Living the Thai Life—A Case Study of Volunteer Tourism at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project, Thailand

Despite the growth of the volunteer tourism market, and the coverage afforded by the popular press, volunteer tourism has received little academic attention. This paper is based on an ethnographic case study of volunteering at the Gibbon Rehabilitation Project (GRP) in Thailand. The study explored the relationship between volunteers, their volunteering experiences and the outcomes that eventuated. The study findings revealed that volunteers were provided with substantial opportunities to make positive contributions to wildlife conservation. However, the findings also demonstrated that the volunteering experience was much more than just the work duties carried out at the project. Volunteers also engaged in local village life and undertook tourist activities, and the current paper focuses on these aspects of the volunteering experience. Living in shared accommodation at the project headquarters, in a small village on the island of Phuket, volunteers' free time was spent socialising and sightseeing with other volunteers and local Thais. Thus, volunteers were able to go beyond the superficial interactions that travel is often restricted to. Indeed, many volunteers discussed how living in this way enabled them to become immersed in the Thai culture and the way of life. These experiences contributed to ‘personal growth’ and a ‘changed view of the world’ being frequently identified benefits of volunteering.