave the country and go back in to reactivate them.
www.tbbc.org