PRESS RELEASE:
On January 20, 2023, Peace Corps/Thailand will celebrate the return to full operations by welcoming 52 American Peace Corps volunteers to the Kingdom of Thailand. The volunteers are eagerly looking forward to serving alongside community members across the country.
Volunteers have not served in Thailand since they were evacuated in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The evacuation marked the first time in the Peace Corps’ 61-year history that volunteers were evacuated from all posts globally. Since the evacuation, Peace Corps/ Thailand staff have continued to engage with local communities through virtual service projects and other activities while preparing for the eventual return of volunteers.
“We are so excited to be a part of the historic re-entry of volunteers in Thailand,” said Peace Corps Thailand Country Director Sonny Luu. “Since March 2020, the Peace Corps staff in Thailand as well as those around the world have been diligently working to strengthen the foundation of the agency and to prepare to deal with any future impact of the pandemic. We are now ready to fully relaunch volunteer service and to celebrate this important moment with our community partners.”
At the request of the government of Thailand, volunteers will engage in Youth in Development and Education Projects. Volunteers in the Education Project will partner with Thai teachers to strengthen English language Instruction. They will also support the Royal Thai Government’s education initiatives and promote community service projects. Volunteers in the Youth in Development Project (YinD) will help prepare Thai youth for their adult roles as engaged and constructive citizens. Volunteers and their Thai counterparts will educate youth in life skills, service learning, healthy lifestyles, civic engagement, and entrepreneurial skills.
For more than six decades, the Peace Corps has engaged in critical global health issues. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Regardless of the sector they work in, all Peace Corps volunteers will engage in some form of COVID-19 response and recovery work, as either primary or secondary projects. Together, they will work alongside community members to make progress on the biggest development challenge the world has faced in more than a century.
About the Peace Corps: The Peace Corps is an international service network of volunteers, community members, host country partners, and staff who are driven by the agency’s mission of world peace and friendship. At the invitation of governments around the world, Peace Corps volunteers work alongside community members on locally-prioritized projects in the areas of education, health, environment, agriculture, community economic development, and youth development. Through service, members of the Peace Corps network develop transferable skills and hone intercultural competencies that position them to be the next generation of global leaders. Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1961, more than 240,000 Americans have served in 142 countries worldwide. For more information, visit peacecorps.gov and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. ###PeaceCorpsThailand #Volunteer
Contact:
Suthanya Sukphaisal,
Executive and Communications Assistant
Peace Corps Thailand
Email: ssuphaisal@peacecorps.gov
Tel: + 66 2 2430140
+ 66 92 2958832
