Looking for Help in Northern Thailand - Housing in exchange for labour

Discussion in 'Jobs, projects, courses, training, WWOOFing, volun' started by Gina R, Aug 3, 2013.

  1. Gina R

    Gina R Junior Member

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    Looking for help in Northern Thailand

    Who we are
    A couple in our thirties with a big dream: to develop our land into a wondrous garden of magic where people can enjoy a serene retreat into the jungle and eat off the trees as they wander the gardens.
    Gina – Canadian, music teacher at an international school in Chiang Mai, percussionist, hiker, very new to permaculture, organized and caring
    Chai – Thai, a trekking guide, a great cook, a creative person, a jungle man wonder, loving and kind

    What we have
    Almost two acres of land (on a slope) near a lovely waterfalls in the middle of the jungle about 40 minutes from Chiang Mai.
    We have a little ‘house’ with electricity, which is currently all open (no walls), except for the simple bathroom. This means that when we sleep over, we sleep in a tent.

    Who we are looking for
    A couple, a couple of friends, a single person, a family, (other) who would enjoy living in the jungle (we go to the land only 1-2 days per week, so you would have the run of the place for most of the time), and with:
    -some permaculture/PDC/farming experience, preferably in tropical climates, but we understand that you may be coming for the chance to experience tropical permaculture
    -lots of physical and mental energy to put to use in various projects
    -a willingness to experiment, work hard, collaborate, and be innovative
    -an interest in creating food gardens and small edible forests, guilds, working with water systems, developing composts, creating a magical but practical landscape and sustainable system. (Possibly doing some natural building – but this may be much later on down the road; possibly creating a mini terraced rice field.)
    - love and attention to maintain and develop the land
    -And someone who is open to living in a different culture (assuming you are not Thai!) and flexible in terms of living in a fabulous, but developing country in which things may work differently and not always efficiently as you are used to.

    Why we are searching for someone
    It occurred to me (Gina) that we have something pretty awesome to share with permaculturists and permie-travelers who want to experience Northern Thailand on a budget while at the same time want to develop their permaculture skills and deepen their knowledge. We can only spend one or two days per week on the land because we work in the city and as a result, we are finding it difficult to put in place our permaculture ideas on our own – and basically to establish any meaningful permaculture system. We could use the help, but just as importantly, someone(s) with whom we can share ideas and grow together.

    Our eventual goal
    To create a magical, permaculture-practicing retreat with guest houses and edible gardens.

    The exchange
    - A modest budget for small projects
    - Housing for labor
    This means that, once here, you would have to budget for food (as low as $4/day, if you eat local) and local transportation (you can walk to the village but you may want to rent a scooter, approximately $5/day, or buy a bicycle). We can also arrange for you to go to Chiang Mai one or two times per month, and can pick you up at the Chiang Mai airport or bus/train station when you arrive.
    For longer stays, you will need to do visa runs so that you can legally stay in the country (this is a fairly common practice and there are several companies that drive visa-runners to the boarder so that they can reenter Thailand).
    Right now, we have a 2-person tent and basic bedding, plus mosquito net, but you may want to bring or buy something more comfortable in terms of mats and sleeping bag. We hope to eventually upgrade this arrangement for our guests, but this is what it is now.
    Our ‘kitchen’ is still very basic – camp fire style, but as we continue to work on our house, this will grow too.
    That covers the basics! Additional expenses depend on the purpose of your trip.

    Additional (optional) benefits for you!
    You can get involved with the local community. The village is part of several King’s projects and overall most villagers live very sustainably – and you can learn a lot about local herbs through observation. If you are looking to build up some ESL teaching experience, the local school (of nine students and four teachers) would openly welcome you. There is a good chance that you will learn some basic Thai and be invited into homes to share meals and enjoy local food, depending on how you choose to cultivate your relationship with the village community.

    There is a great Permaculture center that offers courses about 30 minutes away, called the Panya Project, as well as its Thai counterpart – PunPun. You may want to plan to take a course before or after spending time at our place or to simply touch base with an awesome group of people. (Panya is where Gina took her first permaculture course).

    Time frame
    There is no minimum or maximum time frame and there is no start or finish date. We are flexible and are looking for the right person(s) who would fit with our project and who would feel that they are also getting something valuable in return.

    A couple of final, but important considerations that are non-negotiable and out of our control
    -The village has a VERY strict no drugs policy (what you do outside of the village and off the land is your own business) and if/when drugs are found, the village will either send in the police or ask us to send you on your way, neither of which is an appealing scenario. And while our land is actually further up the road from the village and fairly isolated, some villagers may be in the nearby jungle at all times of the day and night, hunting and foraging, which is pretty cool.
    -Please respect the local culture and people in the village (this should be very easy to do as everyone is kind, curious, and easy-going). Chai is originally from the village and can help you get acquainted.

    If you are interested, please contact us. While this initial post is pretty long, we know you may have more questions, which we are happy to answer. We want to make sure that you have a full picture of what we have to offer before you commit to traveling all the way to Northern Thailand.

    Oh, and three more info bits (which could be pros or cons, depending on you)
    1) There is no wifi at the land or village, so you would have to go into town for access
    2) The land is quite isolated, which you can really feel at night time. This might be a consideration and possibly a safety issue for single people. On weekends, there are sometimes groups that spend the day and night nearby the waterfalls and in the 3 nearbyguest houses. That could be a great chance to meet Thais who are coming out to enjoy nature.
    3) We are very new to permaculture and are in a transition state. That means that not everything that we have done is 100% permaculture, much of which has to do with our own limited education and/or using local resources. That said, we very much want to make a clear transition and are working toward that goal.

    We suggest that you think about what you may want to get out of this exchange during your time with us (ex, “understanding herb spirals,” “developing water systems”, etc.) and we invite you to include these interests in your message. Don’t worry, you won’t be committed to this and neither will we! But, in addition to our projects, we would like to support and accommodate your interests as much as possible and then we can plan as best as possible. For example, major planting efforts are best done in the wet season, whereas natural building is best done during the dry season; some projects you would like to work on, we may not be able to budget for, etc… But this will get a dialogue started.

    Looking forward to hearing from you,
    Gina and Chai
     
  2. wanderingfree

    wanderingfree Junior Member

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    Hi Gina and Chai,
    We are definitely interested in having the opportunity to come and work with you, should that still be possible. We have become rather tired with our surroundings and the attitudes of others (in Iceland and western society in general) and are seeking any chance to be somewhere where we can do something real with our time. We have had difficulty with funding our own ideas and as such decided to seek others who we can help and help us in the process. We both completed a PDC course and have self-studied for years; and would love to put our ideas into practise.
    What we would like to get out of our experiences would be to help develop a holistic natural system. We are interested as much in the whole as with each aspect, be it passive water systems, natural building, animal integration, growing for food and materials (i.e fence posts, fuel), composting (a huge topic by itself), using surplus to make our own clothing, baskets, tools; quite a lot more. Ultimately therefore, I guess I am trying to say that we would be more than happy to do any or all of these things. It is a pleasure to learn in and of itself. I have reminded myself of a favourite quote of mine, from Robert Heinlein:
    "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
    Hopefully this is enough to get our dialogue started :). Please be in touch if you have questions or for any other reason.
    I should perhaps mention, we don't really have any money, but will do what is needed to save and travel to where we can help. Beyond that we do not expect money, but rather an opportunity to live as much off of the land as we can, by growing food and also foraging in natural systems. We have no problems shifting our diet, wanting to eat what grows locally and what can be grown locally.
    For now, I shall stop rambling.
    Kind regards, Michael and Sunna
     
  3. Gina R

    Gina R Junior Member

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    Dear Michael and Sunna,

    Thank you for your message and interest. Our project continues to be on-going and ever-changing and we were really happy to read your message today.
    I am sorry that you have had difficulty getting funding for your own projects thus far, but I hope that our own project might be able to offer you something in the meantime.

    We are happy to report that there have been a few updates in our situation since our last post back in August (it was so much fun to read that again!). Well, to start off - we have walls and doors. A great celebration! Walls and lovely windows to overlook the land that descends below. Our bathroom is still simple (shower and toilet) but enclosed and lovely. And we now have a little bedroom - complete with mosquito screens! So, no more sleeping in a tent - unless we want to.

    Our kitchen situation: we now have a gas stove (inside or out, as it is still moveable) and we have built a more convenient dish washing station. It is outside, but I love it there because if we leave the water out in the sun for a little bit of time, we have hot water for our dishes! And we can throw the day's water on a nearby bed with ease.

    We have created a few more plants beds and even tried out a mini-rice field this year! I had created a couple of compost piles but used them up already in preparation for the wet season.

    When were you thinking you might be interested in coming out? A couple of good friends who we met this year will spend June 30 - August 1 on the land, but after that, it will be just us, in and out on our weekly visits.

    And as I wrote before and continue to emphasize, this exchange will only work for us if it works for you. We are fairly flexible on many things and we are just looking for the right fit. We really want to make sure you feel like you can get something from this. :) After reading your message, I know that we would be very honoured to receive you in our jungle home and we are impressed with all that you have to offer.

    Please feel welcome to continue asking more questions, either on this post or privately. We will be happy to answer them.

    All the best,
    Gina and Chai
     
  4. wanderingfree

    wanderingfree Junior Member

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    Dear Gina and Chai,
    Just in case you are only watching this thread for our reply, I thought I would mention that we sent you a private message.
    Apologies again for the belated response...
    Warm regards, Michael
     
  5. esocha

    esocha New Member

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    Hi,
    Just reading your post, not sure if this is still available or if you are still in need of permaculture land help there in Thailand?
    If so, please contact me via email: [email protected]

    I'm very interested with my girlfriend from Australia. Myself I'm from USA, have actually spent some time in Thailand so am familiar with climate and location.
     
  6. wanderingfree

    wanderingfree Junior Member

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    Hi Gina and Chai,
    Hope you guys are well. Wondering if our got our message?
    All the best, Michael and Sunna
     

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