The attitudes of Thai hosts towards western volunteer tourists

Raweewan Proyrungroj

doi:10.54055/ejtr.v11i.197

Abstract

This study examines the attitudes of Thai hosts towards Western volunteer tourists who were on volunteer vacation at the Home and Life orphanage. An interpretive paradigm utilising a combination of qualitative data collection methods (semi-structured, in-depth interviews and participant observation) was conducted with twenty resident members of Thai Muang sub-district who acted as the host of the volunteer tourists. The analysis of the data revealed that all respondents portrayed positive attitudes towards volunteer tourists, based upon two main factors: the volunteer tourists’ conduct and performance; and the perceived benefits they gained from the work of these tourists. The opportunity for the local children to learn English with English native speakers was cited as the most significant benefit. However, the respondents also had concerns about some aspects of the volunteer tourists’ behaviour and perceived under-performance, which was found to be mainly the result of cultural differences. In addition, it was found that there are mixed views regarding the volunteer tourists: some respondents perceived them as special type of tourist, whereas some viewed them as being non-tourists.

Highlights

Volunteer tourism is a relatively new form of tourism (Ackerberg & Prapasawudi, 2009; Tomazos & Butler, 2009)
Addressing the gap in the literature, this study examines the attitudes of Thai hosts towards Western volunteer tourists with the aim of contributing to the literature on volunteer tourism, especially in the context of volunteer tourism undertaken by Western volunteer tourists in developing countries
In the context of orphan volunteer tourism, this study found that the benefits gained from the volunteer tourists in terms of an opportunity for the children to study English with English native speakers was perceived as invaluable and strongly influenced the hosts’ positive attitudes

Summary

Introduction

Volunteer tourism is a relatively new form of tourism (Ackerberg & Prapasawudi, 2009; Tomazos & Butler, 2009) It is a phenomenon originating in Western countries, mainly Britain and Europe, and expanding to other regions including Australia and the United States. The phenomenal growth of volunteer tourism is the result of a combination of factors Among these are the growth of mass tourism (Callanan & Thomas, 2005; Tomazos & Butler, 2009; TRAM, 2008) and the power of the media that exposes people to other, poorer, societies, thereby inspiring them to do something worthwhile for those societies (Callanan & Thomas, 2005). The industry report ‘Volunteer Travel Insights 2009’ points out that the September 11th incident in the United States in 2001 and the Boxing Day tsunami that hit many countries in Southeast Asia in 2004 have made a number of travellers more aware of opportunities to take a holiday that involved volunteering (Nestora, Yeung & Calderon, 2009)

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