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Opportunities - Jobs/Volunteering

Our mission:

We want to contribute to our community by bringing volunteers and volunteer opportunities together, at very little cost.

There is a one-time placement fee to cover our administrative costs for this program.  There are no additional charges for extending a volunteer period.  There are currently 4 offerings:

  • Volunteer Program and 1-Year Thai Visa - 15,000 Baht
  • TEFL Course, Volunteer Program and 1-Year Thai Visa - 55,000 Baht
  • Online TEFL Course, Volunteer Program and 1-Year Thai Visa - 20,000 Baht
  • 1-Year Thai Course, Volunteer Program and 1-Year Thai Visa - 35,000 Baht

Volunteer Placement/Immersion Program:

  • There are many possibilities available to you such as teaching kids at a local school, a rural village school, or an orphanage.  Teaching monks at a temple school or Buddhist University.  Teaching refugees or other disadvantaged people.
  • We work on an individual basis.  If you have any specific placement in mind we will do our best to find this for you.
  • Our main focus is teaching English but other options are available as well such as working with elephants, dog rescue, health care etc.
  • With any volunteer project, flexibility is key.  You must be creative at times, and use whatever resources are available to you.
  • You will have our support as well as the support from members of your host organization staff, not to mention the support from your students.
  • The Khon Kaen University Volunteer Program provides a holistic experience of being able to teach to students with little or no exposure to English.
  • In Thailand, a school’s class size can vary, and you might experience anything from 20-50 students per class all with varying levels of English proficiency.
  • As a teacher, you must be able to design a mixture of classroom activities and exercises which will challenge various groups of students within the class.
  • With rural schools, many classrooms will not have the luxury of air conditioning, projectors, computers and textbooks.  As a volunteer teacher, you should prepare for the unexpected.
  • With our program, volunteers will be there not only to use their skills to teach English but also to help train and develop the skills of the teachers.

Why Volunteer teach?

It’s a win-win situation:

For you:
  • To enrich your education.
  • To build up your teaching experience.
  • To explore career and personal interests.
  • To increase your self-confidence.
  • To choose your own preferences and work on a flexible schedule.
  • To build your resume.
  • To earn great recommendations for future employment
  • To experience living and working in a foreign environment.
  • To make a meaningful contribution to the Thai community and immerse yourself in the culture.
For the Thai community:
  • To gain access to English classes taught by Native-English speakers, local schools understand the importance of English skills for their students however, most schools can’t afford to hire a native English speaking teacher.
  • To broaden the students’ horizons, not only by learning English skills but also to spend time around a foreigner and learn about western- and other cultures.
  • To gain sustainable English teaching skills for the schools, not only the students will benefit from English classes taught by a native English speaker but also their teachers who can learn different teaching techniques and lesson planning from the volunteers, most English teachers in Thai schools are not fluent English speakers and are not trained English teachers.

Why choose our volunteer program?

  • We believe in an authentic experience free from commercialization.
  • Through our extensive list of contacts we aim to build a network that will benefit Native English Speaking teachers as well as the local schools and organizations.
  • With our experience here at the Language Institute in teaching English classes and the TEFL courses we are well equipped to assess the needs from both the volunteer as well as the local school and make suitable matches. Moreover we can use our expertise to make this a useful and sustainable experience for all parties involved.
  • After completing your volunteer period you will receive a Certificate from Prince of Songkla University Faculty of International Studies with volunteer hours completed.
  • The fee we ask from our volunteers is just to cover the costs we make by offering this program.

Why pay to volunteer?

One of our frequently asked questions is: why should I pay when I already give my time to volunteer?  Well, its important to keep in mind that a volunteer experience is not only about giving but also receiving.  It is an enriching cross-cultural service-learning experience for both participants and hosts.

There are many benefits of working through a program like ours:
  • You are given access to a wealth of advice, experience and support (both logistical and personal)
  • Continuity is one the key factors for successful volunteer experiences.  We have invested the necessary time, patience, and resources needed to build trust and ensure safe and appropriate placements for our volunteers.
  • To make you feel comfortable and understand your surroundings we provide an orientation session on local culture and customs as well as some basic language skills.
  • We provide a safety net; our program staff are here to support you during your volunteer period.

It costs money to run any organization and running costs must be covered by someone.  Wages, office space, international phone calls, training courses and materials must all be paid for.

Much of the work to support volunteers is actually done prior to your departure.  Your participant fees offset the cost of participant recruitment and preparation, pre-trip planning, in-country project coordination and program development.  The individual program you select will be well prepared before you arrive.

More questions?
Contact our volunteer coordinators: volunteers@kku-li.com or (+66) 053-943-761, or fill out the application form and we will contact you.