Surrounded by beautiful forests, ornate temples and lush mountainous scenery, you will live and work amongst the famous Karen elephant-keeping communities who are renowned for the unique and sacred bond they have shared with elephants for hundreds of years. Assist with monitoring the reintegration of elephants relieved from the tourism industry back into the forest.
Gain unique insight and become immersed in the culture of Thailand’s traditional elephant-keeping communities while contributing to this multi-focused program. The internship gives you the opportunity to gain work experience in three different aspects: elephant research, community development (teaching), and biodiversity.
The community development aspect will focus on teaching English to children at the local school, homestay families, and the elephant keepers (mahouts). You will also be involved in supporting community efforts to reduce their financial dependence on their elephants.
The biodiversity program involves surveying and identifying reptiles, mammals, insects and birds in the local area using different techniques. The elephant programme consists of leading elephant health checks, studying the behaviour of the herd, educating others about Asian elephants and reintegrating captive elephants into the protected forests.
The rotation between the different programs affords you a variety of experiences and the opportunity to get involved with the different aspects of the programs, while at the same time giving you a broad range of professional skills and experience for your future career. The internship encourages participants to develop their own ideas and introduce new aspects to help further their contribution to the conservation of an incredible species. Interns will be given specific leadership responsibilities as well as weekly assignments and evaluation from their mentors, who will monitor their progress throughout their stay at the hub.
Gain an academic understanding of elephant behaviour, and experience the bond they share with their mahouts and the role they play in Thai culture.
Experience the unique Karen culture and lush mountains of this beautiful region of Thailand while observing elephants in their natural habitat.
Get broad exposure to a variety of conservation fieldwork projects and training opportunities to grow your skills.
Support a team of scientists and academics with ongoing, cutting-edge research that gets published and makes an impact.
Work on a real project for a conservation partner to address critical environmental issues in the area.
Participate in practical training sessions to develop your leadership skills and receive guidance from experienced mentors.
Gain international experience, receive four recognised qualifications and get a LinkedIn reference to boost your CV.
Travel off the beaten track to live and work on a research station in the wild. Get exclusive access to protected species and unique ecosystems.
This internship is specifically useful for someone who has or is actively studying the below subject areas at school, university or college, or has an interest in these subject areas.
Some of the example typical activities you could participate in on this program.
Learn how to identify species, conduct surveys and population assessments, and assess threats to terrestrial ecosystems and ecosystem-level processes.
Hike through the nearby forest to collect data on elephants, gibbons and other notable species, including birds, mammals, insects and reptiles.
Participate in conservation and community work, including data entry, workshops and English teaching for community and ecotourism benefit.
Learn how to plan and set team goals, create supportive team environments, and reflect on your own leadership style.
Data entry, report writing, species list updates, and fieldwork checklist maintenance, and assisting with homestay orientation for new participants.
Work on an individual project that aligns with your personal interests.
Meet weekly in a small group with other interns and an experienced mentor to receive project guidance and feedback on your leadership style.
Some of the partners we work with on base.
Located in the heart of Northern Thailand, our research station in Chiang Mai is surrounded by breathtaking mountains, fields and forests. With beautiful hills all around, we have a bird’s-eye view over the fields and forests below. In the rainy season, the clouds roll through the base at eye level. Being the middle of the jungle, elephants can be found throughout the surrounding areas.
When you arrive you’ll be welcomed by the villagers with a traditional Geju ceremony, which they perform for all new participants upon their arrival. During the Geju, food is blessed and pieces of string are tied onto others’ wrists to wish them good fortune.
The project work takes place in the Mae Chaem District, a 5-hour journey deep into the mountains, where the famous Karen elephant-keeping community resides. This community shares a unique and sacred relationship with elephants.
From our research station it’s about a 50-minute walk to the river where you can see buffalo walking about. Despite being very afraid of people and quite shy, you might sometimes see them in the village. The open-air base is divided into two buildings. The older building is usually reserved as a study area – or for staff meetings, presentations and lectures. It has a table with chairs, a hammock for reading, and a few small desks. The newer building is where people socialise. The library is in the new building. It’s small and basic, consisting of a few bookshelves.You can catch some amazing sunsets right at the base, and when night comes, kick back and enjoy stargazing around the fire pit we often hang out at in the evenings. During free nights, we like to watch movies on the projector, visit a villager’s home, or take a night stroll. Games (board and card games) are well received and enjoyable to interact with the local community members. There are also a few friendly dogs around the base.
GVI Chiang Mai allows you to experience the local lifestyle. Each volunteer gets their own homestay with a family in the local community. This al...
We provide transfers to and from the Chiang Mai Airport. If you’re not arriving within the pick-up w...
When it comes to staying connected in Chiang Mai we get great service through the AIS network. All you need is an unlocked phone, and you can eas...
Breakfast is available at base before the morning hikes, and lunch and dinner are typically home-cooked meals provided by your individual homestays. Food is simple but nutritiou...
From November to February, Chiang Mai enjoys its cooler months, when the temperature is mild and mostly dry. The weather is hot and humid between March and June, but as we are b...
We want you to make the most of the chance to live in – and contribute towards – the most diverse and unique wildernesses and communities on earth. Introducing GVI Experiences – immersive adventure, cultural and wellness activities exclusive to GVI that have been specially designed in collaboration with our local partners to support and stimulate sustainable economic development.
Enhance your impact. Expand your adventure. Explore your world.
Joining a GVI program not only allows you to collaborate with communities or work toward preserving unique ecosystems – but it also offers plenty of opportunities to explore the surrounding area or travel further to see what other parts of the region have to offer over weekends.
Field staff are a great source of advice and have helped us put together the following information on local travel options. You can choose to travel before or after your experience with GVI (subject to immigration restrictions), solidifying the lifetime friendships you’ve established on the program. Please note that the below options are not included in the program fee, and would be up to you to arrange at your own expense.
Pai is an amazingly small backpacker town with a huge street-food market. Tours to the canyon, caves and w...
The Karen people are friendly, minimalistic, generous to outsiders, and caring towards nature and wildlife. There are a number of community elder...
Visit the village’s Buddhist temple which is set alongside a sacred lake. During Thai holidays, you may hear chanting coming from the temple, see parades taking place, or witnes...
Ten minutes away from the village, there’s a campsite in a conservation forest. Upon request, we sometimes take what gear is available on base an...
Join other participants for a game of football, volleyball or ultimate frisbee at a field next to the school. Just be sure that it’s not being used by the local students for the...
Take a hike along the corn fields to watch the sunrise. This trail offers excellent views of the forest. Or take the forest trail – you might even see some gibbons. This is quit...
Visit Boh Luh’s Smoothie Shop, a two-minute walk from base. Boh Luh sells delicious smoothies made from mango, banana, passionfruit,
We have a projector at base as well as a large selection of movies. Sometimes we take a vote on which one to put on after dinner (or when we have a quiet afternoon).
...
If you need to get a workout in, you’ll find our gym on the lower floor of our base hut. It includes a gym bench and weights.
...
On the lower floor of our base hut, you’ll find a ping-pong table. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself engaged in a heated ping-pong tournament against some of the mahouts!<...
Engaging intimately with a new context teaches global awareness, adaptability and critical thinking – skills highly valued in the modern marketplace. Local and cultural immersion is encouraged on all our programs around the world, and will also be one of the most enjoyable aspects of your experience. Luckily, there are many different activities that you can get involved in during your free time, or before and after your program.
On our community programs, the focus is on cultural topics, while on marine or wildlife programs the emphasis is more on the environmental element. Use your evenings and weekends to explore topics like local cuisine and religion, or how sustainable development challenges are affecting local contexts.
Most people in the village are animists, who believe that all objects, including animals, have a spiritual essence or soul. There are a lot of Ch...
Many visitors to Thailand choose the destination because of its amazing food culture. From street food to culinary delights in the finest Thai re...
There are festivals throughout the year, the most notable being Songkran – the Thai new year
Thai is the official language of Thailand and is spoken by roughly 36 million people across the world. In the village where we are based, the loc...
If you’d like to find out what the experience of joining a GVI project is really like, simply contact us and we’ll put you in touch with one of our many Alumni.
We’ll try to match you to an Alum based on your location, nationality, age, stage of academic career, gender, and program interests. This allows you to gain insights into the experience that is most relevant to you.
Depending on your location you might be able to speak to an Alum over the phone or online, or meet up with them face-to-face at a coffee shop nearby. We also run a series of small events around the world where you can speak to GVI Alumni, Ambassadors and staff members.
Program Manager
This is Jonathan, the Program Manager at our Chiang Mai base in Thailand. He has joined us from Liverpool in the United Kingdom and has visited this base as a volunteer on seven ...
Senior Program Coordinator
Hi I’m Liam, from Shropshire in England. Before working here I worked in horticulture and I’ve been looking to utilise my green fingers here. I’ve been to 3 GVI Hubs in the last ...
When it comes to support, we ensure that each participant is provided with unparalleled, 360 degree support, from your initial contact with the GVI Family, all the way through your program, and even after, as you become part of the GVI Alumni Team.
As part of this promise, we will ensure, whenever possible, that one of our dedicated staff will be available to meet you at the airport. In most locations, we also set up a Whatsapp group to help with managing airport arrivals.
We will arrange with you prior to your departure that, should you arrive in the agreed upon pick up window, a member of our staff will be there to welcome you, easily identifiable in a GVI t-shirt or holding a GVI sign and wearing a friendly smile.
This means there will be someone there to greet you as you land, and from there you will be transported to your GVI base to start your adventure and meet the rest of your team.
All of our programs have short-, mid- and long-term objectives that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). This enables us to report on our collaborative impact across the world in a streamlined manner, measuring which UN SDGs we are making a substantial contribution to. Furthermore, this will help our local partners and communities measure and visualise their contribution to the UN SDGs.
Prior to your arrival on base, you will be educated about the UN SDGs. Then once you arrive on base, you’ll learn about the specific goals we have in this particular location, our various objectives, and also clarification of how your personal, shorter-term involvement contributes to these.
Our aim is to educate you on local and global issues, so that you continue to be an active global citizen after your program, helping to fulfil our mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.
GVI Chiang Mai’s programs work in collaboration with the local Karen hill tribe community and village of Huay Pakoot. To promote sustainable ecotourism, we work with the elephant-keeping community to assist monitor the introduction of elephants into their natural habitat after their previous lives in tourist camps.
Your contribution will assist in keeping these elephants in protected forests, continuing the conservation of these beautiful animals and what remains of their fragmented forest habitats, as well as providing funding to keep the project running. We also offer alternative livelihoods and English lessons to the local community. Upskilling in English helps facilitate a self-sustainable ecotourism industry. The goal of this project is to have semi-wild herds of elephants living, socialising, and foraging in their natural habitat – supervised by their mahouts (elephant keepers) from the local village.
Elephant Surveys
We work with local mahouts to track elephants in the forest – collecting behavioural data through observation, taking note of the following:
Every week we do a health check (eye drainage, tongue check etc.) It’s important to note that we have a hands-off approach.
Gibbon surveys
We gather data from song and visual surveys of white-handed gibbons, assisting scientists in expanding their understanding of gibbon ecology and conservation status in the Chiang Mai region. Typically, you’ll assist in survey planning, GPS tracking, camera trap setup, photography, gibbon sound recording, data sheet entries and database input.
Biodiversity Hikes
We conduct day and night biodiversity hikes, recording any species we see, including birds, gibbons, bats, snakes, reptiles, lizards, amphibians, frogs and toads. We add the images to iNaturalist and eBird.
Quality Education
We work with the local government school – with both teachers and students. Our school-based teaching involves English language, health and wellness workshops, environmental education workshops and sports activities. Our community-based lessons involve adult and child learners in the community. These are often informal evening sessions, based around what the learners want to learn.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals
All of our programs have short-, mid- and long-term objectives that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). We want to be able to measure our collaborative impact across the world in a streamlined manner, so all our staff and volunteers know which UN SDGs they’re making a substantial contribution to. This also helps our local partners and communities measure and visualise their contribution to the UN SDGs.
Prior to your arrival on base, you’ll be educated about the history of the UN SDGs. Then, once on base you’ll learn about the specific goals of your location, the long-, mid- and short-term objectives, and also insight into how your personal, shorter-term involvement contributes to these goals on a global level.
Our aim is to educate you on local and global issues, so that you continue to act as active global citizens after your program, helping to fulfil our mission of building a global network of people united by their passion to make a difference.
GVI Chiang Mai Long-term Objectives:
1. Increase and promote ethical elephant tourism.
2. Support a stable herd of elephants living naturally in the forested area of the village.
3. Create a viable self-sustaining ecotourism program for the village.
4. Improve standards of living and job opportunities for people in the Huay Pakoot village.
5. Enhance sustainable natural resource management in the Huay Pakoot area.
The best decisions in international development and conservation cannot be made without accurate and up-to-date data or informed research. Our many field teams around the world collaborate with local and international partners to analyse data and draw conclusions. In addition, many of our participants have used research they have collected on their various GVI projects to complete their Masters, Doctorate, or postdoctoral studies. We also run a fellowship program which connects postdoctoral researchers at globally-respected universities with our many sustainable development programs around the world to support their research and ensure continuous improvement of our best practices on base.
International Ornithological Congress of Southeast Asia Conference in Thailand
