Thailand Volunteer Programs: Namsom

After Nongkhai, Namsom is our oldest and most estabilished volunteer program. Namsom is a typical Isan small town, and a center for the farming villages around it. Surrounded by rice paddies with a market in the center it's the administrative and commercial center for a small region.

Namsom is a popular destination with our volunteers as it offers a true Thai experience and is an exciting way to meet many new Thai friends. We are fortunate enough to have been able to supply the schools that we teach in with a constant flow of volunteers for the last 5 years. Namsom offers many different activities and cultural experiences.

Even though Namsom is not as big as nearby Nong Khai everything our volunteers are likely to need is available, supermarkets, banks with ATM’s, post office, internet café’s, sports facilities etc. It has become a custom over the years that the volunteers from Namsom and Nongkhai visit each other on their free weekends as it is only a 2 hour bus ride away.

Volunteer Projects in Namsom

Thasom School. English teaching
Thasom is a large primary school, with around 800 students. Its located around 500 meters from the volunteer dorm. Volunteers work as assistants to Thai teachers.

Nangnua School. English teaching
Nangnua, is the smaller of Namsom's 2 primary schools with around 500 pupils and is situated around 1 and a half kilometers from the volunteers dorm. Volunteers work as assistants to Thai teachers.

Namsom High School. English teaching, computer teaching
The high school is situated approximately 3km's from the volunteer dorm and has around 1500 students. Our volunteers normally work as assistants to the Thai teachers here, although there are opportunities for volunteers to teach things such as conversation skills on their own. Volunteers can also assist with computer teaching and we have run web design courses at the school during holidays in the past.

Samakeepittayakan School. English Teaching
This is a small high school with around 300 students located 15km outside of Namsom. Teachers from school transport volunteers to and from the school.

Wat Koh Kate. Temple teaching.
We teach monks and novices 2 nigts a week at Wat Koh Kate temple, which is around 1km from the volunteer dorm.

Volunteer Programs in Namsom:
Teaching English
Summer Camps
Teaching Monks teaching

General Namsom Information

Accommodation
Our dorm in Namsom is a beautiful multi level wooden Thai house just outside the centre of Namsom. There is a large living room with hammocks, TV, DVD player, computer and a large kitchen with fridge, cooker, toaster, water boiler. We have 2 toilets one western and one Thai with 2 cold water showers. The dorm has 3 bedrooms which can accommodate a total of 7 volunteers. There is a big upstairs balcony for sun bathing and a covered porch in front of the house.

Food
As in all Thai towns food can be purchased in many places and there is an excellent night market in the middle of Namsom every night selling a wide variety of Isan and Thai food. The 2 primary schools our volunteers work in provide lunch, and volunteers will often find themselves invited for dinner with teachers and Thai families. The volunteer dorm has basic cooking facilities. There's a small supermarket close to the volunteer dorm which sells some basic Western foods, such as bread, yoghurt etc, but there are no Western restaurants.

Weather
Namsom has basically the same weather as Nongkhai. The wet season, May till October is a bit more wet normally and the cold season, November till March, a bit colder.

Activities
Although there aren't a huge variety of Western style activities in Namsom, volunteers find plenty of ways to keep themselves entertained. There are waterfalls, mountains, national parks and a number of forest temples within easy reach. Within Namsom volunteers can join the local football club, play basketball or badminton, or visit one of the many karaoke bars. Volunteers can also try traditional Thai activities such as weaving or rice farming.

Staff
Jehab takes care of our volunteers in Namsom. Check our Personnel page

How to get to Namsom
Situated around 100 km northwest of Udon Thani, Namsom has excellent bus services from Rangsina bus station in Udon. About 10 regular buses run each day, plus there are a number of mini buses that leave when they are full. A number of buses run every hour from Nongkhai to Udon, and Nongkhai to Namsom via Udon normally takes around 3 and a half hours.

From Nongkhai volunteers can also reach Namsom more directly by taking a bus to Ban Phue (1 bus every hour and a half) and then catching a different bus to Namsom (one every hour). This takes between 2 and 3 hours depending on how lucky you are with the bus connection in Ban Phue.

More images from Namsom
Previous Namsom Photo Gallery (January 2005)


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