Sometimes I get an email from someone who is skeptical about the legitimacy about Thai Mueang Volunteers, nothing wrong with a bit of skepticism, but with the amount of volunteers who have already been here… could we have made it all up!?
Read about our former volunteer experiences here.

Other Volunteer Organizations
I am sure you have had a look at other organizations besides Thai Mueang Volunteers, so let me ask you a question or two…

• How much are they charging compared to TMV?

• Do they help you obtain a non-immigrant ‘O’ visa which is required by law to work as a volunteer in the Kingdom of Thailand?

• Do they show you photos and video of where you are going to live?

• Teaching English – Do you have to prepare lesson plans and work as a volunteer teacher, or do you just have to show up and play a few games and sing a couple of songs?

• How about support with the volunteer work you are going to do, or is it just all up to you?

Many of these big organizations are not even located here in Thailand, they have hired Thai people to pick up the volunteers upon arrival and take them to their placement. They tell people on their websites that they can volunteer in Thailand on a tourist visa, a blatant lie, they ask of you to do a criminal act even before you arrive in Thailand.

Personally I have had volunteers from another organization turning up at my doorstep, crying their eyes out, and they just wanted to leave Thailand and go home. These poor people who came to Thailand believing that they came to do their best helping the children in Thailand improve their English abilities, and then experienced being left alone in a foreign country without any support from the organization they trusted… Of course we tried our best to help these unfortunate volunteers, and I received a death threat from the organization involved, yes, I still have a copy of the email and so does the chief of police in Thai Mueang.

Through a quick search on Google I found this story from an unhappy volunteer, and she is not the only one. Try having a look at what is required to volunteer in Thailand, do a search on Google and find some official government websites that tell you exactly what visa is required. Try ‘volunteer visa for Thailand’.

Thai Mueang Volunteers is here to support the schools in our program with English speaking volunteers from around the world.
We have meetings and dinner with our volunteers every day.
We teach our volunteers to create lesson plans so they are well prepared for teaching.
We support our volunteers in getting a non-immigrant ‘O’ visa before leaving for Thailand.

Are you ready to volunteer as a volunteer English teacher? – For more information about volunteering with Thai Mueang Volunteers go to our contact page and insert your name and email and we will get back to you within seconds.

Have a great day, and spread love and kindness whenever possible.

Anders

1.    Thanks for your interesting email, this is definitely a possibility I would like to consider however the information I really needed was the kind of dates you send volunteers out? Do we go out in groups at certain dates or would I be able to arrange suitable dates and let you know?
Answer:
We have volunteers arriving in Thai Mueang from the 12th May, when the first term of the school year starts. Volunteers start at different times depending on when they arrive.
They all stay at the volunteer house but teach at different schools.
All the schools are in or around Thai Mueang so it is not like we are sending volunteers far away.
You will be able to arrange your volunteering depending on when you are ready to volunteer.

2. Hi, I am an engineering exchange student studying in Singapore. I have 2 weeks spare this Christmas, from 15-29th December, and would like to volunteer? Is this possible?
Answer:
Normally we are interested in having our volunteers for one month or more, but since it is Christmas and you are close to Thailand, we can make an exception. Have you made any thoughts about what age group you are interested in teaching? Primary school students are from 7-12 years old, and secondary school students are from 13-18 years, this is also the age for vocational students. I have a volunteer arriving on the 14th November, Eileen, she is staying until February, maybe you would be interested in assisting her at Ban Huaisai Primary School? This way you would not have to go through the “getting to know you” process which is normal for the students to go through before they start to feel comfortable around you. Please let me know what you think.
That sounds fantastic. A primary school would be great, I have au-paired twice before, with children from 5-13, s I’d be fine with that age too.
I’ve looked at the web-page and seen the fee. How much would I be expected to pay? I understand that I would obviously need to pay for accommodation and food etc, but I do have a budget because im a student, and also need to save some for travelling. So if you could let me know how much it would cost me then I can decide if I can afford it.
Answer:
I have talked to Net, the managing director of Thai Mueang Volunteers and we have come to an agreement that you will not have to pay the registration fee, so a placement fee of 200 Euro would be the price for you to volunteer with us. This will cover airport pick up, accommodation, transport to and from school etc.

3.    Thank you for your email and all the information contained therein.  I am very interested but at the moment I am still at the research stage.  I am looking to take a qualification in Teaching English as a Second Language in the UK and then volunteering for 3 – 4 months abroad.  I am a 49 year old single woman working with the Military in Germany as a Mess Manager.  I was previously a Welfare Officer with the Military working with young single soldiers.  Prior to that basically Business Administration.  I am very people orientated; love meeting new people and learning new things. I am a great believer in making learning an enjoyable experience and would hope to gain invaluable experience from your organisation.
I have read the information on Thai Mueang Volunteers and have a couple of questions.  How many volunteers live in the house at any given time and are the bedrooms on a shared basis?  Is it possible to extend the length of stay?
Thank you again for your contact and I hope to hear from you at your convenience and I also hope to be in contact with you again with definite plans.
Answer:
At the moment there are four volunteers at the house, that is because three of them came together, you coming on your own will have your own bedroom. Normally there are one or two volunteers at the house at any given time.
It is possible to extend your stay; when the first 3-month non-immigrant ‘O’ visa is about to expire you can travel to either Laos or Malaysia and have a new non-‘O’ made. We will write a letter of recommendation for you to use in the visa processing.
When I took my TEFL certificate (on Crete) we taught classes while we were being observed by an instructor, this I found to be very useful as after the lesson we sat one on one with the instructor going through the lesson talking about how it went. Needless to say my first couple of lessons where a bit of disaster but the instructors were excellent at making me see what went well in the lesson and things that were not so good. It also taught me a lot about evaluating my own lessons as the instructors were very good at asking the right questions in order for me to come out with solutions especially for what didn’t go down too well. I can highly recommend courses where there is observed teaching included.

4.    Thanks Anders, I have read the blogs and your website and am interested in your project. I would be looking at coming over to Thailand mid June and staying for 4 to 6 weeks, towards the end of July my wife and children may be joining me. I have some questions which are firstly do you have space for me and what will the cost be for a 6 week stay, is it worked out on a pro-rata arrangement, also what is the situation with visas can I come on a month tourist visa and then renew at the border?
Answer:
A 6 weeks stay costs 150 Euro for the registration fee, and 600 Euro for the placement fee.
As of today I have a volunteer placement open for you in June/July.
It is against the law to do any work, even volunteer work, on a tourist visa, in Thailand.
Once you have decided if you want to volunteer we will send you a letter of recommendation for you to use in the visa processing. You must apply for a non-immigrant ‘O’ visa at a Royal Thai Embassy/Consulate in your country.

5.    What is the visa/volunteer processing procedure?
Answer:
The visa/volunteer processing procedure with Thai Mueang Volunteers:
A.    Once you have decided to volunteer you send me an email mentioning just that.
B.    I send you an invoice through PayPal asking you to pay the registration fee of €150.00 Euro.
C.    When TMV receives the Reg. Fee, a letter of recommendation is sent to you for you to use in the visa processing.
D.    You obtain the non-immigrant ‘O’ visa through The Royal Thai Embassy/Consulate, whichever closest to you.
E.    You’ll receive another invoice asking for the volunteer placement fee.
F.    You fly into Phuket International Airport and I will be there to pick you up.
G.    A couple of days after arrival, you start teaching at one of the schools in our program.

6.    Thanks for the information.  I am really interested in coming this summer. Before I pay money, is there an application or some guarantee for the program. I would like to come for the entire month of July and then the first few weeks in August.  I am creative and know I could come up with lesson plans etc.  But I just could use more information.  What exactly will it cost me etc.
Answer:
We do not have an application form, but in the first email you received look under About Us in the third paragraph, there are some questions I would like you to answer. We want to make sure that the people who come to volunteer are really here to teach English and not just getting a three months visa to come here on a holiday. This way we also get to know you and we can answer questions about volunteering and the teaching, which you might have. You will be required to create your own lesson plans for each day you teach, I will be here to help you get started with it and also there will be an orientation meeting when you arrive. You can prepare some materials before you arrive, bring pictures of your home, friends, family, hobbies and such, think about what topics you want to teach the children and you can prepare some of it before you arrive.
All of our volunteers have paid through PayPal, where we have been verified; if there had been any disputes in the past we would not have been able to have a verified business account with PayPal.
It sounds like you want me to verify that we really exist, well you can go to ‘our volunteers’ page to see what former volunteers have written about their stay here: http://www.tmvolunteers.org/volunteers/our_volunteers.html, if you read through the page and you want to send one of them an email, let me know who and I will contact them and ask if it is ok that you send them an email.
7.    Hope all is well with you. After a lot of thinking and planning, we have decided to take a different volunteering opportunity. I apologies if this has caused you any inconvenience. We would like to thank you so much for all your help and time. If we decide to do any additional volunteering in the future we will be in touch.
Answer:
There has been no inconvenience for me at all. I’m glad that you have found a place to volunteer and I hope that you will have a great experience volunteering in the land of smiles.
If there is anything I can help you with in the future, just shoot me an email.

If you have any questions of your own please send us an email through the contact page here: http://www.tmvolunteers.org/contact_us/index.html

Smiles
Anders

Technorati Tags: volunteer questions, non-immigrant O visa, Thailand