Andaman Discoveries

Placement organization

Name of organization: Andaman Discoveries
Town/city: Kuraburi
Country: Thailand
Website: http://www.andamandiscoveries.com

Student

Name of student: Kathy Stegwee

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Social Enterprise
Organization’s activities: – Cultural Tours
– Homestays
– Volunteer Placements
– Island Tours
– Group Service Tours
– Educational and Study Tours
– Family Tours
– Eco-Tours
– Handicraft Workshops
– CBT Consulting
Target group of the organization: Family and volunteer groups – responsible tourists
Company culture: Open flat organization – can always contact one another personally or by phone – easy going
Number of employees: 4
Dress code: casual, respectful – cover shoulders and knees
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing/Client Care/Admin/Finance
Brief description of your daily activities: – Every day response to client inquiries with program information and prices and any other requests from potential clients;
– Once every three weeks send potential clients follow up emails/send previous joining clients ‘thank you mails’;
– Update visitor statistics once a month;
– Update Google Analytics once a month;
– Complete client bookings;
– Client/volunteer inductions;
– Organise and manage AD’s Photo Server;
– Marketing backup
– Translations of itineraries;
– Administration work – scan and compile feedback forms for use on website/blog and report to senior staff at monthly meetings;
– Research on award AD can apply for;
– Update and research social media.
– And lots more – lot of varied work that is done
Brief description of your company assignment: Collating and presenting Google AdWords activity at weekly/monthly meetings;
– Continue quality management assignment and present findings at the end of placement;
– Organize and maintain company photo server, compile folders to send to future guests and volunteers.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Very good – as I am working on client care together with Karen Spackman she can help me whenever I need the help and she will know what I am up to and working on.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, team player, sociable, patient, flexible, enthusiastic, dedicated, open to different cultures, easy going
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Photoshop, Adobe, SEO, Internet, WordPress
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane or airplane and bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? AD helped, I’ve switched from an apartment on the main road to a nice house on a lovely lane. This house is rented out by an English friend of the office. Later on I moved into his house, as he was going back to England for the season.
How did you go to work every day? By foot or bike

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Please be aware that for an Education Visa you need paperwork from school as well as from the company. Have a good look at the Embassy’s website to check what is needed and take it all to the Embassy. It took me three trips as I was not well informed by the Embassy. Tip: check before going to the Embassy whether the registration form of the Chamber of Commerce of the company is not expired, as it will probably be around December/January.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes

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? Yes, recommended to learn some basic words/sentences before starting the placement

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 900,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 73,00 (2500 THB + 400 THB)
Local transport (monthly): € 0,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 150,00 (6000 THB)
How long in advance did you apply for visa Hepatitis A/B (twinrix), Typhoid fever, DPT, Rabies (optional), Japanese Encephalitis (optional), Chinese Yellow Fever (only when traveling from China)
Costs of visa: € 130,00
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Reading
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes – I learned to be more patient, as Thai are patient people. I learned to be more flexible, as they do not work as the Dutch/German with tight schedules.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 103308@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: What to do:
Always be open to remarks and feedback. Always be patient, as Thai people are really patient people. Always smile.
Go to Koh Phra Thong, beautiful island with deserted beaches;
Khao Lak is great if you want to meet farang (foreigners);
Koh Payam is a lovely, bit more touristical, but relaxed island;
Khao Sok National Park is beautiful and is home to the natural rainforest, one of the oldest forests in the world, as it is not affected by the ice age;
Koh Surin – Here you can find paradise: white sand beaches, green scenery and beautiful turquoise/aquamarine waters.
Ranong – great city, more crowded – beautiful hot springs, waterfalls and good shopping areas.
Phuket – lots of Russian though, but a nice city with lots of atmosphere
Krabi – beautiful province here in South Thailand with lovely beaches
Cultural tips:
Thai people always take of their shoes before entering a house. You can wear flipflop/sandals, which is the easiest.
Never point your feet in the direction of somebody, Thai believe the feet are dirty and it is respectful to show them your feet.
Never cross someone in front of them and never reach to get some food f.e. in front of them. The head and shoulders and holy, also never touch these parts of their bodies.
Always ‘wai’ and bow at people when saying ‘hello’ and ‘thank you’. The ‘wai’ is bringing your hands together with elbows on the side. Bring your hands in front of your face while bowing. (Wai-ing at kids is not necessary, they will wai to you).
Never shout when being angry or upset and never curse – this is not in Thai culture
Do not be offended when Thai people call you fat (if been called fat a lot of times) and when they call you white. This is what Thai see as beautiful, so it should be seen as a compliment! And Thai people will stare a lot, mostly because they are intrigued.
Just learn from the other foreigners and how other people act, this is the best way to understand. And if you don’t fully know what to do, just ask them, they are proud of their culture and more than happy to help you. Please do keep in mind Thai people do not really say ‘no’, which will sometimes confuse you and will something give you incorrect answers as they are too polite to say no.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Kuraburi is a one street village. I have to tell you that you really have to be independent to come here to do an internship. Luckily there are some foreigner living here, it makes you feel more at
03-05-13
home, than solely living among Thai people. I recommend you to start learning some Thai words before coming to Kuraburi; there is a good Phrasebook to be found on Andaman Discoveries’ website. As it is a small village most Thai do not speak English and Thai is a tonal language, it is harder to learn for us from the West as we do not use different tones for the same words. You have to be open to the Thai culture (Buddhist, Muslim and Moken). You will be part of a small community so you will be surrounded by all Thai cultures up close. Be open to all of them, otherwise the culture shock will be huge. Kuraburi does not have big supermarkets, only a 7/11 to get some foreign food. So keep in mind that restaurants will mostly only cook Thai/Asia food. Kuraburi is not located near touristic places; it will take you at least 2 hours to get to Khao Lak, 3 to Phuket, 3 to Ranong and 5 to Krabi. Get to know some about the Thai culture and especially His Majesty the King of Thailand and his family. Even though Kuraburi is such a small town, it is a beautiful and lovely village here in Southern Thailand, located in a beautiful jungle area with amazing waterfalls. I love it here! I would not have changed it for the world! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I would love to help and give you an idea in advance before coming here, as I can understand that it might be difficult.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link