Projects Abroad Thailand’s Marine Conservation volunteers received a great honour on Sunday

5^th June 2011.  They were invited by the Governor of Pakasai Village in the Krabi Province, to join with him and nearly 100 villagers and school children in a mangrove forest planting activity. 

 

The key purpose of this activity was to plant several different varieties of mangroves in specially marked areas in order to restore the balance of nature, as well as to create awareness among the local people of the benefits of the mangroves.

The villagers were recently successful in a legal battle to protect their land from being sold to developers.  The prospect of losing their land has brought the community even closer together in their desire and drive to preserve the mangrove forests, as well as the flora and fauna that rely on these areas to survive and thrive.

A 600m walkway is currently being built to run through part of the forest, with information boards explaining the species of trees and animals inhabiting the area.  An educational centre has also been erected for the benefit of local people and tourists alike.                                  

Projects Abroad Thailand volunteers had an amazing day, both productive and fun, working side by side with men, women and children from the local area, together planting 500 saplings.

With the youngest participant being just 2 years old, it was a clear demonstration of the villager’s commitment to protecting their costal areas for future generations. 

Well done to our volunteers and a very big thank you for all your hard work 

 

 Ingrid Sprake

Conservation Director

 

 

 

On Friday June 10th, We went to Baan Nong Thalae school at Nong Thalae sub-district to do the

painting on the walls outside the school. I was worried that it would rain since it is still in the monsoon

season, but we were so lucky that it didn’t rain until the afternoon.

 

Baan Nong Thalae school is a primary school with around 200 studen

ts including kindergarten kids.

 

We have done many activities with this school in the past such as classroom painting and English

summer camp. The teachers and students are so lovely that they always smile and come talk to us

and give us support on everything we do. The day before, the students helped us by cleaning the

walls so it would be ready for us to do the painting.

 

There were 16 of us including the staff while there were over 30 walls so we didn’t know if we would

make it before 3 PM. Fortunately we were able to finish most of it before the rains began. It would

have been better if the rains came later in the afternoon.

 

We started cleaning the walls first at 9 AM as it was raining the day before so the walls needed to

be cleaned up a little. The students came to help us, which made our work a lot easier. Even the

weather was so hot but we enjoyed working and some even enjoyed sunbathing. The students

seemed to enjoy talking with our volunteers. Even though they didn't speak English very well, smiling

can be understood in every language.

 

With all the help from the students and principal, we finished cleaning the walls before noon. So

we could have a longer lunch time than we expected. The food was so good and all the volunteers

seemed to like it very much. After lunch, the students came to play with our volunteers. Nikki,

one of the volunteers from Britain, became the students’ favorite with her smiling and playfulness.

Meanwhile, Daisuke was playing soccer with the students in the yard and the rest were playing

badminton and chatting with the students.

 

We started working on the painting again in the afternoon. Since it was raining a little, we only

painted the primer and will come back again in July. Most of the volunteers have never painted

before, but everyone seemed to be good at it except me. Besides getting paint all over my body

and hair, I guess the worst walls ever painted are the one I did. Luckily, no one noticed who did the

painting. They will find out if they read this blog, though. Anyway, I had a hard time trying to remove

all the paint from my hair after that.

 

It was almost 3 PM and still there were many walls to be painted, but we had to stop working as we

also needed to be preparing for the monthly volunteer dinner at 6:30 PM. However, we did a good

job on the painting. The walls looked much better and it will be even better when we come back to

do the rest in July. When the painting is finished, the walls will be covered up with beautiful paintings

about outdoor activities. It will be more beautiful if I don’t do the painting, I guess. We will see

anyway.

 

 

  First, let me introduce myself.  My name is Goy, 28 years old from Bangkok, Thailand.  I have just started working as Social Manager with Projects Abroad Thailand this week of June.  I am so excited about this position as it is one of my dream jobs.

 

  Although I am not from this area, I have been to Krabi for many times so I can say that I know a lot about this province and nearby.   I love outdoor activities and meeting new people.  Also I love learning new culture and am a good understandable person when it comes to cultural difference so I am sure that we can be good friends when we meet.

 

  I hope I have a chance to meet you all soon and if there is anything I can help you, you know where to find me!

 

  Take care,

 

  Goy