any recommendations for volunteering for short time?

My daughter (17) and myself are planning a 3 week trip to thailand in July and are wanting to volunteer at an orphanage or school for 5-7 days. Most of the volunteer opportunities we have found are for longer. Any ideas? Reply to this

Hi Misty,

Any interest in reading for deaf children?

Nop (BKK). Reply to this

Viengping Orphanage in Mae Rim, Chiangmai, is for girls from birth to 18 years old. There is a boys home nearby. Some of these kids are born HIV+ and have been abandoned by their parents, and most come to the orphanage with a tragic background. The orphanage welcomes visitors who are invited to read and talk to the kids to help with their English lessons, or play sports/games. You can visit for as little or as long as you like Mon-Friday 8.30am - 4.00pm. Phone: There is a boys' home in the same vicinity but I don't have the contact details.

Reply to this

Hello Rosalie 😊

To contact a member via the private messaging system click on their user name in blue at the left of the posts they have made. Then click the blue rectangle with Private Message in it. For example, my user name is Mell. If you wanted to send me a private message, you could click the blue Mell at the left of this post.

Mel Reply to this

One thing to note is that you need a work permit, even to do volunteer work in Thailand.

Mel Reply to this

Here is a site that gives details about the visas and work permits. My guess is that you could get the work permit at an immigration office in Thailand.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Thailand. Reply to this

Mel is perfectly correct in stating you need a work permit to undertake long term voluntary work in Thailand. Getting a work permit for voluntary work is a complicated business - you need a letter from the organisation accepting you as a volunteer, stating the nature of the work in which you will be involved and why there is a need for your services. The letter has to include start and finish dates. You then need a medical certificate from a hospital in Thailand or from your home country, which has to be translated into Thai by an approved translation service, stating you are free of various diseases, and also provide proof you have sufficient funds to cover your intended stay.

My understanding, however, is that you want to volunteer for 5-7 days only. If you went to the orphanage in Chiangmai you are regarded as a visitor not a full time volunteer. Dozens of people visit and help out at the orphanage every year for a day or two and to my knowledge no-one has ever been arrested by immigration and deported on the basis of spending a few hours with needy kids.

Just do it! If you want to make it legal, make a small donation to the orphanage and in the highlly unlikely event you are surrounded by a squad of immigration officials and arrested at gunpoint as you leave the premises, explain you paid a fee to play with the kids and read to them - it's a commercial transaction where you paid to gain an insight into life at the orphanage. Reply to this