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Volunteer in Bangkok, Thailand

Ornate Buddhist temples, glitzy shopping malls, chaotic street markets and a permeating take-it-easy attitude combine to make Bangkok one of the world’s most popular cities to visit. In fact, MasterCard’s Global Destination Cities Index named the Thai capital as the world’s most-visited city in 2013 – a first in Asia. Trailing Bangkok were London, Paris, Singapore and New York City.

Analysts predict that nearly 16 million international overnight visitors will pass through Bangkok this year. And that’s only one way to crunch the numbers. Travel magazines including Travel + Leisure regularly poll readers to find out which international cities they most appreciate, and Bangkok regularly weighs in at number-one. And this is not the only Thai city to appear on this list, with Chiang Mai in the 10th position.

A Unique City and Unforgettable Experiences

Happy World Photography Day

At first glance, you could easily miss the attraction. Bangkok is a sprawling metropolis of 8 million people where even locals are apt to get lost if they wander off the main thoroughfares. Rapid development has gifted the city with some of the finest modern infrastructure on the planet – including Siam Paragon shopping centre and Bangkok Hospital. But growth comes at a price, not least pollution, gridlock and conspicuous poverty.

No doubt, there are as many reasons to love Bangkok as there are people to love it. For some, it’s the food – piping hot noodles, savory curries and spicy stir fries. Others find the culture intoxicating. In Bangkok, you can light a joss stick at the opulent Temple of the Dawn (Wat Aroon), enroll in a Thai massage course, practice your bargaining skills at Pratu Naam or simply kick back with a local brew at a high-octane muay thai match.

But underpinning all of this are millions of some of the friendliest, most hospitable people you’ll ever meet. Even if Bangkok wasn’t overflowing with tourist attractions, exotic cuisine and a vibrant cultural legacy, the Thai people that call it home would still make a visit worthwhile. In short: this is a place you want to see at least once in your life.

Play Imitates Life

Getting involved in Asia’s City of Angels

Locals will be the first to tell you that you could spend years in Bangkok and only scratch the surface of what this city has to offer. Short-term visitors can wear themselves thin trying to see and do it all. At Friends for Asia, we believe that the best way to maximize your time spent in Thailand is to get involved. That’s why we’ve launched so many volunteer projects across the country.

Our volunteers teach English in coastal cities, help care for elephants in the northern highlands and lend a hand at orphanages in the rural countryside. Some work with novice monks in temples; others have lent a hand with construction and beautification projects. But regardless of where they are or what they are doing, FFA volunteers stand side-by-side with locals who are committed to transforming their communities and the people who live in them.

Friends for Asia oversees volunteer project sites all over Asia, with project research currently underway in Bangkok. We believe that the best projects take time to develop, which ensures high-quality projects and the opportunity for volunteers to experience the real Thailand.

Map of Bangkok

While there are many free maps that can be found throughout Bangkok in tourist areas and travel agencies, none of them compare with the well-known Nancy Chandler’s Map of Bangkok now in its 26th edition. This map is for sale in bookstores throughout Bangkok as well as online at Amazon. The map is not cheap, around 250 THB these days. However, for an additional 40-50 THB, bring the map to a nearby printing/copy shop, and they can seal it in a durable plastic, to make the map last a lot longer.

Along with the general purpose map of Bangkok is a new Nancy Chandler Map of Khao San Road and Old Bangkok for more detail about these popular locations.

Sign Up for More Information

If you would like more information about volunteering in Bangkok, when it becomes available, please fill out the form below.

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