A quick scroll through the Peace Corps Couchsurfing Facebook group will easily turn up a handful of posts from other volunteers who are coming to Thailand, either to get away from the cold of their country of service or to celebrate with a Close of Service vacation. Bangkok is also the medical hub for the Europe, Mediterranean and Asia region, and often the islands in the Pacific as well. I met a couple in Cambodia, whose response to me telling them I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand was, “I didn’t know we still had Peace Corps in Thailand.”
The infrastructure – paved roads, running water, consistent electricity. The amenities – 3G Internet, a wide variety of Western and ethnic food choices in multiple cities, washing machines. These things have earned Peace Corps Thailand the somewhat derogatory title of “Posh Corps” in the Peace Corps community. And Thailand is not the only one.
Returned Peace Corps volunteer (RPCV) Alan Toth served in South Africa, another country that has the Posh Corps label attached to it, and made a documentary about volunteers in South Africa exploring what it means to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer and touches on serving in a more developed country.