The document provides information about the Maekok River Village Outdoor Education Centre located in northern Thailand. It is an hour from Chiang Rai Airport and three hours from Chiang Mai. The centre is located on the banks of the Maekok River and offers students accommodation as well as a variety of outdoor activities like trekking, biking, canoeing, and community service projects. It aims to provide challenging experiences while ensuring student safety.

1. THE MAEKOK RIVER VILLAGE OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTRE BAN THATON, CHIANGMAI PROVINCE, THAILAND www.mrvproject.com

2. WHERE ARE WE? The centre is located in the northern most part of Thailand. It therefore has the exciting feeling of remoteness, yet is only just over an hour from Chiang Rai Airport. Chiang Mai is about 3 hours to the south. We organise transfers from both cities by minibus or coach.

3. The centre is part of The Maekok River Village Resort located on the banks of the Maekok River in northern Chiang Mai. The sweeping views of the hills and the surrounding farmland, makes for a peaceful and idyllic setting. As well northern Thai people with their distinct culture, language and food, the area is also home to a number of different ethnic minority groups, including various hilltribes, Shan and Chinese who together make this a culturally-rich area.

4. WHAT CAN STUDENTS DO? A VARIETY OF CHALLENGING OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES FIELD STUDIES IN, BIOLOGY, ECONOMICS, GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY COMMUNITY PROJECTS IN LOCAL VILLAGE SCHOOLS TEAMBUILDING and LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES DUKE OF EDINBURGH / INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

5. In addition to activities in and around the centre, we also arrange wider excursions to other areas such as the Golden Triangle, Chiang Mai and can also organise stays in Bangkok and even diving courses trips on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. We also organise for groups to Northern Laos for community and culture programmes in and around the fascinating and beautiful city of Luang Prabang.

6. Accommodation in the student ‘village’ Accommodation is provided in three student ‘villas’ with 6, six-bedded rooms in each. (So we can accommodate over 100 students). Every room has two bathrooms to avoid long waits for showers or the loo! Each villa also has a common room with TV and two single rooms for teachers

8. OUTDOOR ACTVITIES Biking Camping and hilltribe village stays Canoeing and rafting Climbing Trekking

9. We have treks lasting from three hours to four days. All treks are accompanied by expert English speaking guides and fully equipped instructors. Many schools come to carry out Duke of Edinburgh expeditions with us. . Students visit an Akha hilltribe village

10. The pleasures and challenges of trekking in the surrounding mountains…. as well as Duke of Edinburgh / IAYP expeditions The view as the sun sets over Burma… …..from a campsite at 1900 metres on Thailand’s second highest mountain. And cooking breakfast in early morning mist with temperatures nearing 0 C……………………………….

11. ………… and then climbing to the top

13. We have a large 12 metre climbing wall with six of routes of varying difficulties. Our qualified and experienced instructors only use CE rated equipment so we ensure that students have a challenging, yet safe experience. A small bouldering cube is located adjacent to the wall for warm ups and practice.

15. Bike trips through the Fang Valley and surrounding hills – on quiet rural roads and dirt tracks.

17. Community Service There are 38 schools in our local area and almost all in need of considerable improvement. Many schools contain large numbers of ethnic minorities and government funding is not so readily available. Since 2004, visiting schools have carried out over 80 projects ranging from simple re-painting of classrooms to construction of large dormitories Boys from Canberra Grammar School fund and build a library Girls from Pates Grammar School fund and help rebuild a canteen

18. A refurbished and hygienic canteen for Mae Muang Noi School New nursery classrooms for Ban Thaton School A new water system for Ban Dong School A new library for Huay Phu School All provided at a surprisingly low cost!

19. We also have programmes to improve levels of English. This includes not just visiting students teaching English, but also running teacher training programmes with expert volunteer teachers. A vibrant ‘gap year programme’ is ongoing.

20. Field studies We offer a wide range of field studies in biology, business studies, economics, geography and history at GCSE, IB and A Level. Experienced teachers lead the work, and all materials and field notes are supplied.

21. What else do students do? Thai cookery Umbrella painting Vegetable carving Or just be a tourist………. Learning about Buddhism and meditation

24. A little bit about us……. Bryan Massingham is the Director of Studies, and a partner in the Maekok River Village Resort Project. He took over the additional role of General Manager of Maekok River Village Resort in October 2002. He taught in the U.K. before arriving as Head of Geography at Island School in Hong Kong in 1982 where he developed a wide range of fieldwork in Hong Kong, China and Thailand. In his latter years at Island School, he was a Deputy Principal. An Oxford graduate with a degree in geography, he has also studied at University College, London and the University of Hong Kong. In his time at Island School he organised and led the treks to Nepal and Northern India, ski trips to Switzerland and Canada and field trips to China and Thailand…as well as Hong Kong to London by train in 1988. Rosie Massingham is the main force behind the resort side of the business but also has particular responsibility for overseeing the Maekok River Village Community Project, a community development project established at the resort and plays a critical role as ‘mother and mentor’ to our increasing number of gap year student volunteers! She has a degree in Humanities and takes a keen interest in the culture and history of the region, but is particularly interested in the Nationalist Chinese who settled in the area after fleeing China following the 1949 revolution. Before coming to Thailand, she taught history at Shatin College, Hong Kong where she organised history fieldtrips to Vietnam.

25. Since opening in 2000, we have welcomed over 80 schools and almost 300 student groups from around the world A list of these is available on request. bryan@maekok-river-village resort.com