Khiri Travel

Placement organization

Name of organization: Khiri Travel
Town/city: Bangkok / Nonthaburi
Country: Thailand
Website: https://khiri.com

Name of student: Lonne Rijvers

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: DMC
Organization’s activities: Khiri Travel delivers on its promise of personal attention to its clients and putting travellers at the centre of its operations. Khiri offers a variety of creative products: adventurous small group journeys; uniquely customizable tours with guaranteed departures; tailor-made programs; self-drive tours; special interest tours; educational travel as well as very high-end journeys including private jets and special arranged VIP encounters.
Target group of the organization: Dutch market
Company culture: Informal and open minded.
Number of employees: 41
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I was working within the FOX, verre reizen van ANWB team. My supervisor and me were the only Dutch people. The team exists of 4 Thai woman. They are really friendly.
Brief description of your daily activities: – Customer care
– Improve provided information about optional excursions.
– Assist the FOX area manager with ad hoc situations.
– Preparing travel kit for customers
– research in the field
Brief description of your company assignment: My research was about the optional excursions. The goal was to improve the provided information to increase the number of sold optionals.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: You have to be independent and you should know that you can count on yourself. The supervision by the organisation was good, but you have to have a hand on mentality.
My supervisor and me had almost once a week a meeting. It really depends on what’s pending. When I asked for a meeting or something, he was always able to meet me. When I had any question I could ask him.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, sociable, flexible, proactive, openminded
Additional company requirements for this placement? IOS, MAC, wrinting skills
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? the company arranged the accommodation. Really nice one! 2-room apartment with swimming pool and fitness.
How did you go to work every day? taxi

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Non-immigrant ED single entry or tourist visa
Do you need a work permit? I tried to extend my ED visa, but it was really hard. I should pay 690 euro to extend it. Another option was to do a VISA-run. I went to Lao to get a tourist Visa for 60 days.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Embassy/Consulary and Company
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2 months
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? I already had some and the other ones when I was sure I will do my internship in Bangkok.

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 500
Accommodation (monthly): € –
Local transport (monthly): € 100
General costs of living (monthly): € 350/500. You can make it as expensive as you want. The simple Thai meals are around 1/2 euro.
Costs of visa: € 60 euro ED visa + VISArun to Lao = 300 euro
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? The company pays the accommodation included water and electricity.
After one month they told me they would like to give me salary. So not sure if you will get it or not.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Last year I went to Vietnam for one month, so I already knew the Asian culture, but still you will be in a shock when you arrive.
Read some books about their culture. Monks for example are very sacred. They will be treated differently. Also expect that something the Thai work inefficiently.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: lonne.rijvers@hotmail.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be open minded! Probably you are not used to this situation here in Bangkok. The smog, the rice and chicken every day, the food stalls. It’s completely different and not a bit western!
Be sure that you know enough about this country and their culture. And also, be sure you know as much as you can about this company.
A suggestion to get in touch with other expats soon, is to take a look on the expat websites and Facebook.

What not to do… I do not really know. Just be sure you know enough about this country and try to accept the less nice things in the beginning of your internship. I am sure everybody can have a great time, but the big part of this is yourself, your mind-set.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: All the touristic things which are written on tourist websites, nice sky bars, restaurants, clubs and Khao San Road. Koh Kret is a nice village on a island near this office, and is nice to see by cycling or walking. Furthermore, book a trip to Ayutthayah, which is very close to Bangkok. You can see a lot of old temples at this place, by a tuktuk tour for example..
I would also suggest a stay on the beautiful islands of Bangkok. From this place, the islands on the east coast are the closest (Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Koh Tao).

Travel as much as you can. Even for a (long) weekend it is worth it to travel to another destination.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link