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FAQ

Who Volunteers?

A typical volunteer is someone who loves children and wants to teach a skill the children will need in the future, English. They are ready to help, eager to learn and always ready for new challenges. An open mind and patience are essential to having a satisfying and memorable volunteer experience. Volunteers are a special breed, they have an ease with smiles and a positive outlook on life.
Volunteers put as much effort into their volunteer experience, as they hope to get out of it.

What are the criteria for volunteering?

Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and be proficient English speakers. An educational background is not necessary. Teaching experience, degrees and certificates are all a bonus, but what is truly important is the volunteers ability to create a fun learning environment for the children. We want to know what your ideas, skills and talents are, and how you will incorporate them with teaching English. The children will benefit more from an English course based on games, songs, or art skills, than they would from grammar exercises. What is absolutely necessary is your willingness to make the experience the most positive and beneficial for the children.

What will I be doing?

A volunteer must come for a minimum of four weeks. In that time, volunteers will be teaching five days a week for six hours a day. Volunteers will be teaching English at one of the ten under-funded government schools in our local area, along with the supervision and help of a Thai teacher. The volunteer is responsible for preparing their own lesson plans and deciding what teaching methods they would like to use. However, a TM Volunteer staff member will always be nearby to offer support and ideas. A volunteer's main goal is to encourage the students to learn English because they want to, not because they have to.

What is a typical volunteer's day?

Click HERE to learn more about a typical day for a volunteer in Thai Mueang.

Who will I be teaching?

You will be teaching at one of the schools that we are in contact with, please go to the School page to see our list of schools. We are in contact to eight schools in the area and they are all in need of English teachers. We are also working closely together with a nursery school that looks after children starting at ages 3-5. Phratom is the Thai name for primary school classes and they are approximately 7- 12 years old.
Mathayom is the Thai name for secondary school classes and they are approximately 13-18 years old.

What are the starting dates?

Our starting dates are very flexible; we can accept volunteers at any time throughout the year. Arrangements for the October school holiday are in the make, and if you are interested in teaching music, dance, art, theatre, sports, geography, or any other subject that is not in the national Thai curriculum, we are very interested in hearing from you. Please go to the Contact Us page and send us an e-mail.

What are Thai Mueang Volunteers expectations?

We do not expect volunteers to come to Thailand and work miracles in a one to three month period. We do not want the volunteers to feel discouraged when the children are not improving dramatically, or they have forgotten the previous lesson. Most of the students have no one to practice their English skills with and this makes it hard to retain the information. We understand that learning a new language is a slow process, but when you do your best and have fun, you will see small improvements that take the child one step further.

Where will I stay?

Click HERE to go to the volunteer house page.

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Does anyone speak English?

There will be a TM-Volunteer staff member, who can speak English, in contact with you every day.
The teachers and other people in the community may not speak English, but we will be available, 24 hours a day, to help you overcome any difficulties you may face.

Are there any health and safety concerns?

Thai Mueang is very safe, with friendly people who enjoy having volunteers come and live in their community. There are also no health risks in our specific area of Thailand. Yet we always recommend that you talk to you family physician or local health clinic for travel advise on inoculations, malaria medication and other health issues.

How far away are the medical facilities?

Thai Mueang has a private clinic located right on main street, where there are English speaking doctors. There are also many pharmacies where you can get any over-the-counter medications you may need. In an emergency the hospital is only 500 meters away from the TM Volunteer base.

What happens after my stay in Thailand?

Thai Mueang Volunteers cares about its volunteers and want to keep in contact with you after you have returned to your home country. We want to know that you have made it home safely, and we hope that volunteers will be willing to share their experience with future volunteers.

If you would want to extend your stay, we would be happy to make the arrangements with your previous school, or find you a new placement at another school.