Thailand Adventure with Gapforce

The Thailand Adventure with Gapforce was my first time out of Europe, as well as my first trip ‘on my own’ - and it was fantastic.
Although I wasn’t sure what to expect, I really appreciated the flexibility of the trip - the leaders would ask us if there were any particular activities that we were interested in or perhaps wanted them to look into, and we had plenty of free time to explore and see things that we wished to if we were unable to as a group.
Both expedition leaders, Laszlo and Terence, were very knowledgable, and able to offer reassurance, as well as assistance, whenever queries arose, especially medical ones. They were friendly and fun, making the trip feel more like a holiday with friends, whilst were also professional enough that I felt as though I could still come to them with any concerns. Occasionally, on nights out, I felt as though the leaders were less available which, though understandable, was sometimes a worry, but the size (17) and friendliness of the group meant that I never felt on my own, and both leaders were extremely conscientious regarding the safety of organised activities.
Throughout the trip, I was surrounded by an amazing group of people, and I made friends I would love to visit and meet up with again for further adventures. This trip really has ‘broadened my horizons,’ and I’ve come away with a greater desire to try more things, and ideas for hobbies/sports to take up during the rest of my Gap Year - one of my favourite memories has to be cycling around rice paddies in Chiang Mai, and I was reminded how much I enjoyed cycling (though the setting certainly won’t be the same!)
The amount we had to spend on taxis and travel at the beginning of the trip in Bangkok worried me a bit money-wise as we did a lot of moving around, and, although I was not particularly concerned when plans changed as I knew it to be a possibility, it was a shame when activities on the itinerary for our particular trip were missed out, such as a ‘sunrise hot air balloon.’ However, we did participate in other activities that were very enjoyable, with white water rafting definitely being one of the trip’s highlights for me.
Thailand was wonderful, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to experience it. I’ve come away from this trip with great memories, and feel much more independent, in general as well as as a traveller - I hope to do more in the future.
Thank you very much for the amazing adventure!

I was confused before I left with Gapforce what I was involved in. I quickly learned GapForce is a booking agent for programs with GreenLion and that GreenLion has tons of adventure and volunteer programs in lots of counties. You can book as many as you want for however long you want and even take weeks off for your own adventures. A program called a road trip is offered in many countries which in some countries means constantly moving and sightseeing and in other countries like Nepal means you are signed up for an intro week, adventure week, trekking week, and volunteering week. You have a home base at a volunteer house and each week head to different projects, some in different cities that you stay at a site there and some close by to the volunteer house so you stay at the volunteer center for the week. You can extend your stay even after you are there. Don't be afraid to change your schedule, go on your own in free time, and book what you want on weekends.

I never thought I'd be bathing in a river with elephants but it was the coolest experience and I never would have found it without GapForce. Although I felt I didn't know too much before leaving, GapForce was always super available to me during my travels and coordinated shipping packages for me and sending more info and still was available for questions. I had so many adventures from preparing food for Gibbons and elephants and feeding them to staying with an Akha host family in Chiang Rai. Great experiences!

My Thailand trip was definitely the break I needed from a long and stressful final school year, I had a ton of fun and met loads of great people. The first few days in Bangkok were busy, some of it wasn't too spectacular like the floating market - big tourist trap - but a lot of the temples were amazing, and the locals were so friendly! Then we had a few relaxing days in Hua Hin by the beach, I think the boat tour we did was almost everyones highlight. We stopped at an island inhabitited only by little monkeys! Everyone got massively sunburnt apart from me. Bring suncream or your face may peel like our Group Leaders did... We then took a five hour train back to Bangkok followed by a night-train to Chiang Mai. That was a long day. Chiang-Mai was probably my favourite place, we saw elephants, tigers, did a bike tour, went "tubing" down the river (floating on big rubber rings) and of course the nightlife was pretty great. After a week we took another night train down to Lothburi and stayed with loads of other volunteers while working at an orphanage, another great week and I was never bored. The kids were lovely and there are other things to do like swimming, shopping, etc. I remember always feeling really safe in Thailand, our group leader did a great job although I felt like communication between him and head office wasn't great, our trup was different to what we expected. I still had an amazing time and would absolutely reccomend the program to anyone interesting in Thailand, volunteering or just meeting new people and seeing an entirely different part of the world culturally.

I had the most amazing time in Thailand! Although I do agree with Zoe
Bell, more organization wouldn't go amiss, as well as more communication between the people that were on the phones to us and the leader in Thailand. I feel not much organization was done before hand and it did not match up with what I had planned with someone on the phone, if it wasn't for Ben our leader in Thailand, I wouldn't have come back very happy. He was amazing, he took into consideration how we all felt as a group and then catered to our needs. Thanks to Ben I had an amazing time and met some amazing friends! So thank you Ben for making this trip unforgettable!

I was overall very happy with my gapforce trip to Thailand. However, I was disappointed by the organisation and planning. My co-ordinator Ben was fantastic, he took into consideration everything suggested by us volunteers concerning how we wanted to spend our time in Thailand. I felt very safe with him as my co-ordinator. Unfortunately the programme did not match the itinerary that I had signed up for which was disappointing, Ben tried to book us into everything we wanted to do but I felt the trip had very poor pre planning which was a disappointment. Also on arrival to Thailand I did not feel too safe because I was given minimal information on where I was meeting Ben and given no contact information.

I did the program in november last year and loved it!

We had a great guide both in the intro week and elephant sanctuary I did and felt I got good insights into thai culture. The intro week in Singburi has you seeing and doing a range of things like making bracelets and visiting the famous monkey temple, whilst all meals are provided (traditional Thai food and you can buy cocktails for $3!) and transportation is organised (pick up trucks). It's not a typical tourist place so its not as westernised as the rest of Thailand, thus I felt it a more accurate place and representation of thai culture.

The second week in Umphang was amazing! If you do the elephant sanctuary you'll be staying here. It's a 10 hour plus drive up but it's worth it for the views and to see the elephants. You'll get to prepare the food for them, wash them in the river nearby and can opt for a short ride if you like.

I felt safe the entirity of the trip and met a great bunch of people whom i've stayed in touch with after we've split! I would reccomend!