Worldpackers: Benefits of Voluntourism in Southeast Asia (2025)

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17 min read

After 8 months of living and working in Australia, it was time to move onto the next part of my journey - backpacking Southeast Asia. As it had always been on my bucket list to volunteer in Southeast Asia, I kept it a top priority while making my travel plans.

Previously, I did volunteer while travelling in New Zealand via something called WWOOF. I highlighted the win-win benefits of such an arrangement, particularly for the traveller. It was mainly a great way to travel long-term without a lot of money.

For Southeast Asia, I used another platform with a similar proposition called Worldpackers. The rise of platforms like this reflects a growing trend of "Voluntourism", a term for volunteer tourism. I would argue that the benefits of voluntourism in Southeast Asia extend way beyond saving money. (Travelling SEA is not costly to begin with)

In this post, I wish to share more about how Worldpackers works and the benefits of voluntourism in Southeast Asia for both travellers and host communities. Since I have already written about the benefits for travellers in my WWOOF article, I shall focus more on the host communities in this one.

At the end, I reflect on how this experience has impacted my political consciousness and offer some tips for those of you who are considering to take up this form of travel for your next trip to Southeast Asia.

About Worldpackers

Introduction

Worldpackers is a relatively new platform that started in 2014. It connects travellers with hosts from around the world, facilitating an arrangement where travellers volunteer in exchange for accommodation and/or food.

It is marketed as a way to "safely travel as a volunteer, have life-changing experiences, and make a positive impact on the world".

At a yearly membership price of USD59 (SGD76) for a solo traveller or USD69 (SGD89) for a couple (Use my promo code UNBOXIN97 for 10% off), it is more expensive than other platforms like HelpX at the price of €20 (SGD29.50). However, there are several areas where it offers more value.

My main reason for using Worldpackers for volunteering in Southeast Asia is due to the high number and variety of opportunities offered in this region. There are a range of hosts from private families, non-government organisations (NGOs) to government organisations working on various projects such as education or the environment.

Features

On top of that, Worldpackers has a couple of features that I like.

The Worldpackers' plan includes an insurance package where you will be safeguarded in case any problem comes up during your stay with the host. The cost of your emergency stay will be covered, which means 1 less thing to worry about!

Worldpackers' platform is user-friendly too (in my opinion as a former UI/UX designer, haha). It has both a desktop and mobile app version, which makes it easy to use while on the go.

The host listings show a standardised layout of what to expect in terms of volunteering hours, tasks, facilities and learning opportunities. This allows you to easily scan and compare host opportunities.

As I mentioned previously, ratings and reviews are extremely important for choosing a host. Using Worldpackers, you can message a worldpacker who has been there to ask questions about their experiences. This can give you a more accurate picture of what to expect.

What I also find useful is the display of the host's response rate and whether there is a high volume of applications from other worldpackers. This lets you gauge your chances of getting approved before applying for the opportunity, saving you lots of time and energy!

Lastly, the application process is guided and straightforward. You do a write-up about myself, why you are interested in volunteering (plus additional questions that the host may have), then choose the proposed start and end dates on a calendar. I like how clear the communication of dates is, as we know how crucial it is to make sure the dates are right in travel planning.

Once you have been pre-approved (which usually takes place in a few days from my experience), you then have to press "confirm" to confirm your stay. And that's all! You can message the host via your personal phone numbers to sort out the other details for your arrival.

A Win-Win System

Worldpackers can be described as a win-win system for both the travellers and host communities.

It is a win for travellers who are into more meaningful and authentic travel experiences not offered by mass tourism. Furthermore, it is a win for host communities who can leverage on the travellers' resources (labour, skills, funds, presence, network etc) for their projects. I believe that this is the way towards sustainable development

In my travels across Southeast Asia from Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia to Vietnam, I was involved in a total of 6 volunteering projects (4 of it with my partner Chiharu) using Worldpackers. There was a good variety from teaching languages, working on a self-sufficient farm to creating a website for a homestay business.

Through those experiences, I have come to understand the benefits of voluntourism, particularly for hosts in Southeast Asia. The list that I have written below is not exhaustive but based on the projects which I was part of. You might learn more from trying it for yourself! (Don't forget to apply my promo code UNBOXIN97 for 10% off your membership on Worldpackers)

With my John, my first host, and his students in Indonesia

Benefits of Voluntourism in SEA

For Host Communities
1) Promote education

My first Worldpacker host is John from the Temanggung region in Central Java, Indonesia. John is a retired English teacher who has taught over 9000 students in his village across his career. Even after retirement, he continues to teach private English lessons in his house. He is deeply passionate about teaching English and hosting foreigners from around the world. (He has been hosting since the early days of the Internet!)

John lets volunteers stay in his house in exchange for helping out with lessons. Mostly, we helped out by having conversations with his students. His students ranged from secondary school teenagers to working adults. They were shy at first but open up more once we talked about things like anime.

We got to hang out with John's students outside of formal lessons as well. John let 2 of his students, Iant and Evan, bring us out to a nearby tourist spot called Dieng Plateau. Having to become our tour guides for a day, their English-speaking skills were put to the test. Practicing English while having fun and making friendships... talk about a triple-win!

From talking to his students, we learned that many young Indonesians aspire to work abroad due to limited job opportunities and low wages in their country. Learning English is a step towards achieving that goal. John said that he feels proud when he sees his former students succeed, be it domestically or abroad.

There are volunteering opportunities for education at an organisational level too.

I volunteered for a non-governmental organisation called the Association of Cambodia Child First (ACCF) in Siem Reap, Cambodia for a week.

The founder of ACCF is Yat, a kind man in his early 30s with an inspiring life story. He had to drop out of school at 13 due to poverty and only managed to continue education for free when he became a monk for a few years.

The average household income in Cambodia stands only at USD$50-70, which means that many families cannot afford education for their children. The most heartbreaking sight I witnessed was child labour on the streets.

To uplift his community, he set up the ACCF in 2016 to provide free quality English and Mandarin lessons to children from disadvantaged families. This is because Siem Reap has a huge tourism industry, receiving close to a million visitors yearly coming to see the famous Angkor Wat. There is also an influx of Chinese businesses in the country. Knowing English and Mandarin would greatly improve their employment prospects and allow them to break out of poverty.

The school has 220 students and runs on 6 employed teachers and international volunteers. The role of volunteers is to work alongside the teachers to deliver the classroom lessons. Sometimes, the teachers gave me permission to conduct a lesson on my own.

What struck me the most was the level of enthusiasm shown by the children in the classroom. I felt a sense of shame for having taken my privilege of education for granted. This volunteering experience reminded me of the core purpose of education - to improve people's lives (not to compete and get ahead of others, as instilled by our education system) Just like in the movie The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Interestingly, I learned that the school motivates students by rewarding the top-performers with rice sacks. Every year, a few students are sent to university on a scholarship program. Students take their education seriously because they know it is something that would make a notable difference to their lives. Not just their own but the eventual fates of their families, communities and country.

I would recommend working with ACCF if you are planning on your next trip to Cambodia. According to Yat, their organisation would greatly benefit from funding and a consistent stream of volunteers.

English lesson time

Helping students with their assignments

A fun day out with local friends

Teaching a Mandarin lesson

With Yat, the founder of ACCF

2) Promote environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability is a pressing issue in the world today.

Its definition can be found in the 1987 United Nations Brundtland Commission as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

While the environmental crisis affects all, developing countries face a different set of environmental problems compared to developed countries. One problem that I have learned from my hosts is that financial pressures make it hard for people to adopt measures that value long-term sustainability over short-term profits.

One of my most memorable volunteering experiences was at a self-sufficient property in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand. Khao Sok National Park is an underrated spot in central Thailand (I had not heard of it before unlike places like Krabi) with rich biodiversity and limestone formations.

Our host, Ten, is a knowledgeable guy who majored in agriculture. His vision is to create a self-sufficient place where people can experience life close to nature and learn new skills. He bought a piece of land which no one believed he could grow anything out of and turned it into a thriving landscape after a few months with the help of volunteers.

Volunteers provide a source of income (we paid for accommodation in a small traditional bamboo hut and delicious home cooked Thai meals) and help him to build his self-sufficient property.

During the 1 week that we were there, I helped out with a variety of tasks from planting pineapples, deadheading flowers to constructing a compost bin out of bamboo.

Ten went against the traditional method of farming (i.e. monocropping) to practice something new and more sustainable (i.e. permaculture). Permaculture is a method of farm design that mimics the relationships found in nature. For example, certain plants which growth are mutually beneficial (called "companion plants") are planted in close proximity to each other, thereby removing the need for chemical fertilisers or pesticides.

According to Ten, what he is doing is aligned with the philosophy of the Sufficiency Economy which the late Thai king proposed. One of its core values is moderation - not too much nor too little - like the concept of the "middle way" in Buddhism. Basically, the idea is to have enough for basic needs first before developing further to keep up with globalisation.

The late king added that it was not important for Thailand to become a "Tiger economy". It is a reference to the 4 Asian Tigers (South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong) which achieved rapid economic growth due to export-led industrialisation from the 1960s to 1990s. I find it refreshing that there are alternatives that seek to avoid the costs of such a model.

What stood out to me was Ten's spirit for innovation. Going against the grain is difficult, especially in collectivist cultures. Yet, he showed courage and persistence by going through trial and errors and gathering information from volunteers.

Hopefully, he will get the help he needs to make his vision come true!

With Farmer Family (Ten and his wife)

Permaculture farm

Splitting bamboo

3) Create local economy

Voluntourism can create local economies which have many benefits.

I will illustrate how with a volunteering project I did with Thao at her homestay in Central Highlands, Vietnam.

Though Thao is only a few years older than me, we share a similar life philosophy. After being burnt out from years of grinding in the city, she moved back to her hometown in the countryside. It was a move that was frowned upon as it went against the social expectations of what young people should be doing - work in the city and earn a lot of money.

To find a livelihood back home, she started a homestay business by building an extension to her family house. It offers a mix of slow living, organic dining, cultural immersion and local sightseeing.

And guess what? Using Worldpackers, she managed to get more than 60 visitors from over 30 countries so far!

Volunteers love the experience as it offers an alternative to mainstream tourism. Moreover, Thao passionately shares about Vietnamese culture and her life.

I had not imagined myself ending up in the Central Highlands, wandering through the gardens, eating lots of handpicked fruits, swinging on the hammock on rainy days and having meaningful conversations with other girls.

With this platform, Thao is able to gain a source of income and borrow expertise from volunteers. (I helped her with creating a website)

But the benefits are not just limited to these. Thao also thinks about how the benefits can extend to her family and community. For example, her family may gain employment as cooks or drivers. The local farmers may gain a further source of income from selling their produce to her or conducting agriculture tours.

The creation of a local economy helps to preserve culture. Imagine if all the young people were to move out, who would be left behind to carry on the traditional ways of living in the countryside? The Central Highlands region is home to 47 of the 53 Vietnamese ethnic groups, making it rich in indigenous cultures.

Furthermore, it helps in the environmental cause. Cities are generally not that environmentally friendly as it generates high levels of consumption, pollution and waste. Thao mentioned that her previous job in Ho Chi Minh involved textile production with heavy amounts of chemicals which did not align with her values.

Another related volunteering project was at an organisational level in Madiun, Indonesia. The local government is testing out how voluntourism (using Worldpackers) can drive their developmental goals. One of them is to expand tourism to the local village level.

Under the guidance of a few government officials, we engaged in a variety of activities in the village - visiting local homes, teaching at a kindergarten, playing the gamelan (a traditional instrument) and trying out silat (a traditional martial arts).

The homes we had the honour of visiting were running home-based businesses. They let us try our hands at making getok (cassava cake) and salted eggs. One of the program's goals is to finance micro businesses. Micro businesses make up nearly 99% of Indonesia's local businesses and employ roughly 97% of the national workforce.

What struck me was the hospitality of the locals. They were genuine about getting to know us, asking us many questions and sometimes even inviting us to make speeches. It was also cool to see how the government officials work closely with one another and the local community.

In the end, we made a donation to them to provide positive feedback for the program.

We made a food platter on a taro leaf!

Outside my room at Thao's homestay

Playing the gamelan

Making salted eggs at a home

Trying out silat

Making getok at a home

4) Open up international opportunities

Voluntourism can create international opportunities.

As mentioned above about the project in Madiun, Indonesia, one of their goals is to transform Madiun city from a quiet transit hub into a global city.

In the downtown of Madiun, there is an area called Pahlawan Street Center which literally showcases their ambition with replicas of landmarks around the world (including Singapore's Merlion!).

While we were engaging in the local village tourism activities, many photographs and videos were taken and posted on the government's official social media. We certainly did not expect to become ambassadors of our countries!

As far as I know, there have been volunteers from other countries like Australia, UK and Brazil. I believe that as their outreach widens, it will serve as testimony of the program's success.

Another way that voluntourism can lead to international opportunities is through the formation of personal networks.

An example is at John's place in Temmangung, Indonesia where I befriended many of his students. As their village has hardly any foreigners (or "Bule" as they call us), getting the chance to meet one and learn about them is still a big deal.

John has personally never been overseas due to the lack of financial ability to do so. He said that the world comes to him instead, and it makes him very happy to have friends from around the world. Over decades of hosting volunteers, he has built up a strong international network. He and his family's kindness and generosity have left many volunteers deeply touched and wanting to stay in touch long after leaving. I was even recently invited to his son's wedding!

The beauty of such relationships is its reciprocal nature that lasts forever. When John was seeking overseas job opportunities for his son, he was able to reach out to some of them for help.


Merlion's bro at Pahlawan Street Center

5) Boost local credibility

Lastly, voluntourism can help to boost the credibility of projects within the local community. This point is a bit heartbreaking to write about as it reflects some harsh realities.

I learned from a few of my hosts who are visionaries trying to work on something new that they are not taken seriously by their local community. As a result, they often have to go at it unsupported.

I can think of a few reasons for that - general resistance to change, collectivist culture which values the community over an individual and possibly colonial history.

When my Thai host Ten tried to propose something different, no one believed in him.

According to him, things would be different if a foreigner were to come up with the same idea. People would unconsciously trust them more even if they do not actually know about the situation as well as the locals do.

When they saw that Ten could speak to foreigners in English (not many Thais speak English well), they started trusting him more too.

Similarly, when my Vietnamese host Thao returned to her hometown, people in her community did not believe in her. Sadly, she was perceived as a failure for quitting her job and not getting married yet.

However, she proved herself to be more than what society expects of her by building a successful homestay business, having gained many positive reviews from international guests.

While I am not encouraging this problematic issue to persist, it remains a fact at least for now that the presence of international volunteers can give locals who are trying to kickstart something new within their community a better chance of doing so.

With Thao and other volunteers from Spain and China

Personal Reflections

The biggest takeaway from these experiences is political consciousness..

There were numerous moments which brought up anger, grief and shame. I remember being so affected I cried after talking to some Indonesian Gen Z who told us of their unhopeful circumstances.

Why the huge disparity in our lives, even though we are from the same region? Are borders not just drawn artificially? Where is regional solidarity?

Another moment was my encounter with the Cambodian children. Learning about the genocide that happened in their nation's history was one of the darkest moments in my whole journey. The fact that they have to prioritise 2 other languages before their own language (Khmer) for survival, did not seem quite right to me.

How does power in the world work? What is right or wrong?

Chiharu went through similar emotions too after learning about the past deeds of the Imperial Japanese army. To come to terms with the truths which our history textbooks never taught us is a very difficult process. It took me a year before I could even bring myself to look back at my experiences. And honestly, it still overwhelms me.

Nonetheless, it matters because otherwise we cannot know what needs to be done for a better future.

It was through these questioning that I learned concepts like imperialism and neocolonialism. I have since felt a calling to be more politically involved, recognising that our struggles are interconnected.

Tips

Here are some tips if you are considering voluntourism in Southeast Asia.

Evaluating Host Organisations

It is important to research the host organisations beforehand. Before volunteering, I heard of some cautionary tales of shady orphanages that exist to take money from sympathetic volunteers.

Using Worldpackers, you can message the host or their past volunteers directly to ask about the experience and find out how you contribute to their aims.

It helps to understand your limitations as a volunteer as well. While I have highlighted a few benefits of volunteers for hosts in the article, we certainly do not want to think of or portray ourselves as saviours. This would cause harm by reproducing the unequal dynamics brought about by a long history of colonialism in the region.

For example, bear in mind that we are not qualified teachers even if we were teaching our native languages. Volunteers are not there to replace qualified locals. The locals would always have more authority and know-how on solving their issues. Furthermore, there are systemic roots to the issues that volunteering efforts are not enough to address.

If you want to take it a step further, you can read up on papers that have been written about the pitfalls of voluntourism. Before I went to Cambodia, I read this.

Preparing for the Trip

Firstly, be prepared for conditions that are outside of your usual comfort zone. That means toning down your expectations if you are used to the luxuries of hot water showers and A/C.

Secondly, be respectful of local customs. When I was in Indonesia, I observed that women dressed more conservatively there. As such, I also made sure to dress more conservatively. Local hosts would also let you know that unmarried men and women should not share the same room.

Thirdly, take care of yourself while being respectful of local customs. Unfortunately, we contracted the Hand Foot Mouth Disease in Indonesia due to not washing our hands before eating. On hindsight, we should have done that even if the locals do not. While we had thought that it was respectful to follow how the locals do things, we forgot that we do not have the same immunity as they have.

Conclusion

In conclusion, voluntourism is a win-win arrangement for both locals and travellers.

It benefits travellers who are looking for something more than the usual way of travelling, and also host communities in terms of promoting education, environmental sustainability, creating local economies, opening up international opportunities and boosting local credibility.

I believe that systems like these can faciliate the transition towards a healthier and sustainable future.

So if you are curious about trying this out in your upcoming travels, I definitely recommend you to do so!

Somewhere on an island city-state, Singapore

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