Working on a Farm in Rural Thailand

For some, traveling is a short, relaxing holiday. For me, traveling is a longterm lifestyle that I intend to maintain for as long as possible. In order to achieve this goal, my favorite way to slow down, save money, and immerse myself in a country is by volunteering in exchange for accommodation. As a member of Worldpackers, I am able to apply to all kinds of positions all over the world so when I decided to head to Southeast Asia, I started applying! Within a few hours I heard back from my top choice – a farm in the middle of nowhere, northern Thailand.

Farm life does not come easily, but I absolutely loved my week on the farm. This post is a little look into my experience volunteering on this farm that quickly became my home!

Find more of my resources for traveling cheaply HERE

Apply for the same Worldpackers experience as me HERE!

Let’s start with the process of actually getting to rural Thailand. My host told me to go to Waroro’s Market in Chiang Mai to catch my 11am Yellow Minibus to the farm – seems straight forward enough… right? Well, Waroro’s Market is actually massive and there are a LOT of yellow minibuses there. I took a Grab (Thailand’s version of Uber) to the market and my driver really tried to figure out where I should be, which was so sweet but to be frank, impossible. So I hopped out of her car, pulled up Google Translate on my phone, and got to asking the locals. I had high hopes until most of the people I asked had no idea where my Minibus was. Eventually, a few people pointed in the general direction of a street, so I just started walking and continued to double check with whoever I passed that I was heading the right way. Everyone was consistently pointing in a similar direction so I seemed on the right path until I noticed a Minibus with other white girls in it. I spoke with the driver, telling him the farm I was heading to and he confirmed he would be going there. Success! I had found my Yellow Minibus in the haystack of Yellow Minibuses!

About 3.5 hours later I was dropped off in a one-road town with my host’s daughter. She drove me by motorbike to the farm where I was immediately greeted by one French girl and one Italian girl also working on the farm. I was shown my hut which was little more than a mattress on some wood planks covered by a mosquito net, but the excitement in me swelled. I was outside of my comfort zone and it felt great!

The rest of the day I got to know my new farm sisters and we became fast friends. We watered the garden as the sun set and our host mom cooked dinner. I found it interesting at dinner-time because the volunteers ate at a picnic table while our host family preferred squatting on a bamboo platform nearby. After dinner, we all settled on a bamboo fire pit to meditate around a bonfire. This was a peaceful time, although I don’t recommend this specific experience for beginners as there was not much instruction/guidance in the practice. Soon after I was exhausted and ready to turn in for bed – my first night I slept so soundly in my little hut.

Working on the farm: I actually did not work very much while living on the farm. We had a lot of excursions and chill time, which I did not complain about. When we did work, it was either planting seeds in the garden or breaking up ground to create plant beds. Work would usually get done between breakfast and lunch or just before sunset.

Eating on the farm: All of my host mom’s meals were vegetarian. There was always sticky rice and oftentimes steamed veggies or a vegetable soup. The meals were not exactly incredible, but I was always satisfied and happy to eat what was given to me (except for the steamed morning glory – I do not enjoy that vegetable).

Sleeping on the farm: I visited in the wintertime and it would get quite cold in the nighttime. I had plenty of blankets in my hut, so I was thankfully able to sleep well. However, evenings and mornings could be pretty chilly when the sun wasn’t out.

Money on the farm: For this Worldpackers experience, I did actually pay 250 Baht per night (to cover food costs), which was essentially $50 USD for my entire week on the farm. Some budget travelers might complain about a fee like this, but I knew about it from their Worldpackers profile and felt that with accommodation, three meals a day, and some unique experiences, it was well worth the price tag – especially because I would have spent much more for a week anywhere else in Thailand.

Interacting with my host family: My host family on the farm was honestly not the most social at first. However, by the end of my week there, I came to understand that although they were not starting many conversations, they were happy to answer my questions and talk if I initiated. Initiating these conversations seemed daunting but simply asking questions about their lives made my time much more positive than if I had just stayed quiet.

Unique Experiences:

As I mentioned above, I did not actually do much farm work on the farm. This is because some of the days were filled with unique experiences that made me feel more immersed in the lives of my hosts and their community.

The first unique experience was getting to spend a whole day at a local soccer tournament. We woke up in the morning and were told we would be going to a sporting event that day. So we hopped in the back of their pickup truck and drove to the nearest school where there were crowds of people in jerseys and goofy skirts shaking pom poms. We found a seat under a tent with the crowd that I assumed was “our team.” The soccer game began and we were quickly given our own pom poms and dragged to the side of the field to dance and cheer. At one point we were also given a cup of dark liquid that was definitely some kind of alcohol – we were told it was homemade wine! It was not good! Eventually there was a winner of the tournament and lunch for everyone, followed by activities for the crowd to get into! There was tug o war, potato sack races, and even one game where people had to put basketball shorts on without using their arms. Everyone was laughing and cheering and the vibes were so hilariously good!

The second experience was hitchhiking to a local hot spring. Although this was not an activity with our host, it gave the other volunteers and myself a sense of the community and living life like the locals do. We were picked up pretty quickly by a friend of our host and he brought us all the way to the hot spring (a 30 minute drive). We spent the day at the hot springs sunbathing, eating Thai omelets, and swimming in the warm, blue waters. When we decided to leave, we had to walk for about 20 minutes to get to a busier road to catch a ride. A woman picked us up at the side of a cafe and was able to bring us 10 minutes further down the road. Then we were stuck walking for another 40 minutes until we reached an even busier road and got picked up by another woman almost immediately. She brought us all the way back home to the farm where we were just in time for dinner!

And finally, my third experience was one of the most memorable 24 hours of my life. We were told we’d be visiting a school to bring them some supplies and food and staying the night there. We were told to get into the truck bed as we would be driving with two monks, who in Buddhist practice are not allowed to touch women, plus I don’t think there would have been room for all of us inside the truck anyway. So, we cozied up in the back of the truck for four hours, a very long, hot, and bumpy four hours. We made a couple stops to shop for food and have some lunch but otherwise, my butt was hurting in that truck.

However, the long ride was well worth it as soon as we arrived at the school. It was an extremely rural, Karen Hilltribe school with some of the cutest kiddos I’ve met. We were brought to our “room” which was one of the classrooms lined with mattresses and transformed into our accommodation for the night. Once settled, I watched some boys play soccer as the sun went down – they were so happy to be done with classes and were all very good players too! We had dinner with the teachers of the school and afterward I joined them chatting around a bonfire. Gradually other teachers, volunteers, and even the monks joined our circle – someone brought out a kettle and heated tea with the warmth of the fire. We managed to carry conversation and laughter even with the language barrier. Although the conversations were slow and mostly trying to figure out what people were attempting to say, there was no rush and we were usually able to figure each other out – with limited google translate! By the end of the night the principal was asking us to stay longer as English teachers but unfortunately none of our schedules were fit to accept the kind offer (but I know a spot I could one day go back to now).

I went to bed feeling so happy and grateful for this life. I was laying on a mattress in a cold schoolroom, in the middle of nowhere, yet I felt so insanely blessed.

The next morning, I woke up, had some breakfast with the other volunteers, and was then informed that we would be teaching an English class that day. I think the teachers made that day a special day for the kids and cancelled all their other classes for that morning, because the entire tiny student body filed into one room for us to give our lesson. I usually am not one for one-time English lessons as it is impossible to gage the students’ levels and improvement, however, the community seemed so thrilled by our being there that I wasn’t about to refuse. We taught “Hello, how are you?”, the colors of the rainbow, animals, the weather, and the seasons. Then, we spent the rest of class playing games like Simon Says and other competitive games so they could practice by simply interacting with us. I did notice that the boys were very outgoing and energetic, while the girls were much more shy and unwilling to put themselves out there during the games – I think this may stem from more traditional gender roles in rural Thailand than western countries are now used to. Nonetheless, they were all absolutely adorable.

We finished the trip by serving the kids their lunch: large helpings of Pad See Ew (similar to Pad Thai). Then, it was time to get back in the truck bed for our journey back to the farm. As we left, all the students lined up waving to us and saying goodbye. I got some of the teachers’ instagrams/contacts and left with some of the most incredible memories in my mind and my heart. I truly will never be able to forget that magical little town in the middle of Northern Thailand’s mountains.

When I left the farm the next day, I was sent off with big hugs and kind words from every member of my host family. My host mom even gave me some bananas for my long minibus ride back to Chiang Mai. Taking the time to slow down and experience this hidden side of life in Thailand was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. Although I am definitely not used to sleeping in huts or doing difficult farmwork, I truly enjoyed every minute of immersing myself in a culture and life so different from my own.