With 18 years of experience in the nature tourism industry Siam Safari has been running their successful tours to Khao Sok, just a two-hour drive from Phuket, for a number of years now. They have along the way, snapped up many different tourism and environmental awards for their tours and activities.

Over the years, the founders and management of the company have developed a relationship with the locals of the Khao Sok region. The idea of helping the community with a Children's project first came about almost 3 years ago, when Mr Robert Greifenberg and Khun Sriwilai Komkrit, the founders of Siam Safari decided to help rural schools in the area. Schools in rural Thailand often suffer from a lack of resources, since funds and teachers are drawn to the cities, with better living conditions and wages.

The aspirations of these rural children are exactly the same as those in the cities, they dream of becoming doctors, sportsmen and women, entrepreneurs and many other careers useful to Thai society and the economy. But the reality is often as bleak as going to school and having to eat lunch sitting on the ground, or having to share one computer between nine pupils, or learning from books that are out of date and water damaged.

The children of Khao Sok are the next generation in a rapidly changing environment and the founders of the project were keen to contribute in some way to their development. The project aims at breaking the cycle of poor education leading to low paid jobs.

Projects to date have included story writing, t-shirt design and gardening competitions, with the winners receiving sponsorships, or fun activity days for the entire class. All proceeds from sales, plus any money collected in donation boxes is filtered back. On each Children’s Day (13th Jan) Siam Safari donates 10 000 baht to each of the three local schools, which is used to help support the education of the poorest students with clothes, books and writing materials. The company has also facilitated the donation of 8 personal computers in the last 18 months.

The children have been equally busy by making some beautiful paintings of wildlife and the environment out of recycled paper and they are also using seeds to make key rings and broaches.

These items, all proceeds of which go back into funding the schools project, are very popular with Siam Safari’s nature tourists giving the tourists a sense of satisfaction that they are helping the local community. A teacher from England commented, “I am so pleased to have had the chance to help the local schools by purchasing a picture which I will hang in my classroom, and tell all my pupils of the positive work being done to support rural schools in Khao Sok, maybe it will make them appreciate the quality of their own education.”

“Our Children's Project,”Andrew Williams of Siam Safari, told the Phuket Post, “is a long term commitment to the schools of Khao Sok. We have come to realise that the schools need maintenance and improvements and that government funds simply are not sufficient to do both.

“We will continue to try and provide additional learning materials and work on improving the quality of the schools in the area. The aim is to find sponsorship to provide materials (computers, books, building materials etc.) along with the hope of repairing or rebuilding parts of the schools which have deteriorated.

“We are currently only able to support the schools themselves and not individuals.” Andrew explained. “The schools in Khao Sok only teach to a secondary level. We hope that our projects instil a sense of pride in the children so that they might consider higher level education. We also hope to nurture a sense of pride in their community and their environment. We are always looking to employ skilled people from the local area.”

This, says the company, is just the beginning. The hope is to continue engaging the children in further educational and skill development activities. On a larger scale, the company is actively seeking corporate or private sponsorships to broaden the scope of their projects.

Children, they maintain, are our future, education is the only way to give them the freedom to make their own choices.

If you are interested in donating funds or equipment to the project please contact info@siamsafari.com. The company is actively seeking second hand computer equipment and will happily give public exposure to any donors. Private donations and corporate sponsorships are also welcomed.