One afternoon, about a dozen young members of Kesorn Lamphu Club were enthusiastically preparing a booth for people to watch their exhibition and pop-up art featuring the Bang Lamphu community and play educational games during the recent Charm of Bang Lamphu Fair.
A volunteer for Khlong Bang Lamphu Conservation Group tells visitors the history of Chao Phor Noo Shrine and how the group works to protect the commuity and its waterway.
In the meantime another volunteer, Tiyaporn Sriudomporn, was busy taking pictures of a walking tour organised by the Tourism Society Network.
Both Tiyaporn and the leader of Kesorn Lamphu Club, Parnthip Likachai, have been working as tourism volunteers for more than a decade, since their teenage years. Though they serve different groups, they have the same goal to promote community tourism.
"Working as a volunteer has expanded my perspective on travel. It shouldn't be limited to temples and palaces. People and their way of life are more interesting," said Tiyaporn, who works full-time at a private company on weekdays and is a volunteer with the Tourism Society Network, a community-based tourism group, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) tourism division on weekends.
Kesorn Lamphu, a youth volunteer group, readies an exhibit at Santi Chaiprakan Park.
Since 2003, she has been assisting projects at the BMA, helping its tourism division organise and facilitate community trips. It all began when she was a 16-year-old Mathayom 4 student at St Joseph Convent School and became one of 10 students her school sent to Bang Rak District Office to attend a four-day training scheme for local people and schoolchildren to learn about the history and cultural attractions in the district.
"At first, I just wanted to know my neighbourhood because my family seldom took me on travel trips. But after the training, I wanted to know more," Tiyaporn recalled.
Thereafter she requested Rapeepat Ketkosol, a BMA official who designed and co-ordinated the training, for permission to observe other community-based tourism training courses in Bangkok, such as in Bang Lamphu, Phra Khanong and other districts.
"I went everywhere [in Bangkok]. I think Bangkok has not only the Temple of the Emerald Buddha but also a lot more to see. Every time I revisit a place, there are some changes and I learn more. I love Bangkok more and more and I want other people to love it, too," she enthused.
Tiyaporn is a regular tourism volunteer on weekends. At the Bang Rak training course in 2010, she was one of the speakers who talked at length about the role of tourism volunteers.
Apart from volunteer work, Tiyaporn administers the Tourism Society Network's Facebook page.
Rapeepat, of BMA's tourism division, said: "If local residents do not understand and appreciate resources in their communities, they fail to implement what they are taught to become tourism volunteers. It is this way because this kind of work does not bring money, and all they gain is happiness, good feelings and knowledge.
"Fortunately, many people in Bangkok love to work as tourism volunteers although not all of them are well prepared. However, if these volunteers have opportunities to learn from communities other than their own, they will be more eager to work."
Tiyaporn takes pictures of tour participants while Rapeepat tells them what to expect.
Currently, Bangkok has approximately 30 groups of community-based tourism volunteers. Each group comprises at least three or four members. A number of them also volunteer to work outside their communities. Those who belong to the young generation have free time for volunteer work on weekends and public holidays, such as Tiyaporn.
The second group comprises highly experienced members who have full-time jobs but also work as tourism volunteers regularly. One of them is Anucha Kua-charoon, co-founder and volunteer of Trok Khao Mao Local Museum in Bangkok Noi district. Apart from Bangkok Noi, Anucha supports community tourism in Bangkok Yai and Bang Khae, and delivers lectures on local culture to youths in Nong Khaem and Phetkasem.
According to Rapeepat, there are two types of training for tourism volunteers in Bangkok. In the past, the city provided six or seven formal training courses annually. Informal training is the way volunteers work and learn from first-hand experiences. A good example is the 11-year-old Kesorn Lamphu Club which has members of the new generation to assist its work.
"The group is successful because most members are local people who have been working together for more than 10 years and developed event organising skills, apart from performing shows, music and plays," he said.
To him, the factors responsible for their success include sound ideologies, patience, trustworthy leaders and a lot of regular activities in their community.
Parnthip, co-founder and leading member of Kesorn Lamphu Club, began as a volunteer in 2001 when she assisted a group of researchers doing field work in Bang Lamphu and helped the Bang Lamphu Community Network organise a Children's Day fair.
At that time, she was an undergraduate student at Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon.
"I have been doing volunteer work since then. Every time I organise a fair at Santi Chaiprakan public park, I ask the local people and children to work together," she recalled.
Later in 2002, Parnthip and her two older friends established Kesorn Lamphu Club. They did it because they had fun and learnt new things.
"Whenever we organise a fair, we feel proud doing it. We do everything from the work of labourers to that of emcees. We have fun," she said.
According to her, local children will come help cut paper and prepare exhibition boards. They either live in the Bang Lamphu area or nearby like Phraeng Sappasart and Phraeng Phuthorn or study at Wat Sangwej School or Satriwitthaya School.
"Volunteer work provides opportunities for us to learn about community history by listening to the elderly, besides reading. We have had fun learning more and more," Parnthip, who is a full-time bank employee, added.
The group focuses on organising and facilitating activities and walking trips for academics, researchers, students and the those among general public who want to learn about their community.
Among activities they are proud of were their youth guide training at Klong Hae community in Songkhla province last year and their recent lecture about volunteer guides for a class of non-formal education students.
They never ask for money or gifts in return. However, they are usually given a travel allowance, food and drinks by those who invite them.
Currently, the group has 16 leading members who take part in community activities regularly and more than 100 active members in the neighbourhood.
Parnthip hopes more people will realise the value of volunteer work. Nowadays, similar groups have been formed by the residents of Bang Lamphu, such as Khlong Bang Lamphu Conservation Group, Community Learning Group and Banana Trunk Carving Group.
According to her, the benefits the group has gained from volunteer work are happiness, work experience and opportunities to travel to places they have never been before.
"We are so happy. I sometimes ask myself why I have been doing this for 11 years and the answer is I have been happy to work for children, and the youngsters have been paying it forward to other people.
"We have had fun and also learnt new things," Parnthip said proudly.
Share this article
About the author
Writer: Pichaya SvastiPosition: Life Writer
Bangkok Post online classifieds
Try buying selling goods and properties 24/7 in our classifieds which has high purchasing power local expatriate audience from within Thailand and around the world.
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/02/24/volunteers-with-a-cause/
0 comments:
Post a Comment