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International Internship: Eco-Construction
Year: 2026
Duration: 9 Weeks
The Eco-Construction Internship 2026 is taking place at Bang Laew School in Krabi, southern Thailand. At its centre stands an abandoned wooden classroom block, built roughly 111 years ago, when the school itself was founded. Years of termite damage, tropical weather, and the ordinary ageing of untreated timber had left the structure weakened to the point that, without intervention, it would eventually have to be pulled down.
This project started thanks to Khun Khet, who took us to visit a small village school in a remote part of Krabi. While walking around, we found an old wooden building that had been sitting abandoned for years. When we learned it was 111 years old, we knew it was worth bringing back to life instead of letting it fall apart.
For the students, this internship is about much more than construction. They learn bamboo skills like cutting, weaving, and making useful products, while also helping restore old wooden structures with local craftsmen. Since this is our first project in such a remote village, the experience has been new for everyone. The locals were curious to meet volunteers from France, and the students got to experience everyday life in rural Thailand.
The experience didn’t stop after work. On their days off, they explored Krabi together—kayaking through mangroves and clear rivers, swimming in natural streams, relaxing in hot springs, and visiting nearby islands. Those moments became part of the internship too, making it a chance to discover the area while building real connections with the local community.
This project would not have been possible without the people and organizations who gave their time, knowledge, and support.
A heartfelt thank you to Khun Khet for introducing us to the school and helping bring this project to life, Bamboo Master Bang Ree for sharing his skills throughout the restoration, Khun Nui for her kindness and hosting during the 1st month, the Director of Bang Liew School for welcoming us into the community, Khun Phrasert for his wood donation, Ao Luek Paradise (Krabi Bamboo Kingdom) for hosting the team during their 2nd month of internship, and the Green Guardians Association for their consistent collaborations.
Thank you to everyone who helped turn a 111-year-old building into a project that brought together local knowledge, international students, and a shared effort to preserve a piece of the community’s history.
The first week was, above all, about adaptation. Students newly arrived in Thailand had to adjust to the tropical climate, unfamiliar food, and a daily rhythm quite different from home. Before any construction could begin in earnest, the team turned to preparing the site: clearing the abandoned building of years of accumulated debris, removing waste, and assessing what remained of the original flooring, much of which needed to be restored before work could continue.
Alongside the clean-up, students built bamboo ladders and bamboo work tables — practical, temporary structures that would support the coming months of work — and began the careful process of removing the school’s old roof while reinforcing parts of the existing structure to keep it stable in the meantime. These early tasks, unglamorous as they were, gave students their first real exposure to tools, safety procedures, and the basic choreography of teamwork on an active restoration site.
The rainy season made itself known in the second week, with heavy rain preventing construction for much of the first few days. Rather than let the group sit idle, the team turned the interruption into planning time — meeting to review the work already completed, discuss the structural challenges the building was presenting, and prepare the next stages of construction. Once the weather cleared, students focused on reinforcing the wooden support columns to stabilise the historic frame, while continuing the roof removal that had begun the week before.
The unpredictability of the weather became, in its own way, part of the curriculum. Working around monsoon rain demanded flexibility and patience that no schedule could fully account for — a lesson in adaptation as much as construction.
Rain continued to interrupt the schedule through the third week, but the team completed the roof removal while continuing to strengthen the wooden structural frame beneath it. Each stage of demolition uncovered new problems hidden beneath the old roofing — sections of timber more deteriorated than expected, joints that needed a different kind of repair than planned — requiring careful assessment before the next step could begin.
By the end of the week, students were noticeably more confident: handling tools with less hesitation, reading the structure’s behaviour more accurately, and working as a coordinated team rather than a group of individuals following instructions.
Working alongside Bamboo Master Bang Ree and his team, the students helped remove the damaged sections, fit the new wooden beams into place, and reinforce the roof structure. They also filled the holes in the old wooden floor and reinstalled roof tiles, bringing another part of the 111-year-old building back into shape.
Life in Thailand is very different from the life I am used to in France. People here are incredibly welcoming, friendly, and caring. From the moment we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by the entire team, who have always been concerned about our well-being.
In Paris, everything runs on a schedule métro every few minutes, always somewhere to be, always background noise. Here, time slows down. Things happen when they happen heat, rain, tides almost dictate the day more than a clock does.
My time in Thailand definitively changed who I was. I arrived in the country with zero apprehensions, except for one: was I going to have a good internship? To be honest, it was a fair question. Spending 9 weeks in a country with a culture so different from my own is a once in a lifetime experience that I knew I’d remember forever, so it really couldn’t end up being a bad memory.
What makes this experience so rich are, above all, the people who accompany it day after day.
First, there’s Bang Lee, our bamboo expert and true site foreman on a daily basis. He’s the one leading all the works with a mastery and natural authority that immediately command respect.
Every internship comes with a Thai Spirit Journey—our way of making sure the experience goes beyond the worksite.
After spending the day learning new skills and working with the local community, it’s time to explore. Paddle through mangroves, hike to hidden waterfalls, visit temples, hop between islands, relax in hot springs, or discover Thailand’s national parks. Every week brings a chance to experience another side of the country.
