Learning Center
Learn with us
On our farm, we host courses, workshops and groups throughout the year; we are able to facilitate in both English and Thai languages. Our training focuses on: self reliance, organic gardening, natural building, community living and natural health and healing.
Events
LOGISTICS PERTAINING TO ALL COURSES
General Schedule
Our courses begin just before lunch on the first day, so whether you are joining the shuttle from the city or you are driving up on your own. We will begin just before lunch. Then after that the days will have a morning session, afternoon session and periodically evening sessions, evenings are mostly movie nights, or lecture type discussions. All courses will have breakfast, lunch and dinner included. We have a break after lunch for a siesta type relaxation time.
The last day of the course will finish after lunch, those who join the shuttle will depart the farm around 2 pm.
The Project
All courses (unless otherwise specified) are hosted at our organic farm & learning center outside of Chiang Mai City, in Mae Taeng district. We started this center in 2003, as a way to live a more self reliant and sustainable life. We focus on earthen building, organic gardening, seed saving and experimenting with community living.
Teaching team
Various community members from Pun Pun farm
Living situation
We will provide simple clean accommodations in one of Pun Pun’s onsite earthen or bamboo buildings. A thin futon mat, blanket, bed sheet, pillow & pillow cover, and mosquito net are provided, no towels are provided. Accommodations are in single, double or dormitory style spaces. The showers and toilets are in separate buildings about 10-15m away from the accommodation buildings.
All meals will be shared and eaten in our communal kitchen/ dining hall. Our meals are simple and delicious, consisting of mostly brown rice, vegetables, and some added protein from eggs, fish, tofu and periodically chicken and pork. We can accommodate nearly all dietary restrictions/ allergies and we use as much of the organic produce from the farm as is seasonally possible.
Community living
A large aspect of the course also includes the experience of living in community; both with other participants, volunteers, and of course our community members including many kids. Over the years many people have said the best part of the course was meeting new like-minded people and creating connections. These connections often last for years after a course, and can be quite an eye opening experience as people re-connect with a big part of being human.
Registration
Register through our google form
or message facebook page: Pun Pun Organic Farm
Bringing Your Group to Pun Pun
As well as offering workshops and courses for individuals to attend, we also offer the opportunity for groups to come and learn and experience the farm together. There are various ways we can facilitate your group, based on their needs. We can either organize a custom course for your group based on the topics we teach or we can offer a laid-back and beautiful space including delicious meals for your group to facilitate your own retreat or workshop.
Facilities include a rounded earthen meeting hall capable of receiving many sizes of groups from 5 to 50 people. Our kitchen can provide delicious, fresh, homemade healthy food and the Pun Pun Coffee shop serves fresh coffee, fruit shakes and homemade snacks. We have simple, natural accommodation in the farm for various needs.
In the past our laid-back simple atmosphere at Pun Pun has been used to conduct group trainings of various sorts including NGO youth trainings, company volunteer trips, groups from Myanmar, regional organic farming network trainings, school field trips, exposure trips for villager groups as well as hosted meditation, yoga, dance, and massage workshops. We are happy to talk with you about how you may want to use our space for your group.
We can facilitate day trips, overnight or multiple day programs and can provide activities for your groups based on the self-reliant living techniques we practice at the farm including organic gardening, healthy cooking, introduction to natural building, making your own soaps/shampoos/body products, natural health care, etc. This can be set up depending on the needs of the group and we can talk about what your group might be most interested in.
Pricing
Day trips
1,000/day for a full day’s activities (morning and afternoon session, includes lunch)
600 baht/person for a half-day activities (includes lunch)
Overnight and multiple-day groups:
Option 1 Pun Pun hosts the activities for your group : 1,800 baht/person/day includes a full day of activities led by Pun Pun for the group (morning and afternoon session), 3 meals, and simple accommodation.
Option 2 You host the activities, we provide spaces and meals : 1,500 baht/person/day is the pricing for groups that want to host their own activities at Pun Pun and use the facilities here. We include 3 meals, simple accommodation, and use of the meeting hall and dining area.
Both options above DOES not include transportation to and from the City, although we can help you to arrange it if needed.
If you would like a combination of your own activities and those led by us, feel free to email us and we can create a schedule together.
If you are from a grassroots or villager group with limited funds, reach out and let us know what budget you are able to contribute and we can work together to make a program based on your abilities.
Interested? Let’s connect…
punpun.farm@gmail.com (Thai)
punpuncourses@gmail.com (English)
Visitors & Volunteering
Day visitors
Full-time Volunteers
Volunteering
Our farm has thrived thanks to the contribution of the many volunteers from all over the world who have come to the farm. We enjoy the energy that each of our volunteers bring to our community as well as the unique skills that each of them can contribute to our community.
We take volunteers for a minimum of 2 weeks and as long as 2 months. The volunteer experience is a chance to see what it’s like to live on the farm and in the community. Every day we have a community member who will lead all the volunteers to help to do various jobs around the farm during your stay; from about 9-12 in the morning, and then 2:30-5:30 in the afternoon. This way you can learn hands-on about organic farming practices. Most of the year work will be weeding, planting, transplanting, maintaining garden beds, preparing new garden beds, harvesting food for the kitchen, seed saving, and other jobs on the farm. We also ask volunteers to sign up on the kitchen roster for helping with meals. This is usually a couple of times/week. As we get to know your interests and talents, we can accommodate different projects as well. We will provide simple accommodations, communal meals and direction.
Living as a volunteer with us includes you in the daily activities of our 20 community members as we share meals together and share the work on the farm as well. We have small children at the farm as well who are intricately involved in what we’re doing. If you have an interest in being with children, we welcome you to also spend some of your time with them as well. Depending on the time of your volunteer session, there also may be additional groups who come for day-trip learning experiences or longer. These groups are usually between 10-30 people and share meals and space with the rest of the community.
We ask for a small fee to cover the costs of food and accommodation. Some people have queried why we charge people who come and volunteer their time and effort to work at Pun Pun. Pun Pun is a not for profit farm, and it is also a learning center. Each year, we struggle to cover the costs of running our center while providing our seeds to the public for free. All the long-term community members at Pun Pun receive exactly the same minimal monthly income. We choose to open our community to volunteers for their help and also so we can share our experience of low-cost sustainable community living.
We put a lot of effort into hosting our volunteers and teaching them how things work on the farm. We also find that volunteers get a lot out of working with us and come away having learned a lot. We do occasionally provide free places to people from the Global South. We prioritize those who come from a background where global or even regional travel is extremely difficult and we could not offer anyone a free place, without the support of those who are able to pay so thank you for that contribution as well.
Our pricing changes if you stay longer because the longer you stay as a longer-term volunteer, the more you start to know how things run and how to take on different roles and responsibilities on the farm.
Pricing:
500 Thai Baht/day for up to 2 weeks
450 THB /day for days between 2-4 weeks
11,000 Thai Baht/month
400 Thai baht/day for days beyond one month
We understand that some people are interested in staying longer but we ask for a 2-month trial period to see how it works for all of us. Then we could consider an optional extension.
Part-time Volunteers
Understanding that many people would love to have this kind of experience but also may need to do other work, we also offer half-day working volunteer positions. For this option, part-time volunteers work a half-day along with the other volunteers and community and also still sign up for cooking each week. We have wifi in the coffee shop at the farm in which people can use if they need internet but it is also a public place so please know that other people come in and out.
Pricing for part-time volunteer positions:
700 THB /day for up to 2 weeks
650 THB /day for days between 2-4 weeks
16,000 THB /month
600 THB /day for days beyond one month
To register:
If you are staying for less than a month, we ask you to confirm your dates with us and we will hold you a spot. If you are staying for a month or more we ask you to send us a non-refundable deposit of 2,000THB to hold your spot since we do get a lot of requests. This deposit will be deducted from the payment of your stay. We ask all volunteers to fill in a registration form before your arrival. Please contact us for this form.
Please consider the following criteria to ensure that you enjoy your stay with us at Pun Pun.
- A keen interest in seed saving and gardening.
- Independence, flexibility and eagerness to learn.
- Interest in living in community and communicating, working, and living with others from diverse backgrounds.
- Openness to giving a hand with all aspects of running a farm/learning center and community
- Enjoy learning by doing and experiencing different ways of doing things.
If you want to apply to volunteer with us please email us at
punpunvolunteers@gmail.com
Introduce yourself and include the dates you hope to come and stay with us.