Volunteering in Koh Chang is possible in education, animal welfare and the environment, with each of the charitable organisations listed here more than happy to take on volunteers for a day, a week or longer.
- Cambodian Kids Care, based in Klong Prao, welcomes allcomers to its kids’ school and day centre in the migrant workers’ camp. You don’t need to be a qualified teacher to get involved, just lots of enthusiasm and a sense of fun.
- Koh Chang Animal Project has been established for 17 years and carries out unstinting service helping the local animals, with dogs and cats the main focus but all beasts taken in if they need help.
- Animal Voice Koh Chang, with Thai vet Tookta Wipavee at the helm, provides a full service for the island’s thousands of stray dogs – look out for their truck on its daily feeding runs up and down each coast.
- Happy Dogs Koh Chang too has been extremely active a few years, concentrating on the day to day care and management of the island’s stray and abandoned dogs – see their facebook page for updates.
- The global operation Trash Hero has successfully established itself on Koh Chang, with over 20 clean-up days on beaches, roadside and out on the archipelago now completed by willing groups of locals, expats and tourists. See their facebook page for details of up and coming events. The Koh Chang dive companies also carry out extensive underwater annual clear-ups.
The Organisations – Koh Chang Volunteering
Cambodian Kids Care
Klong Prao – northern end, opposite Ramayana Resort
Cambodian Kids Care – Koh Chang (CKC) provide free education and a hot meal every school day to the most underprivileged children on the island. These children (mostly of imigrant Cambodian parents) are unable to attend regular Thai schools because of their parents work status. Without CKC, kids as young as 4 years old would spend all day alone in the jungle or at dangerous work places without an education.
Visit their Facebook page at Facebook – Cambodian Kids Care Center to volunteer, donate or find out more about this very worthy cause.
Koh Chang Animal Project
Klong Son
Non-profit animal organisation run since 2002 by Lisa McAlonie which looks after stray and abandoned pets, mostly dogs and cats, but sometimes other animals too. The clinic, located on the way to the waterfall in Klong Son, has a small surgery and lab, with facilities for pre/post operation. Visiting veterinarians are always welcome, with long term stays particularly useful, as are day visits from tourists who would like to help.
Visit their web page at Koh Chang Animal Project to volunteer or donate .
Animal Voice
Klong Prao
Founded by Thai vetinarian Tookta Wipavee and animal activist Mo Hernier, non-profit animal organisation, which offers everything from emergency care, temporary shelter, daily feeding runs on both west and east coast for the stray dogs (often in packs), neutering, micro-chipping, vaccination and health programmes. Clinic is opposite Flora i Talay in Chai Chet Beach.
Visit their web page at Koh Chang Animal Voice to volunteer, donate, adopt or find out more about this very worthy cause.
Happy Dogs Koh Chang
Klong Prao and Klong Son
Founded n 2012 and run by German Martina Moeller, Happy Dogs Koh Chang is a non-profit organisation which looks after the island’s numerous stray dogs. Day to day work includes feeding, responding to reported injuries, logistics of getting the dogs to surgery and rehabilitation as well as the ongoing project of spaying and neutering dogs across all areas of Koh Chang.
Happy Dogs needs volunteers for its daily operations as well as for adoption of the strays, both locally and overseas. For overseas adoptions, volunteers are needed as ‘flying friends’.
Visit their web page at www.happydogskohchang.com for information on how you can help.
Trash Hero Koh Chang
Island wide and at sea
Collections, all carried out by hand by volunteers, are either weekly or every couple of weeks, usually from 09.00 on Wednesdays. All you need are gloves and energy. T-shirts are 100bt each, sponsorships welcomed.
Visit the website at Trash Hero for more information on the main organisation or visit Facebook – Trash Hero Koh Chang for more information on the Koh Chang organisation.
UPDATED December 23
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