Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (Conservation Projects)
Elephant Nature Park (Conservation Project)
Development and Education for Daughters & Communities
Dusky Langur Community Conservation Centre Project (Conservation Project)
Tsunami Volunteer Centre (Community Development Project)
Bring the Elephant Home (Conservation Project)
Baanunrak (Community Development Project)
Whispering Seed (Community Development Project)
Yonok Wetlands Project (Conservation Project)
Khom Loy Foundation (Community Development Project)
Mirror Art Foundation (Community Development Project)

Wild Animal Rescue Foundation of Thailand (WARF): WAR has projects located in a variety of regions throughout Thailand. WAR’s objectives are to prevent, educate and actively campaign against hunting and cruelty to wild animals. WAR actively rescues wild animals that have been maltreated or injured and if they are unable to be released back into the wild, helps them to spend the rest of their lives in a sanctuary in a natural setting. Here, these animals help to educate locals, especially school children, on the importance of conservation. ISV groups will volunteer at a WARF Gibbon Rehabilitation Project in Phuketor at the WARED project near Ranong. The rehabilitation and education centre is situated in a vast area of virgin mountainous rain forest. The centre is home to many rescued gibbons. Specific project work may include:

PLEASE NOTE: Project tasks can change, depending on the needs and circumstances of the host organization at the time. The above listed tasks are a guide only.

Elephant Nature Park (ENP): This organization is committed to the care, rehabilitation of mistreated and rescued elephants; education of elephant conservation issues to tourists and local elephant owners / mahouts; and developing sustainable alternate models for elephant tourism. ENP also provides local hill-tribe villages with education on taking care of elephants and also supports these hill-tribes on with small development projects.  Specific project work includes:

Development and Education Program for Daughters and Communities (DEPDC) – Half Day School
DEPDC is a non-profit community based NGO working on the prevention side of the trafficking of woman and children into the sex industry or other exploitative child labor situations. It offers free education, vocational training and full time accommodation for young girls and boys in an effort to achieve these goals.
The Daughters Education Program (DEP) was founded in 1989 and has since helped over three thousand children by providing preventative education and life skills development.
Founded in 1996 the Half Day School (HDS) provides free primary education (grades kindergarten to grade six) for the children of seven villages in the Mae Sai area of Northern Thailand. HDC children come from various ethnic minority groups or hill-tribes of the Mekong Sub region.

Dusky Langur Community Conservation Centre Project (DLCCC): The dusky langur can only be found living wild in three countries: Thailand, Burma & parts of Malaysia. In all of these countries deforestation is destroying the langur habitat and their numbers are being decimated as they are hunted by the locals for their meat and sold to markets for export to the pet trade. In Thailand, the dusky langur lives in relatively small areas which are increasingly being surrounded by roads and villages.  This could potentially restrict their choice of mates and reduce the quality and quantity of food and water.
The DLCCC works in close partnership with the residents of Ban Khung-Thanod, a small fishing village that lies within the boundaries of Khao Sam Roi Yod National Park in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province . Ban Khung-Thanod’s location within the National Park means that it is an ideal base for the Centre’s conservation work as several dusky langur family groups live in the mountains, jungle and marshland surrounding the village. The project was founded in 2005 in cooperation with the ecotourism company Eco-Explorer. The project aims to educate local communities about the problems Dusky Langur’s face and provide a means for tourists to visit these local communities to see the Dusky Langur in the wild. Promoting ecotourism and demonstrating the values of the Dusky Langur’s are greater alive then as meat or being sold to the pet trade.
Volunteer tasks will be based around the following;

1. Studying Langur’s and taking observation data of daily habits
2. Providing food and water to Langur families that have lost access to these
3. Education of locals and tourists (this may include visiting local schools and children activities)
4. Maintenance, light construction and further development of the Education Centre

Tsunami Volunteer Centre (TVC): The center was foudned after the 2004 Tsunami in Khao Lak, the Thai coastal region which sustained the most damage from the tsunami. After initially providing forensic database help to idientifying victims TVC turned to serve as a partner in the rebuilding of Thailand’s tsunami-affected communities, responding to the local people’s self-defined needs, and to provide the opportunity for volunteers from all over the world to contribute to this process. It also seeks to assist in the restoration of tsunami-affected communities through empowerment. Work tasks are primarily associated with English teaching and school camps, while also assisting with light construction at a nearby orphanage.

Bring the Elephant Home: The beautiful Khao Yai National Park is probably one of the few protected areas left in Thailand; with the potential to sustain a viable elephant population over time. Bring the Elephant Home has been actively involved in showing to a broad community the abuse domestic elephants receive when working in elephant camps and on the streets in city’s like Bangkok. This year they have teamed up with the leader in wild elephant research to;

1. Educate locals about elephant issues around the last stronghold for wild elephants and Thailand’s first national park; Khao Yai National Park.
2. Plant 100,000 trees to create a future corridor for wild elephants to use between a community forest and the national park.

Work tasks will be associated with setting up a children’s based conservation camp to educate over 100 kids about the wild elephant, planting trees, preparing land for planting, wild elephant research using camera traps and other research methods.
 
Baanunrak: Baan Unrak is a children’s home and community development project.  It was established as an effort to protect the growing number of orphans and jeopardized children in the area. Baan Unrak's main objective is to help women and children in need. The surrounding area suffers from instability as disease, poverty, and political and cultural changes destroy families. Many destitute women cannot support their children and attempt to sell them or give them away. Others turn to prostitution in an effort to solve their problems. Baan Unrak reaches out to these marginalized children and women, offering a positive solution of stability and love in the "Home of Joy." Work tasks are primarily teaching children, playing games with children, light construction tasks, gardening and landscaping.   

Whispering Seed: Whispering seed is an earthen building project to provide alternate style shelter for minority woman and their children; mostly from Burma. Based in the remote area close to the Burmese border they are actively involved in educating minority groups such as hill-tribe children from Burma living in Sangklaburi. Work may include earthen (mud) brick building construction, trail construction, bridge construction, as well as playing games with children and teaching children English.
 
Yonok Wetlands Project: The Yonok Wetlands Project is located in Chiang Rai province of the northern Thailand; a beautiful mountainous area in the Golden Triangle close to the Mekong River. The wetland area is home to a number of bird species including grass owls, harriers and river turns (thought to be extinct in Thailand). The protection and education of local villages about the area are a couple of the most important goals for the project. The area is the largest known Pied and Eastern Marsh Harrier roost in the world. Local temples and monks from the temples have been actively involved in the protection of the area and continue to work alongside the project founders to keep the region natural and available for bird habitat. The work tasks mostly involve setting up birding viewing platforms, creating trails, light construction tasks for trails, educating local children and villages, as well as working with the local village people to encourage support to the protection of the area.
 
Khom Loy Development Foundation (KLDF): The hill-tribe people of northern Thailand have migrated over the years to escape war, hardship, and military dictatorship in neighbouring countries. The traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle of these people has been placed under-pressure, with traditions at risk of being lost. To exacerbate their problems many of them are not recognized as Thai citizens, do not have land rights and are in poor access to areas to cultivate rice; their largest source of income. KLDF tries to assist these people in a sustainable way by adopting a model of village participation. Projects are designed and carried out with the village people and with villagers choosing what they would like to be done to improve their quality of life. Work tasks may involve; light construction projects within hill-tribe villages, such as building water towers, toilets and improving sanitary conditions, playing games with children and teaching English to children.

PLEASE NOTE: Project tasks can change, depending on the needs and circumstances of the host organization at the time. The above listed tasks are a guide only.

More organizations for 2008 coming soon!

Thailand - Adventure Tour
Participants will travel throughout Thailand. The five Included Activities (included in the Program Cost) will be determined by ISV, and will be included in the ISV Participant Travel Manual sent to participants 30 days prior to their departure date. The adventure will include such optional activities as:

• Scuba diving and snorkeling around Koh Phi Phi
• Rock climbing & rappelling on the world renown limestone cliffs of Railay Beach
• Sea kayaking beautiful islands and hidden Caves around Phang-Nga Bay
• Feed and bath elephants at an elephant conservation park
• Two day hill-tribe jungle trek, hiking in the jungles and to Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand
• Gain an insight into the culture and tastes of Thailand at a cultural dinner and show.
• Canyoning in the northern jungles of Chiang Mai
• White Water Rafting the Mae Taeng River
• Thai cooking school
  
• Explore the beautiful Khao Sok Lake and spot a variety of wildlife

Adventure Tour Map

Sample Tour Itinerary Outdoor Adventure Tour

Day 1 – Arrive to Khao Sok: Travel by bus from your volunteer work project to Khao Sok National Park, featuring beautiful waterfalls, thick rainforest and an amazing array of wildlife such as wild elephant, leopard, and over 175 bird species.  Enjoy a free night to enjoy the sounds and sights of Khao Sok National Park.

Day 2 – Khao Sok (Khao Sok Lake Tour: Free day to explore the beautiful Khao Sok National Park. Hike through the jungles to one of the many waterfalls. Enjoy a full day of exploring the inner most jungles of Khao Sok National Park by boat. Journey through the hidden inlets, visit the islands and spot gibbons at play while enjoying the sounds and sights of this magnificent area. In the evening return to the accommodation to take in the rainforest sounds at night. 

Day 3 – Khao Sok to Railay Beach: Travel to the Andaman Coast where you will take a long tail boat from the mainland to get to the peninsula of Railay. After checking into our accommodation, join your ISV Tour Leaders as they take you on an afternoon guided exploration to some of the most amazing sights Railay Beach has to offer, including a beautiful hidden cave. Finish the quick tour of Railay with a visit to our climbing school to be fitted with your climbing gear for the following day’s climbing activity. This evening, relax as you sit on the beach and enjoy the spectacular scenery.

Day 4- Railay Beach (Rock climbing/ Rappelling): Learn to rock climb and rappel amid the beautiful backdrop of spectacular limestone cliffs jutting out from the crystal clear waters. Railay is a wonderland for rock climbers from around the world. After a morning of ‘learning the ropes’, enjoy the afternoon of more vertical excitement, explore other nearby beaches and islands, or take a long boat to Ao Nang to check out the local markets.

Day 5 – Railay Beach (Snorkeling Koh Phi Phi): Travel to the islands made famous by the movie ‘The Beach’ - Koh Phi Phi. Experience the amazing reef environments which are known as one of Thailand’s best diving and snorkeling areas. Some of the highlights you may expect underwater are sea anemones, schools of batfish, barracudas, trevallies & giant groupers.  Here, we will snorkel at two locations and for those that are keen to try it, scuba diving is available at an additional cost. Enjoy a free evening to soak up the atmosphere of Railay and prepare for the following two- day Sea Kayak adventure.

Day 6- Railay Beach to Koh Yao Noi (Sea Kayaking): Today we will sea kayak around Ao Phang-Nga, featuring beautiful limestone cliffs, odd rock formations and islands rising out of the sea like inverted mountains. We’ll spend the day exploring the beautiful islands and caves once used as hideouts for pirates.

Day 7 – Koh Yao Noi to Chiang Mai: Today we will fly into the visually striking Northern Capital of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Unwind with a free night out in this vibrant city and visit the famous night markets.

Day 8– Chiang Mai (Traditional Thai Massage, Thai Cooking School): Today is a free day to explore the ancient temples and streets of Old Chiang Mai and/or take a cruise up the Mae Ping River. Visit Doi Suthep, a 1676m (5028ft) mountain peak that offers stunning views over Chiang Mai. Near the summit, you may visit Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, one of the north’s most sacred temples. For those with the optional activity package you will enjoy an traditional Thai massage at our beautiful massage spa, followed by an evening learning how to cook up to five local Thai dishes with our Thai Cooking School.

Day 9 – Chiang Mai (Canyoning): An early start for our canyoning adventure will lead to a great day of rappelling down waterfalls, jumping into deep pools and sliding down natural rock slides, while enjoying the surrounding jungles of Doi Inthanon National Park.

Day 10 – Chiang Mai to Mae Taeng (Elephant Nature Park): Today visit an elephant conservation park. Gain an understanding of the issues relating to elephant tourism in Thailand. View Asian elephants in their near natural environments as they roam free throughout the park. Getting close and personal with the elephants; assist with the mornings feeding and bathing of the elephants, or assist in walking them to the elephant haven, a beautiful jungle setting where the elephants roam free at night. You will stay in the beautiful Lisu Lodge nestled in the valley of Mae Taeng. Experience the friendly hospitality and hill tribe culture of this authentic accommodation.

Day 11 – Mae Taeng (Jungle/Hill-tribe Trek): Today you begin an overnight journey into the jungles of Northern Thailand. You will journey by foot, hiking through the hillsides and local villages. Visiting a number of different hill-tribe people you will gain an insight into the lifestyles of these cultures.

Day 12 – Mae Taeng (Jungle Trek – White Water Rafting): After breakfast, you depart the village, further travelling by foot, passing by a waterfall for a quick swim. Later, we will travel to our rafting company, who will take you on the high adrenalin white water rafting on the Mae Taeng River (class III and IV rapids). Following the fun and excitement of the white water rafting, you will travel back to Chiang Mai.

Day 13 – Chiang Mai to Bangkok: Today is a free day to explore the rest of Chiang Mai; visit the ancient city of Wiang Kum Kam, enjoy the shopping at the handicrafts villages and Thai Silk Village. Or simply relax and explore the temples surrounding Chiang Mai. This afternoon we depart Chiang Mai to travel by overnight sleeper train to the buzzing and steamy capital of Thailand Bangkok.

Day 14 –Bangkok (Sights and Temples; Siam Niramit): Today is a free day in Bangkok to explore the many temples, busy streets, markets and river life.For those with the Optional Activity Package you will explore the capitals Grand Palace and Temple of the Emerald Buddha plus traveling by long-tail boat through the old waterways (khlongs) of Bangkok. This evening we will enjoy the spectacular stage performance of Siam Niramit. Discover the traditions, culture and tastes of Thailand through the stage show, exploring the Thai Village and a pre show meal.

Day 15 – Bangkok (Departure): The adventure ends! Time to return home.

Accommodations:   All accommodations have been carefully selected for their comfort and ideal locations. Accommodations range from nice tourist class hotels to jungle bungalows.

Meals:   Most meals are provided by ISV. Meals during times of sightseeing will be the responsibility of participants.

Activities:  ISV includes more activities to make your experience unforgettable. Activities are subject to change but may include activities such as snorkeling at Koh Phi Phi, Climbing and Rappelling at Railay Beach, Cultural Dinner and Show, Northern hill-tribe Trek and Sea Kayaking in Ao Phang Nga.

Volunteer Project: ISV will send you the Project Overview for your assigned volunteer project along with your ISV Participant Travel Manual, approximately 30 days prior to departure.

Optional Activity Package (OAP)