Internship at Gaia Ashram

Internship in ecovillage
and permaculture farm

Join us in our day-to-day life and immerse yourself in community living, Permaculture practices and Ecovillage Design. Gaia Ashram is a tropical permaculture farm and learning center based on 12-hectares of land which is being developed using deep ecology, permaculture, and ecovillage design principles in the Northeast of Thailand. 

Gaia Ashram is looking for interns to help us realize our vision & dream of living in harmony with nature, to regenerate nature & to inspire others to take care of mother Earth & all her beings.

Our internship program is aimed at people who have a clear idea of which specific internship they want to join (see here for internship roles) and who already have passion and some experience in that area. 

If you want to join us but are not yet sure which role would be the best for you/don’t yet have experience in any of our internship areas, we recommend that you join us as a volunteer. 

We offer:

  • 3-month short-term internships
  • 6-month mid-term internships
  • 12-month long-term internships

These educational residential internships give interns the opportunity to dive deeply into a particular area by taking on a specific project or supporting a specific area during their time at Gaia, while living in a tight-knit Ecovillage community.

The Gaia Ashram Internship is a hands-on experience that is meant to deepen your knowledge & sharpen your skills with experiential learning through head, hands, heart & spirit.

Table of Contents

For who is this internship?

  • People who have completed a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) or an Ecovillage Design Education Course (EDE) that would like to go deeper and gain practical experience in permaculture or another area of Ecovillage life.

  • People who are proactive and take initiative

  • People who are ready and able to do hard physical labor sometimes (amount varies depending on internship position, but applicants should be able to do physical work)

  • This internship program is appropriate for people who are already somewhat skilled in their area of interest and want to deepen, evolve & apply their knowledge in their day-to-day lives.

  • People who would like to support and learn more in a particular area of life at Gaia, or who prefer to take on a specific project, bring it to completion, and lead volunteers in working on it, rather than following a rotating volunteer schedule of more varied activities.

  • People that are very clear on their area of interest and want to deepen their learning and experience.

  • College & university students who must complete an internship period as a part of their studies and who already have some experience and passion in one of our internship areas

  • People who are committed to being the change

We are looking for interns who are self-motivated, committed, and flexible, with a strong desire to serve Mother Earth, the community, and themselves.per

Interns Receive

Interns are mentored by the head of the focused areas in which they are interning. During their stay, interns can expect to receive:

  • Specialized knowledge and hands-on experience in the area in which they’re interning. 
  • Facilitation skills training (Practice teaching & sharing knowledge; receive helpful feedback on your facilitation skills) 
  • Educational community space that will intellectually and practically stimulate you and provide a fertile ground for personal development
  • Leadership training & communication skills
  • The Gaia Ashram structure will help you with improving your ability to manage time, plan and set goals
  • Relationship and conflict resolution skills training
  • Knowledge and experience of a range of aspects of ecovillage life and sustainable living techniques
  • Free access to yoga and meditation classes 
  • Evening programs (could include game nights, movie nights, connection-building activities, ecstatic dance, and others)
  • Optional course participation in an Ecovillage Lifestyle Experience Week (ELEW), only if one is happening during the intern’s stay. 
  • Cultural trips
  • Food and accommodation
  • Participation in a community of beautiful beings who aspire to create a beautiful thriving Mother Earth together.

While interns do work that contributes to the Gaia community, their stay is also oriented towards education. They will receive teaching and training from their mentor, with whom they will have regular meetings. The mentor will provide a mix of hands-on training and multimedia resources for the intern to study as a part of their internship commitment. The expectation is that the intern will take this seriously and is expected to give a series of presentations to the community about the area in which they are interning, in order to cement their knowledge while educating others.

The interns will also have regular meetings with the other interns to update the progress in their areas and to see if support is needed. 

Gaia Internship Positions:

At Gaia Ashram we have specific areas that we are working on making progress in, which need more support, and therefore we are looking for interns who are interested in filling one of these roles:

  • Regenerative farm intern

  • Permaculture garden intern

  • Animal farm system intern

  • Natural building intern

  • Education and facilitation intern

  • English and eco-school intern

  • Content creation and social media marketing intern

  • Yoga teacher & meditation intern

To learn more about the specific internship position click on the link here:

https://gaiaschoolasia.com/join-us/gaia-ashram-internship-positions/

For the Yoga Teacher Internship please click here:

https://gaiaschoolasia.com/yoga-teacher-internship-residential-program/

Internship Program-What to Expect?

Gaia welcomes interns for stays of 3 or more months. The internship programs are geared towards those who aim to deepen their learning in a specific area of life at Gaia and take on responsibility in that area, whether it be farming and gardening, natural building, or another focused area. If you already know which internship area you might be interested in, please let us know what that is and why.

That said, you will follow the normal volunteer schedule at first before delving into a specific area, so it’s no problem if you come here undecided about your internship area. If you are not sure whether the internship is for you, we would recommend first doing our Permaculture Design Course, join our Ecovillage Lifestyle Experience Week, or stay as a volunteer.

We have different internship periods available:

  • Short-term Interns: This program involves a minimum commitment of 3 months. Short-term interns usually play a supporting role in their focused area and may take on some leadership of that area, contingent upon their skills and experience. 
  • Mid-term Interns: After finishing your short-term internship the Gaia Team will review the progress made during this time, and then we will reflect together on your internship period and decide together whether it’s a fit for you to join the mid-term internship. We ask for a minimum commitment of another 3 months (total 6 months). As a mid-term intern, you will take more of a leadership role at Gaia Ashram, helping to hold space in the community and in your specific internship area. These interns need to be ready to represent Gaia Ashram and its mission.
  • Long-term Interns: After completing 6 months of mid term internship, interns can become long term interns with another minimum of 6 months commitment (i.e. total 1 year commitment).The Gaia Team will have a chat about your internship and then we will reflect together on your completed internship period and consider whether you can join as a long-term intern. For the long-term internship position, availability is contingent on whether there is a need for a certain position and whether Gaia Ashram has the budget for it at that time, as interns who stay past the first six months are sponsored by Gaia and no longer need to contribute anything towards food or accommodation. Long-term interns typically take on full or shared responsibility for the focus area in which they are interning as well as take on a proactive shared leadership role in the community. You will lead some morning circles, lead volunteers through tasks in your area of focus, support the Gaia Team in taking care of the Gaia space, and represent Gaia Ashram’s mission.

Internship positions are limited to availability and current Gaia Ashram needs.  If there is a need for the internship position then all potential internship candidates need to have an Interview with our internship manager. After this interview, Gaia Ashram team will determine if you are the right fit for the position and can join the internship program. 

Now we are actively searching for people to join us as long-term interns or even long-term community members. We can learn and accomplish a lot when working together over a longer period of time!

Intern Qualifications?

  • A major distinction between volunteers and interns is that interns are expected to be proactive and to take initiative in their areas. While volunteers are more reactive and do tasks that are assigned to them rather than doing things without being asked, internship involves gradually taking on more of a leadership role.
  • The passion, motivation, and willingness to do work in their focused area and to learn and share. 
  • A go-getter attitude and the tenacity to see projects through to their conclusions
  • The ability to ‘see work’: to see what needs to be done and to do it, without requiring too much micro-management from Gaia staff.
  • The desire to take initiative in their department in order to progress that area
  • To be able to take leadership and share their passion of their area of focus with others. (this will also be part of the training involved in the internship).
  • A love for mother nature and all her beings–and it’s a bonus is if you feel called to support mother Earth and all her beings.

Internship Program Structure?

 In the day to living at Gaia Ashram the interns will follow Gaia Ashram’s daily schedule as is presented below.

Volunteer Ecovillage Thailand

General layout of the internship:

  •  Before applying, interns should have an idea of what area they’d like to intern in.
  • Upon arrival, interns will volunteer for about two weeks in order to gain context and learn about Gaia before starting to work exclusively on their specific area of focus during their internship.
  • Interns are expected to do 25 hours of work a week. This means 5 days, Monday to Friday. Saturdays & Sundays are generally free, although there may occasionally be weekend meetings for team members. Long-term interns are expected to join the meetings.
  • Every Wednesday afternoon, Interns will focus their energy on mental work. This is the dedicated time for researching, designing and preparing for potential presentations.
  • Interns are expected to join the Gaia Ashram community cleaning on Monday mornings.
  • They also join the community chore teams and might at times be expected to take leadership in chore arrangements. 
  • All the interns together will have regular check-ins with their mentors.
  • Interns will also have meetings with the other interns once a week, in which they can look back and share their progress in their areas with each other. 
  • We would recommend that all interns join our Permaculture Design Course (PDC). People that have finished their PDCs at Gaia can do an internship for a discounted rate. 
  • After two months interning, interns will take turns offering educational presentations to others staying at Gaia Ashram about their area of focus. Presentations might cover something they have accomplished or something they are passionate about and have been studying within their area.

Expectations From the Intern?

The internship program is very much an exchange. In the ‘interns receive’ section three headings above this one, we’ve described some of what interns gain from the experience and what Gaia is willing to offer. From our end, there are a few general things that Gaia expects from interns:

  • Stay at least 3 months (Please be aware that we are not able to grant refunds for truncated stays).
  • Follow the work schedule and structure
  • Arrive on time to scheduled sessions
  • Meet regularly with mentor
  • Give regular presentations to the community based on what they’re learning in their internship area of study/practice
  • Play a role in educating volunteers on their area, as well as holding space as a community leader. In this case, ‘holding space’ means that an intern makes a conscious effort to be aware of and responsive to the group energy, and to advocate not only for their own needs but for the needs of Gaia and the needs of the community. They should also make sure the group understands what needs to happen in their internship area, and help volunteers understand their responsibilities in that area. In short, they help contribute to the behind-the-scenes of running Gaia and play a leadership role in making it a beautiful place to be.
  • Interns also support the Gaia Team to make sure the Gaia physical place is kept in order. We like to be able to see discernable progress in the area that the intern is focusing on or managing. For example, a building intern should be able to look back at the end of their internship and show how they have taken forward Gaia’s natural building and maintenance projects.
  • Be prepared to do some hard work; for some internship positions, the work can be physically demanding at times. 
  • Our facilities are basic yet comfortable. Be prepared to use compost toilets and be aware that our rooms do not have private toilets or showers.

Internship Entry Dates

If you would like to join an internship at Gaia Ashram we have fixed internship entry dates:

Internship Entry Dates:

  • 5 January, 2026
  • 1 June, 2026
  • 31 August, 2026
  • 2 November, 2026
  • 4 January, 2027

Internship fees & Stages

During their first 3 months as short term interns, the fee is 33,000 baht. 

If you do an internship (including the first 2 weeks following the regular volunteer schedule) after doing your Permaculture Design Course (PDC) with us, you can get a 20% discount on the internship (for inquiries starting from August 2024). For more information about the PDC go here:

17-day Permaculture Design Certificate Course

Mid-term interns who stay 6 months instead of 3 months will be charged 25,500 baht for the following next 3 months after the first 3 are completed. 

If the intern stays on past these 6 months and is approved by the Gaia Team to continue as an intern they will become a long term intern & will stay free of charge from then onwards.

Fee Structure

In order to secure your spot, we ask that you wire us a 6000-Thai Baht deposit prior to arrival at Gaia Ashram. When you arrive, you can pay the rest of the internship fee in Thai baht in cash (please bring exact change). If you stay six months, then the second three months would not be paid until completion of the first three months.

Path to Long Term Member

We are actively in the process of expanding our core community and searching for long-term/permanent residents! Interested? 

A long term community member has completed the 12-month long-term internship. Here’s the detailed path people pass through in order to become long-term residents and part of the Gaia main team and community: 

  • Complete a short-term internship during the first 3 Months, paid at the normal intern rate
  • Complete a mid-term internship during months 3-6 of your stay
  • After the mid-term internship is finished, the Gaia team and intern will review and reflect on the last six months in order to think through whether it’s a fit to continue collaborating. If all parties agree, then the intern can become a long term intern. A long intern needs to commit for another 6 months ie. total of 12 months. The last 6 months the long term intern does not  pay for food or accommodation. 
  • If the intern cannot commit for another full 6 months (for example, let’s say they can stay an additional 3 months after the first 6), they will continue on their track as a mid-term intern and continue paying the mid-term rate.
  • After this strong 1-year long-term internship commitment, the long-term intern can officially apply to become a member of Gaia or a Gaia resident. This entails committing for at least one more year and it is contingent upon review by the Gaia team and upon the needs and financial situation of Gaia at the time. If they are unable to commit for a full additional year, they still may be able to stay on as a long-term intern. 

Staying on as a member usually means taking on a higher degree of managerial responsibility, being part of the Gaia team, joining in the meetings, and taking on responsibilities that are shared among all members. Please note that Gaia closes for two months every year in April & May, and staff and members often take vacations during this time, although Gaia is flexible about people needing to travel during other times as well

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

We strongly recommend that anyone coming to visit us have medical insurance that covers them in Thailand. While it’s rare that anyone needs to use it, medical care like emergency surgeries or treatments can sometimes be expensive! Safety Wing, Genki, and IMGlobal are some well-known travel medical insurance providers.

How to APPLY FOR INTERNSHIP AT GAIA ASHRAM

If you would like to join our Gaia Ashram Internship program:

  • Sent us an email to gaiaschoolasia@gmail.com. -Tell us about yourself and let us know which internship area(s) you are potentially interested in & why, the length of your intended internship stay, and when you intend to arrive. 
  • After the email we will send you the registration form to fill in.
  • After we have received your registration form, we will arrange a video call with you and one of our team members so that we can get to know each other better. 
  • If it seems like a fit and everyone wants to proceed, then we’ll ask you to transfer downpayment of 6000 Thai Baht to secure your spot. We will send you the bank details and ask you to send a screenshot of the transfer receipt. When we receive the screenshot, you’re officially booked into the program. 

Hope to see you soon here at Gaia!

“May all the work we do be of benefit to Gaia and all her Beings!”