Last year, having semi-retired from the business world and qualified as an English teacher, I set out to utilise my new- found skill somewhere it could give maximum benefit while I could enjoy the challenging experience of another culture. My initial quest was to find an organisation in South East Asia with whom I could teach, paid or unpaid, at grass-roots level away from the heavy conveyor–belt institutions of the big cities. When I found OpenmindProjects I found a great deal more. While the initial and ultimate goal of Sven Mauleon, the founder, in setting up the organisation in Thailand was to spread knowledge of IT to the poorer areas of the country, he has adapted to the needs of the people concerned. In consequence he has recognised the need to couple IT with English and subsequently the country’s need to develop in the area of Eco-tourism. As a result OpenmindProjects was able to find me a placement that utilised my knowledge and experience as a businessman, accountant and actor as well as my teaching skills. A wonderful opportunity to be instrumental in helping others in a meaningful way.I volunteered to work with Eco-tourism in the National Parks and, being lucky enough to have three months at my disposal, applied to spread my time between an inland park and a marine park taking benefit from OpenmindProjects’ flexibility and adaptability in this way. Having attended the orientation course at the OpenmindProjects’ headquarters in NongKhai, a cultural experience in itself and an opportunity to meet the OMP team, 
I started work with two fellow volunteers at Kuiburi National Park 300 kilometres south of Bangkok. Kuiburi is the home to some 140 wild elephants in the foothills of the Tenasserim mountains, 25 kilometres from the main road on the Myanmar border. In this remote location we were able to immerse ourselves in the life and ways of rural Thailand, sleeping in staff accommodation and sharing our daily meals in the park rangers’ open-air canteen. Apart from teaching English to the park staff and local villagers we were also engrossed in helping with the promotion of the park, producing leaflets and PowerPoint presentations and developing a web-site. This activity demanded that we experience the park first-hand and in consequence we visited and stayed in remote areas of the park, joined the rangers as they surveyed the elephants’ comings and goings, trekked through the jungle, waded through mountain streams and made several fact finding visits to neighbouring parks and towns. 
Six weeks on, having said a reluctant farewell to new found friends both Thai and European, it was back to Nong Khai again to finalise reports and renew friendships with the OMP team. Then it was time to head south yet again, this time to the balmy beaches and turquoise seas of the Andaman coast. Whereas the focus at Kuiburi was to work on attracting and encouraging the right kind of tourist to help support the park and the local environment, at Had Noppharatthara Mu Ko Phi Phi much of the focus was on how to ensure the hundreds of thousands of tourist who visit this area do not destroy it. This marine park encompasses three or four major tourist destinations, tropical islands, coral reefs and long sandy beaches as well as mangrove swamps, inland rain forests and mountains.
Not unlike Kuiburi, our task at Had Noppharatthara was to teach English to the park rangers and to help develop promotional materials including leaflets, PowerPoint presentations and again the creation 
of a web-site. This necessitated hands-on experience of the islands, tourist beaches, resorts, dive sites, even cliff-climbing sites, throughout the park. When on dry land we were accommodated in the very smart tourist bungalows and again enjoyed the Thai cuisine, this time in the staff canteen and with the park management. Being close to the tourist resort of Ao Nang and reasonably close to Krabi we occasionally spent our free time visiting the tourist areas but very quickly returned to the world of our Thai friends where we felt we belonged.
The major issue with marine parks and very much their raison d’etre is conservation of the tropical reefs and islands and the associated populations of fish and sea mammals together with breeding areas such as turtle beaches and cliff nesting sites. We were able to assist the park staff with their continual battle to educate not only the tourists but also the local tour operators, charter boat and dive boat skippers in the importance of recognising how easily the coral reefs can be damaged and destroyed for ever. We were also able to spend time out in the islands helping the rangers ensure the impact of the tourists on the environment is contained. 
Then suddenly, once again it was time to leave. Yet more Thai friends and their families to bid a reluctant farewell. By this time Thailand, its people, its customs and its values had become home and I journeyed back to Western “civilisation” with very mixed feelings and a strong desire to turn the clock back. Thailand is a wonderful land but it requires the opportunities one has as a volunteer to get to know it and its people properly. I am very grateful to OpenmindProjects for giving me that opportunity.
TEACHING IN BUNGKLA SECONDARY SCHOOL 
I lived in the assistant director house, his family was very kind and helpful. Tep the English teacher we work usually with OpenmindPrejects was very helpful, present me to the teachers, help me with the plan lesson, I give my first lesson with him. All the teachers were very nice, invited me for dinner they wanted to practice their English with me.
I taught 3 hours from Monday to Wednesday, M1 students with Ying, we decide together the content of the lesson, but I did the English lesson, ying translated sometimes in thai for students. We practice conversation, students had to play roles, sing songs. At the beginning, they were shy, but after few lessons, they enjoyed to participate.
I teacher in the English club too with Ying and Pi, for older students, we just play games, sing songs. We had fun. I sat sometimes in the garden, small groups of students came to have informal conversation or play games with me. I was lucky I was here for the Thanksgiving day for teachers, students made amazing monuments with flowers or banana leaves for their teachers (I help them), and give them during the ceremony.
I lived in the assistant director house, he and his family were very good people, very helpful, takes care of me, the food was very good because they had a restaurant too. The week end, I spent very good time, because the teachers wanted to show me how beautiful is their province. I went along the Mekong, I went to waterfalls, I did a trekking overnight in Phu Wua National Park , organized by Ut the environment teacher, with others teachers and students.
TEACHING IN KHAM PIA PRIMARY SCHOOL 
I taught to P 3, 4, 5 students, Thursday to Friday in a primary school in a smaller village close to Bung Kla with the English teacher, Nid, around 4 hours a day. Tep brought me here Wednesday and bring me back to Bungkla the Saturday. I practice conversation, vocabulary, play games, sing songs, we had a lot of fun. The good thing, I used my lessons plan for M1 in bunkla school, I had just to adapt a little bit for younger students.
I lived with the English teacher, Nid, she was just teaching since 6 months, and she was so happy to have English conversation with me, I think it was with her, I felt the most useful, because she was afraid to talk in English with the students before I came, now she said to me she wanted to talk more English with students, sing songs… The teachers team was so nice with me too, invited me for lunch at home.
ENGLISH LESSON FOR ADULTS IN KHAM PIA VILLAGE 
I taught sentences, vocabulary, pronunciation for homestay family and guides with the help of Nid the English teacher. Few adults came ( the most 5), they had a good level, many chidren came too, but I gave most of my attention on the adults. But it was nice the children were here, because some lived in a homestay, and they will be able to help their parents, talk to the tourists.
But the last lesson was very popular, many women came because there was a new project a thai teacher will give English lesson to the women in kham pia. Tep was here too, he wrote an excellent worksheet for homestay with usual sentences and thai phonetics, we focused on the pronunciation.
