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Some recent and older news from The Dragonfly Community foundation

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Sep 18th, 2009
Upcoming building project in Khon Kaen

The DCF is happy to sponsor an upcoming building project at the Baan Luuk Rak children’s home in Khon Kaen this November. We’re currently looking for volunteers who can help make bricks in advance (we’ll need 2 or more weekends of brick-making) as well as collecting donations towards the construction materials. In November we’ll be building a library, about 9x8 m, for use by the kids at the home as well as people in the surrounding community. Once the construction is complete, we’ll also be looking to collect books to fill up the space. If you can help out in any way, please let us know!

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March 13th, 2009
Dragonfly building team gears up for mud-brick library

Designs are completed and a site selected, and soon brick-making will begin for our biggest building project to date. We’ll be building a mud-brick library, approximately 9x8m, at the Baan Luuk Rak orphanage in Khon Kaen. This building will be used by the children at the project as well as the surrounding community as a library and reading/study space.

Construction will begin with a building team on November 11 and we hope to finish before the end of the month. Local volunteer groups, especially students from Khon Kaen university, will help on weekends to make bricks which must dry in advance of the building works.

Mud-brick construction is a low environmental impact building method which uses bricks made of mud and rice husk, mixed by foot, formed by hand, and dried in the sun. We’re happy to not only use these sustainable techniques but also to spread them across Thailand as a low-cost and low-impact building method that anyone can learn easily. Anyone interested in joining the project, donating, or visiting for a learning experience can contact us to learn more! please contact us!

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May 6th, 2009
Building project in Chiang Rai

Following this year’s Songkran New Year holiday, Dragonfly ran a building project at the Baan Saan Rak children’s home in Chiang Rai. The DCF supported this project with planning and design work, as well as a contribution to building materials. Staff also taught a team of volunteers the necessary building techniques to construct the small, 2-room house that will serve as play and study space for the Baan Saan Rak kids and accommodation for volunteers or visitors to the project.

Baan Saan Rak is a residential sponsorship home which provides children in need of support with a safe and nurturing environment in which to grow, develop, and receive and education. To learn about this project, you can look at their website Baan Saan Rak

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Aug 1st, 2009
New DCF website unveiled

We’ve been hard at work for some time now creating our new website, which we’re happy to unveil today! Webmaster Martin Walsh has re-designed and streamlined the DCF website to make it easier to navigate and find information. We’d like to thank Martin for his dedication to this project, and also would like to ask you for any comments or suggestions regarding the new site. If you have any thoughts on how to improve, or just to give us complements, please contact us!

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February 19th ,2009
New plans for school funds from Democrat Party

On the 17th of February, the Ministry of Education revealed plans for a new funding scheme to help students and their families to offset ancillary costs of education in Thailand. The government announced a new plan to distribute money to parents of primary, secondary, and technical college students for the purchase of school uniforms and other academic resources like books and stationary.

Although uniform costs can be limiting for many families, criticism has been leveled at the government for its cash-based program, with worries that graft and lack of accountability will lead to much of the funding not going to students. The government is also struggling to reform its school milk program, which provides free milk to primary school students across the country.

Despite the setbacks of these programs, we at the DCF see these programs as the beginning of a shift towards increased funding for education. Hopefully an increased interest in funding schools will also lead to curriculum reforms and professional development for teachers in the future.

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December 5th, 2008
An end to airport closures in Bangkok

On December 3rd, the People’s Alliance for Democracy announced an end to their occupation of Bangkok’s 2 airports, claiming to have achieved their goal of forcing the Somchai government from power. With the 5th marking both the King’s birthday and the country’s Father’s Day, the PAD protesters have disbanded and returned home, ending a movement that saw 2 prime ministers (Samak first) removed from office.

Though the protesters demanded their resignations, both prime ministers refused to be bullied out of office, only to be removed through legal means. Samak was removed after having been found guilty of a conflict of interest for his paid appearances on morning cooking shows while PM. Somchai, his successor, was found guilty of election fraud and banned from politics.

The airport seizures had a hugely damaging effect on the Thai tourism industry, with thousands of travelers into, out of and through Thailand stranded or re-routed. Many tourists and business travelers are expected to be wary of coming to Thailand in the coming months, worried about similar protests happening again. Despite these worries and the economic impact of the protests, the country seems to be back under control and headed towards new governance by a Democrat-led coalition.

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July 15th, 2008
Welcome to 2 new volunteer staff members

The DCF would like to officially welcome 2 new volunteers aboard as foundation staff. Martin Walsh and Daniel Lockwood, both long-time staff of Dragonfly Volunteer Projects, have joined us as IT specialist and educational programs specialist respectively. Martin brings his web design and network management skills to the DCF, while Dan will be using his educational experience to work with local teachers on training programs and curriculum building. We’d like to welcome these 2 volunteers to our team and thank them for making a long-term commitment to Thailand!

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April 8th, 2008
DCF registered as foundation in Thailand

The paperwork is signed and sealed as of March 24th, completing a year-long campaign to officially register the Dragonfly Community Foundation in Thailand. Over the past year, we have been building programs and outlining projects that we intend to undertake, as well as navigating through the difficult process of becoming a charitable foundation. Our new status allows us now to raise funds and assume the tax status of a non-profit foundation. We want to thank all who have supported us in the past and into the future, especially those who helped make registration possible. We look forward to working toward a bright future for the people of Thailand.


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December 22, 2006
A Fundraiser returns!

Martin Walsh has arrived back in Thailand from the UK, where he had completed his over land fundraising journey through 12 countries with as many challenges to overcome. He learned throat-singing in Mongolia, donated clothing in Laos, walked on water in Belgium, and even danced a ballet in Latvia, all to raise money for Dragonfly’s child sponsorship program. In all, contributors gave over 5000 pounds to the cause, a tremendous amount and one for which we offer our sincere thanks! To see how the trip went you can visit Martin’s travel blog here.

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September 20th , 2006
Military coup topples Thaksin

Military leaders yesterday took control of the country in a relatively peaceful coup that saw Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra removed from power while away in New York to address the U.N. Military General Sonthi Boonyaratglin led the move to wrest control from Thaksin and followers citing the need for stability after escalating anti-Thaksin protests and clashes between protesters and supporters had been happening with increasing frequency. The coup leaders invoked a state of emergency, banning, among other things, meetings of groups of more than 4 people to discuss politics. Most government offices and universities are closed today, though officials predict a return to normalcy within the next few days. It remains to be seen how this coup will affect the country, but leaders have assured the public that free elections will be called within a year.

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June 23rd, 2006
Fundraising journey this winter

Volunteer Martin Walsh has announced his plans for an epic fundraising journey across 2 continents to raise funds for Dragonfly’s child sponsorship program. This winter, Martin will travel over land by a combination of buses and trains from Thailand to his ancestral home in England, passing through 12 countries on the way. He is asking for sponsorship and for challenges to accomplish in each of the dozen countries, with funds raised going to the operation and expansion of our sponsorship program. Please contact us to suggest a Herculean task and to donate!

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February 16th, 2006
Child sponsorship program expanding – looking for sponsors!

Recently, we have had a lot of interest from people wanting to support children in the tsunami-affected South of Thailand. We decided to take another trip to Takuapa, Phang-nga, where our sponsored children live, to see how we could help other children. After investigating in the region, we chose to partner with the Duang Prateep Foundation to find sponsor support for children orphaned by the tsunami. The DPF has created a makeshift orphanage to care for orphaned kids as well as to provide after-school care for other children in the area of Ban Nam Kem, with further plans to build a permanent home there. The children need help for school-related costs (uniforms, transportation, special fees, etc.), so if you are able to help and can commit to providing a child with monthly support, please contact us!

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April 5th, 2005
Child Sponsorship program started

In response to the Tsunami last Boxing Day, friends, family, and supporters of Dragonfly generously donated money to help people in the affected regions of the South. We chose to use these funds to help youth in the Takuapa district of Phang-nga, one of the hardest hit regions in Thailand. We have committed to helping 5 young people with school-related costs so that they could be sure to stay in school despite family losses from the disaster.

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January 19th, 2005
Dragonfly team to tsunami scene

On the morning of December 26, 2004 a hugely destructive tsunami hit the southwest coast of Thailand flooding parts of Phuket, Krabi, and Phang-nga provinces and killing thousands of residents and tourists. The tsunami, caused by an earthquake off the shore of Indonesia, struck that country, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar and crossed the Indian ocean to reach India, Sri Lanka, and as far away as the coast of East Africa. This hugely destructive natural disaster has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands, and destroyed property and livelihoods across the Indian ocean region.

Dragonfly volunteers traveled to the South to see how we could best help. We helped with clean-up and also ran fun camp programs to help care for kids while their parents did what they could to reconstruct. Survivors have lost loved ones, homes, and businesses and need help to put their lives back in order and we’re asking for all who can provide support to help the continuing humanitarian efforts.

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Read on to find out about what we do in Thailand - What We Do