Chiang Mai, Thailand 2025

Day 1 - Waterfalls, Wild Dogs, and New Beginnings

All of us had gotten in the night before and checked out some of the temples in downtown Chiang Mai. Then, we explored a local market. After getting breakfast at the 7/11 next door, all 16 of us were picked up at around 8:30 am. From there, our driver Tin took us to BEES (Burm and Emily’s Elephant Sanctuary). The driver was super chill. Stopped at a tall waterfall. Roughly 30 meters tall. We took a big picture with all 16 of us and the Michigan flag. After that, we went to a smaller waterfall and had a picnic with fried rice. I saw another waterfall. We interacted with some wild dogs. It was cool to see how the locals interacted. After another hour or so, we made it to the actual sanctuary where we settled down and explored as we waited for the owners to arrive. 

This is where we met Burm and Emily! Both are very passionate about what they do. They have both dedicated their lives to helping elephants and the community. They’ve been here since Emily was 18. When we got here, we had a moment to explore and settle in. We then got straight to work preparing food for the three elephants, Thong Dee, Mae Kam, and Mae Dok. Mae Kam, and Mae Dok were both given pumpkins, and we prepared a special soft meal for Thong Dee, because at 75 years old, her teeth no longer work.

We quickly realized that BEES wasn’t just about helping the elephants, it’s about helping the community as a whole. They have a coffee shop. They take in dogs. They take in young men to get them off the streets. They vaccinate a bunch of dogs. The second calling for BEES is to sponsor the community. It’s tough to get people to live here so they are trying to boost the economy. BEES is a local sanctuary. BEES is a sanctuary established by Burm, a local enter thai town citizen who wanted to provide for his community. The local area is flooded with drugs especially amphetamines but it’s not very touched on in the media as it’s a remote spot. Emily the other coowner of BEES and husband of Burm, work to provide more than just a home for elephants. But moreover a home for anyone. Their overarching yet overshadowed goal is to build a community and home for local residents. One of the people in the community named Ice, 12, is a highly energetic kid who not only helps out but hangs out at the sanctuary. He played guitar for us.

At the end of the night, we all got together for our first reflection of the trip. We touched on some ideas such as the impact of understanding different languages and cultures. We talked about how we can relate to others on a deeper level than where we’re from. How money here goes a long way. We’re excited for day 2!

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Day 2 - Jungle Paths and Bats in the Dark

Sawadee from Thailand everybody. We started early today at 7 am getting ready with a breakfast of fried rice, eggs, boiled meat, and fruit. We then went for our 10 km long hike that introduced us to the BEES sanctuary as a whole. This helped our group establish context and better understand the environment, the reason for our work, and get to know the local staff as well. During our hike, we followed the river valley and paused every so often to watch the elephants pass by. These elephants roam during the day scavenging for food in the forest whilst being watched over by the sanctuary. Furthermore, we got to explore local flora, trying various local plants and fruits such as sugar cane, red guava, plantains, and green guava. The locals continued to lead us down the river, showing us more local plants and animals. Once we got to the mouth of the river, we set up a picnic lunch by another large river that our river led to. During lunch, we ate pad see ew and local fruit. After our lunch, Burm, the owner of the sanctuary took some of us for a swim while the others fished and hung out. Once this was done, we collectively began to walk back, but not before, the locals showed us a hidden bat cave. We all climbed into the cave which was filled with 300+ bats, where we had to fit through a small hole and some of us got covered in bat poop, but we all agreed it was worth it. Afterwards, we finished washing off in the river before heading back to the sanctuary for a proper shower. We ate a traditional dinner with stirfry morning glory, potato curry, and fruit.

Post-dinner we hung around the camp and discussed our plans for the week. We ultimately switched to another day of volunteering on our last day so stay tuned for those updates! We ended the night afterwards with a reflection where we discussed the common themes of gratitude and voluntourism. We discussed how although we did not volunteer today, many of us found today insightful to help set context to our work tomorrow. We discussed the differences in cross-cultural communication/expectations, and how sometimes we were unsure on how to approach certain situations, but we agreed that leading with gratitude, awareness, and empathy is always a good way to start. After this productive discussion, we winded down with some fun mafia games and split the group into two for tomorrow's volunteering (stay tuned!).

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Day 3 - Machetes, Sandbeds, and a Road Well Paved

After yesterday’s long hike, today marked our first work day at the sanctuary. We split into two groups to accomplish two sets of tasks.

The first group was sent to a local farm to clear a corn field with machetes. We set off through town with our gear in the back of a truck, and, after crossing many wild roads, we eventually made it to the site. With a bit of instruction from the locals, we were briefed on what we had to do. The sun was blazing and lots of us were wearing long sleeves, but we made quick work of the cutting and heavy lifting. We harvested the corn stalks by chopping at the base, tying bundles together with rope, and lifting them to stack in the back of the truck. The hardest part was stacking on the truck, but we worked in teams to get our job done and clean up the mess we made. When we returned to the sanctuary, we unloaded the stalks in the elephants’ food preparation area.

The second group started by preparing bananas and vegetables for the elephants’ morning meal, then moved to cleaning the elephant enclosures. The enclosures need to be swept regularly for sticks and leaves that accumulate within, so we swept the two youngest elephants’ beds and shoveled these out. We then moved to making Thong Dee’s bed. Thong Dee is the oldest elephant at the sanctuary and sleeps standing up, leaning on a mound of sand. Burm, one of the BEES owners and founders, explained that her old bed was starting to come apart, making it difficult for her to sleep for the past 5 days. To help with this, we shoveled the sand into a sloped mound which plateaued at the top so she could more easily lean on it to sleep. This process would take one person 2-3 hours to complete, but with 7 of us working, it only took 20 minutes! 

After a very enjoyable lunch of spring rolls and Thai tea, both groups reconvened and began another large project of repaving the road to the elephant enclosures. This road was very worn and cracked due to the combined effects of the rainy season and some regular wear and tear. We mixed wheelbarrows full of gravel, sand, water, and cement mix to form concrete and poured it into the cracks and crevices of the road. After several hours of this process, the road was finally complete. Not only will it be a lot smoother for several years of vehicle and foot traffic, but it also includes the initials of all the EGLs who worked on it!

With all of the hard work completed today, the staff wanted to celebrate by taking us to a local waterfall and hot spring. These were both very refreshing, and the team returned to the sanctuary feeling much better. 

Overall, our first full day of volunteer work was a success. We faced a few challenges, including heavy lifting and heat exhaustion, but all 16 of us showed a lot of perseverance, positivity, and support for one another throughout the day. We’re excited to get back to work again tomorrow!

-Hannah Bernardi, Drew Ruprich, Blake Watson, Maddy Wright

Day 4 - Classroom Laughter and Ricefield Wonders

Thailand VA has just wrapped up day 4 and we’ve quite a jam packed day of volunteering and cultural immersion. Today we started off by volunteering at one of the local elementary schools in Mae Chaem called Thung Yao. We were split into two groups for G1-3 and G4-6 where we taught English. We worked closely with the kids and created several fun games to entertain and teach the kids as much as we could. Some of the games that we did were focused on teaching the kids how to pronounce words through Pictionary. The teachers were incredibly excited to have us teach today as we were able to provide the students with a cross cultural opportunity for growth. We finished up at the school by playing volleyball and tag with the kids before they headed off to lunch. It was very touching to see the impact that we had on the kids and the impact that they had on us. By the end of our time at the school, we were sad to leave our new friends but were very thankful that we were able to have the opportunity to come teach for the day.

After leaving the school, we stopped for lunch next to some of the most stunning rice fields in the world. The volunteer staff then took us to get a closer look and explained some of the significance of rice terraces to Thai culture. These rice terraces are integral to the local community of Mae Chaem and have been farmed by many generations of Thai farmers. Rice is a staple crop in the Thai diet and is one of the country’s largest exports. It was very interesting to get a first hand glimpse into the process from growing to harvesting the rice and truly understanding the impact of the cultivation process. 

Following our stop at the rice field, we made our way upstream to a waterfall that shares the same source, Mae Pan waterfall. As the tallest waterfall in Chiang Mai at over 100 meters tall, this waterfall emulates the beauty of the Thai landscape and serves a functional role in providing fresh water to the local community.

-Matthew Sinanis 

Day 5 - Monk Lessons, Language Games, and Threads of Tradition

Today, we started the day by splitting into two groups at the local Thai high school and teaching English. We then transitioned to teaching at a local Monk school, then ended the day by learning about the hand woven clothes of traditional Thai culture.

For the first group of students, our goal was to try and help them push their English knowledge as they move forward in high school. We initially started with a naming game. We asked for a volunteer, then would write a word behind their head and have the rest of the classroom try to explain the word using english words. After this, we moved to a second game that was a combination of naming certain actions or objects in a category, and playing charades with those words. Throughout our time teaching, it was amazing to see the classroom warm up to the whole group of us. At the start of the session, everyone was extremely shy and quiet, however by the end, they were all loud and taking pictures. Overall, it was great to immerse ourselves in the Thai classrooms, and draw as many similarities and differences between the Thai education system and the American education system.

For the second group of high schoolers, we started off by playing a game with different teams. We wanted to focus on giving them questions that would prepare them for their standardized English test that many of them need to complete for their eventual jobs. One example in this group that was a great teaching moment was understanding the difference between using “although” and “because” based on the context of the sentence. After playing this game we then had 1-2 of us sit down with each of the groups and gave the kids a chance to ask us any questions and just interact with them. This was an amazing chance for us to connect more personally and have a bit more 1on1 time with the students, getting to know them a little better. Overall, teaching at the high school was an amazing experience and had a positive impact on both us as EGL’s and on the Thai students who gained more English exposure. 

During the second half of the day, at the monastery, we transitioned our teaching. We split into 3 new groups, where our specific group was with the first graders. We had about 45 minutes of teaching, where we went over math, simple phrases, and grammar. This included long multiplication and division, animals like lions and birds, and the difference between a and an. It was great to be able to compare this to our experience earlier in the day at a different school, and see what some major differences were in styles of education in Thailand. This was also a great experience, and left us all knowing much more about the Buddhist culture and how this weaves into Thai culture.

After teaching the monks, Berm took us to learn more about the handcrafted, woven fabrics that are significant to Thai culture. He started off by telling us how much time is put into these clothes, with some pieces, like dresses, taking close to a month. We also learned how specialized and skilled the women weaving were with some of the patterns being passed down through generations and there was no writing. Berm also said these are some of the only people capable of weaving like this and “not even his mother could do this”. This was a great opportunity for us to further immerse ourselves in the culture and community and potentially give back to the people who put so much hard work into their craft. 

-Ashton Jaffar and Jack Buehler