Teen Tours in Thailand


Rustic Pathways has been operating student travel and community service programs in Thailand for over a decade. With dozens of full-time, local employees from incredibly diverse backgrounds, our connections here ensure access to places that aren’t open to most visitors, allowing for truly special experiences. Our Southeast Asian administrative headquarters are based outside of Chiang Mai, and David Venning – Rustic Pathways’ Chairman and Thailand’s resident summer Director – also has a home here. With our
legendary Ricefields International Service Base in the northeast, the Hill Tribe Orphanage Project along the Burmese border, and a number of other bases throughout the Hill Tribe region, our year-round facilities are proof of our commitment to the communities and people we love and support in Thailand. Welcome to Amazing Thailand!

If you have any questions about our Thailand programs, please contact our Thai Team at thailand@rusticpathways.com.

single grains of rice form a stalk moving in the breeze
five buffaloes graze next to a string of huts
a group of monks quietly returns home to their temple
incense burns and the fragrance wafts over The Buddha’s image
children play taklore and watch the sun set

cooking fires die off slowly
sticky rice and fresh grilled chicken topped off with papaya salad
make taste buds water and bring the whole family home for dinner

everyone laughs and eats and laughs and sleeps
and the air smells sweet like fresh cut rice

this is one of the world’s kindest places
this is one of the world’s special places
Amazing Thailand

 
 

THE ART OF MUAY THAI


9 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


This unique opportunity suits both male and female students who are interested in learning practical self-defense techniques, improving their overall fitness level, or building a skill set in the amazing art of Muay Thai. Train one-on-one with world champions at a pace designed to suit your individual goals and interests. Muay Thai is an artform, a training method, a mental discipline, and a confidence building sport..

INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY SERVICE


10 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 40 Community Service Hours
Live in one of the world's kindest, most welcoming rice farming villages at our legendary Ricefields Base. Teach English at a local school, work in a rice field, learn from Buddhist monks, and spend time in a traditional Thai village. Open your heart and expand your horizons on this extremely popular introduction to community service.
 

THE THAI ELEPHANT CONSERVATION PROJECT


10 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Live and work with elephants at Thailand's famous Royal Elephant Reserve. Learn to ride, guide, drive, bathe and feed elephants. Includes formal classes, hands-on training, and one night camping with your elephant in the jungle. Spend rewarding time with mahouts, trainers, elephants, and Rustic Pathways staff. This very popular trip is 100% unique - a once in a lifetime adventure!

THE HILLTRIBE ORPHANAGE PROJECT


9 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 40 Community Service Hours every week
At this new orphanage home, help provide these 12-16 year old boys with the life skills and a solid education that will allow them to be strong candidates in the global workforce. Help them with their homework and tutor them in their on-going English lessons, and get your hands in the dirt working on an organic garden that provides the fruits and vegetables for sustainable living. Spend free time taking groups of students on enriching field trips to nearby historical sites, and along the way join some adventurous excursions like kayaking or trekking through the teak jungles.
 

RICEFIELDS, MONKS & SMILING CHILDREN


9 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 40 Community Service Hours every week Immerse yourself in the gentle Thai rice farming culture. Visit the mighty Mekong River, learn Thai cooking, weave beautiful silk, master the basics of buffalo care, and teach in the local schools. Create lasting friendships with some of the world's kindest people. This very popular program is run from our beautiful Ricefields Base

THE AMAZING THAILAND ADVENTURE


10 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Throw on your pack, get off the beaten path, and discover a world visited by few other tourists. Join us and enter the ancient cultures and misty mountains of the Lanna Kingdom. Hike along paths used by hunter-gatherers for hundreds of years, listen for Gibbon calls and search out hidden waterfalls
 

THE RICEFIELDS AND RURAL LAOS


8 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


This three week trip combines the best of two countries allowing students to fully immerse themselves into the cultures of neighboring Thailand and Laos while working on a diversity of community service projects. It is an excellent opportunity for strong bonds of friendship to be made with our local staff and villagers as well as fellow students. The students spend first two weeks of the program the Ricefields Service base in Thailand and the third week in a beautiful rural village across the Mekong River in Laos. In both locations the students will be working hand in hand with locals to improve such things as education, infrastructure and health.

TRIBAL TREKKING AND SERVICE


1 Departure Dates
available

16 and up


Throw on your pack, get off the beaten path, and discover a world visited by few other tourists. Join us and enter the ancient cultures and misty mountains of the Lanna Kingdom. Hike along paths used by hunter-gatherers for hundreds of years, listen for Gibbon calls and search out hidden waterfalls.
 

THAI LANGUAGE AND SERVICE


LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

3 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Introducing Arno - Bodybuilder and Thai Teacher Extraordinaire

Meet your new Thai teacher and program leader, Arno. With impeccable English and a passion for languages, Arno is the perfect person to introduce you to Thai. He will show you around town, introduce you to his friends, and take you out on fun excursions that will give you a chance to practice your Thai. Depending on the class size and skill level, a few of our other Thai staff may join Arno in the classroom, and there will always be the opportunity for one-on-one tutoring with any of the Thai staff who call the base home.

ELEPHANTS AND AMAZING THAILAND


9 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 36 Community Service Hours
This amazing adventure includes six days at the Royal Thai Elephant Reserve learning to ride, bathe, feed and care for rescued elephants. Visit the temples, palaces and waterways of Bangkok by longtail boat. Trek through remote Hill Tribe and longneck villages. A life changing adventure combining service and exciting touring
 

ISLAND HOPPING AND DIVING


4 Departure Dates
available

16 and up


A nonstop 17 day adventure, Island Hopping and Diving diversifies itself with a mix of scuba diving, sea kayaking, snorkeling, rock climbing, cliff jumping, and just hanging out on the beach. Along this great island journey, you will also enjoy the pleasures of immersing yourself into the warm welcoming Thai culture as we dive into the depths and beauties of this tropical paradise.

WONDERS AND RICHES OF SE ASIA


1 Departure Dates
available

16 and up


The very best that Southeast Asia has to offer! Travel in style with the chairman of Rustic Pathways through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma. This unique program encompasses incredible Asian highlights, provides special access in the regions visited, and ensures exotic cultural experiences throughout the entire journey
 

TRIBE TO TRIBE MARATHON PACKAGE


1 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Rustic Pathways is proud to welcome you (and your friends, family and mere acquaintances) to the first ever Rustic Pathways Tribe-to-Tribe Marathon. Strap on your running shoes, set a training schedule, and join us for a spectacular run through one of the most beautiful regions of Thailand to benefit Karen Hill Tribe children. Organized through the Rustic Pathways Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the money raised through the marathon will help pay for the $400 each student needs for food, uniforms, books and school fees.

COME WITH NOTHING, GO HOME RICH


6 Departure Dates
available

16 and up


Earn up to 120 Community Service Hours
For dedicated, experienced community service students only! This program provides access to 3 remote villages and allows students to manage a significant budget and design service initiatives to help the villagers. Students homestay and work with local families, and learn from the heart how to design and implement an effective service program.
 

PAT'S HAPPY SUMMER HOLIDAY TOUR


1 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


If you want to see the best sights Asia has to offer through the eyes of a true professional, then this is a trip for you. You’ll visit four different countries with Pat by your side to show you around. Experience the energy of Bangkok, the collision of cultures at the Golden Triangle, a long-tail boat ride over to Laos, a half day touring in exotic Burma, Sentosa Island in Singapore, and some of the world’s coolest markets.

OFF THE MAP : BURMA


1 Departure Dates
available

16 and up


This is a program for photographers with an adventurous spirit and an interest in exploring and taking photographs in villages far off the beaten track. Designed specifically for returning students and graduating seniors and guided by the chairman and founder of Rustic Pathways, 'Off The Map' is a special adventure that will take you to very Rustic Pathways
 

BUDDHIST LIFE : WALKING THE MIDDLE PATH


2 Departure Dates
available

16 and up


Thailand is easily one of the most photographically rich regions in the world. Warm, welcoming people also make it one of the easiest places to learn how to capture wonderful images. Take this opportunity to learn the basic skills of photography and immerse yourself in the intriguing history of this region and its diverse people. This trip has it all – wonderful people and places in Thailand, and practical and fun photo instruction

TRIBAL SHOOTERS


1 Departure Dates
available

15 and up


This exciting voyage through Thailand will be a visual feast with ample opportunity to create stunning photographs, but it is also about more than just color and light. You’ll learn to photograph in a respectful way, by investing time in cultural exchange. And typical of Rustic Pathways, the trip will also be an exciting adventure.
 

DREAMING IN COLOR


1 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 16 Community Service Hours
No previous art experience is required to join this amazing two-week journey. Simply bring your imagination, a sense of adventure, and the desire to make art. We'll visit some of the most incredible places in Thailand with sketchbooks in hand and spend time every day creating art. We'll also be documenting the work that we produce with slides to prepare for art school application requirements.

THE VILLAGE DOCUMENTARY PROJECT


1 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 40 Community Service Hours
Thailand is easily one of the most photographically rich regions in the world. Warm, welcoming people also make it one of the easiest places to learn how to capture wonderful images. Take this opportunity to learn the basic skills of photography and immerse yourself in the intriguing history of this region and its diverse people. This trip has it all – wonderful people and places in Thailand, and practical and fun photo instruction

 

TWO STRONG TREES : THAILAND


1 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Earn up to 80 Community Service Hours
Please join us on this important conservation and reforestation project in rural Thailand. On this program you will learn about the unique environmental issues facing this beautiful country, help to plant and rebuild a mixed species forest, and design an interpretative learning trail for Thai school children.

THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE EXTENSION


TOURING+ADVENTURE

4 Departure Dates
available

14 and up


Head out of the ordinary and into the exotic during this journey through the borderlands of three diverse countries. From the oxcarts and teashops of Burma to the dazzling rice paddies of Laos and the temples of Thailand, this trip will take you across borders, through captivating scenery, and into the heart of one of the most culturally rich areas in Southeast Asia.