Being in Thailand as a volunteer with the Thai Child Development Foundation, means that you do not have to spent a lot of money on food, your stay or transport from and to projects during your stay in Phato, because that is included in the participation fee.

The participation fee is necessary to host you, feed you and to run the projects of the Educational branch.

Your participation fee - and an occasional donation - are the only means of income for funding or budget of the Educational projects.

Participating in a long-term project of the Thai Child Development Foundation is 2.500 Baht per week. For the short-term projects the fee is 3.000 to 3.500 Baht per week. All fees should be paid upon arrival for the length of the stay.

The money of the participation fee is used for living, working, meals, transport, maintenance, support of the Thai participants, material for the projects, guidance and overhead-costs. We are very open on our bookkeeping, so if you have any questions on how your money is spent, please let us know.

Here is an overview on how we spent you money, converted to a percentage of the participation fee.

Refunds
For administrational reasons the foundation asks participants to pay their participation fee upon arrival. The participation fee is always for the full period of time a volunteer wish to stay and is done cash (in Thai Baht).

In case the cooperation between both parties is not satisfactory or if the volunteer or the Thai Child Development Foundation decides - for whatever reason - to leave before the end of the set period, the volunteer will get a complete refund for the weeks not being involved with the foundation.

When you are traveling in your free time, you will spent some more money, but you will probably still find that Thailand is not too expensive for your budget. Mind you, you are going to live in rural area. That means not to many banks or ATM machines. Please make sure you have sufficient cash on you. There is an ATM machine in Phato (11 km from Paksong) and you can go to Ranong or Lang Suan weekly in your free time to visit a bank. You can use almost all bank cards in the ATM-machines there, and money exchange is possible in most banks.

Flight to and from Thailand
Different. This depends completely on the time of year and from where you are flying.

Travel from Bangkok to Phato
By train about 750 Baht By bus about 600 Baht Local busses from Ranong or Lang Suan have prices that vary from 30 to 60 Baht Prices can changes, depending on the economical situation and prices of gasoline.

Food and beverages
Meals and drinks like coffee, tea and water are included in your participation fee, when you work as a volunteer on a project. When you go out to a shop or local bar or restaurant prices can vary from 20 Baht to 50 Baht (a can of soda or a bottle of beer) and meals vary from 40 to 100 Baht (simple fried rice, or a big dish with shrimps and fish).