School Expedition to Thailand

Your school expedition to Thailand will offer your students a variety of unforgettable experiences, from exploring the Thai culture to volunteer opportunities at local schools and elephant sanctuaries!

You’ll explore some of Thailand’s ancient temples, enjoy a Thai cooking lesson and will even have a go at learning some of the Thai language!

Your students will learn more about sustainability and recycling at a dedicated workshop and will spend time volunteering with a project renovating a local temple school. And one of the highlights of the trip will be volunteering at a local elephant sanctuary, where your students will have the chance to get up close to these majestic animals as they help the staff to take care of them.

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1

Afternoon

Check in for your flight to Thailand.

Evening

Overnight flight to Bangkok.

Day 2

Morning

On arrival, meet your local guide who will escort you to your hotel.

Afternoon

Take the afternoon to relax after travelling.

Evening

Enjoy an evening meal, as well as an introduction to the projects and Thai culture.

Day 3

Morning

Enjoy a Bangkok tour visiting the Grand Palace, Wat Pho temple and the reclining Buddha, followed by lunch.

Afternoon

Continue your tour with visits to Wat Saket on the Golden Mountain and Loha Prasat.

Evening

Visit the Khoa San Road market.

Day 4

Morning

Take a longtail boat tour and cruise down Bangkok's river and back canals. Take a visit to spectacular Wat Arun.

Afternoon

Transfer to Singburi for your project work - introduction to the centre with a short walking tour around the area.

Evening

Welcome performance by a local dance group and a Thai language lesson.

Day 5

Morning

Begin your project work - your task is to help renovate and improve a local temple school.

Afternoon

Enjoy an excursion to the Monkey Temple in Lopburi. Take part in a Thai cookery class.

Evening

Enjoy your self-prepared Thai meal.

Day 6

Morning

Spend another morning helping to renovate and improve this local school.

Afternoon

Excursion to the historic city of Ayutthaya where you'll visit ancient temples and a local market.

Evening

Dinner in Ayutthaya and free time for group activities.

Day 7

Morning

Sustainability workshop - what if we could use the rubbish of today to power workshops where young people can work on the solutions for tomorrow? This project collects and sorts rubbish along local streets and rivers, then extracts valuable plastic and uses it to create new items.

Afternoon

Transfer to Kanchanaburi. On arrival, check in to hotel.

Evening

Free time to relax by the pool - after all, you've earned it!

Day 8

Morning

Visit the beautiful 7-tier Erawan waterfall in Kanchanaburi.

Afternoon

Excursions to the Kanchanaburi cemetery and the infamous bridge on the River Kwai. Take a boat ride.

Evening

Evening to relax.

Day 9

Morning

Elephant sanctuary project - this project takes care of rescued and sick elephants. You'll enjoy washing the elephants, while also preparing food and making sure that the elephants are living in a comfortable environment.

Afternoon

Continue to enjoy the elephants.

Evening

Farewell dinner.

Day 10

Morning

Prepare to depart and say goodbye to the local team.

Afternoon

Transfer to Bangkok and fly back to the UK.

24-hour assistance from Halsbury Travel in the UK
8 nights' full-board accommodation
Air-conditioned coach
Airport tax and passenger duty at current rates
English-speaking guide
Free staff place ratio 1:10
Return flights from the UK

Accommodation

Krungsri River Hotel

Wrap yourself in luxury at the Krungsri River Hotel, the premier sanctuary in Ayutthaya and one of Thailand’s leading hotels just outside of Bangkok.The Krungsri River, a luxurious four-star hotel with great heritage, is nestled in the energy and excitement of the ancient city of Ayutthaya. A city once was a capital of the majestic kingdom of Thailand and a place where thousands of people visit every day.Indulging in the cultural attractions of Ayutthaya, meeting for important business of the day or inspiring industry events of the year something happens every hour of every day. And after a long day of meetings, shopping or sightseeing, you can rejuvenate your evening into our stylish room with every convenience, every facility right at your fingertips.

Tour highlights

Temple School Improvement Project

You’ll spend time helping to renovate a local temple school on the outskirts of Singburi. The temple school not only provides an education to the children in this community, it also provides housing and food to those who don’t have any family, or whose family cannot afford to take care of them. And the temple school is also an opportunity for students from remote areas to receive an education. You’ll help to renovate the façade and structure of the school in order to improve the students’ living standards. This will provide a lasting effect on the children by improving their educational experience.

Did you know?

Education only became compulsory in Thailand in 1921 and still today most of the schools in Thailand are located on temple property.

Elephant Sanctuary

This sanctuary in Kanchanaburi looks after rescued and sick elephants. You’ll spend the day helping to prepare their food, bathing them and generally helping to take care of these majestic animals. The sanctuary provides a safe place for sick, disabled, abused or illegally owned elephants, many of whom were previously used for logging, farming or entertainment. You won’t be able to ride the elephants, but you will have much more meaningful interactions with these wonderful animals, while learning more about the importance of the elephant in Thailand.

Did you know?

The elephant is the official animal of Thailand and has had a huge impact on Thai culture. The elephants in Thailand are Indian elephants, but are a bit smaller and have shorter, thicker set bodies than their cousins in India.

Sustainability Workshop

You’ll help to collect litter along streets, canals or rivers, much of which would otherwise end up in the ocean. You’ll then find out how the plastic waste is cleaned and recycled into new products at the programme’s headquarters. The headquarters is home to a sorting station, storage facilities, recycling workshops and a research lab. All the buildings have been built out of clay and wood according to traditional techniques. By taking part in this sustainability workshop, your students will learn more about the challenges of recycling and the importance of doing so with regards to the impact on the environment.

Did you know?

8.3 billion tonnes of plastic were produced between 1950 and 2015 – just 6% of this has been recycled. More than half has ended up either in landfills or in the environment and will take over 400 years to degrade.

Educational Activities

Ayutthaya

This city was once the capital of the Ayutthaya Kingdom and one of the largest cities in the world, with

Bangkok Tour

Enjoy a tour of Bangkok with stops including the Grand Palace, the official residence of the Thai monarchy, and Wat

Bridge On the River Kwai

The construction of the Burma Railway during the Second World War is considered a war crime committed by Japan, due

Monkey Temple, Lopburi

Prasat Sam Yot is a former Buddhist temple built in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Wat Arun

On the western bank of the Chao Phraya River, Wat Arun rises like a spectacular palace, dominating the skyline of

Supporting you every step of the way

Creating your perfect trip

Your quote will be put together by an experienced Tour Adviser who’ll be an expert in the subject area and will know the destination really well too. They’ll work with you to create a trip to suit your group’s needs and meet your learning objectives.

Launching your trip to parents and students

The next step is to get your trip approved and then get students signed up to it. Our ‘Trip Launch Pack’ will help you with this step. This is full of resources (all free to download) designed to make your life easier at this crucial point in the trip planning process.

After you’ve booked

Once you’ve booked, your dedicated Itinerary Coordinator will start work on the finer details. They’ll make sure your itinerary makes the most of your time and they’ll take on most of the admin tasks for your trip (freeing you up to do what you do best – teach).

Support while you’re away

From lost property to properly lost, we’ll always be on the end of the phone while you’re out on the trip. You’ll get a final info pack before you go, as well as access to all your trip documents via the Vamoos app.

After your trip

We’ll ask you for feedback, so we can improve our service. Let’s start planning your next trip too, so parents have plenty of time to pay (and so it’s less stressful for you). And don’t forget to head to our resources hub to continue the learning back in the classroom.