Welcome to Baan San Fan Orphanage

Baan San Fan is a family orphanage a few hours north of Phuket on the beautiful Andaman Coast of Thailand. To support the orphanage we have an organic farm, take in volunteers from all over the world and sell our handmade products.

On December 26th 2004 an earthquake off the west-coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra created a massive tsunami wave which caused huge devastation in several countries, including Thailand. The Phang Nga province was worst hit and many thousands of people were killed, leaving behind several hundred orphans. The owners of the orphanage (Sam and Gai) came to the area to help and ended up running a tent, looking after a group of children. A Swiss gentleman by the name of Dr Donat Schibler was inspired by the couple and offered to buy them land in the local village of Bang Wan. In October 2005 Baan San Fan opened its doors to 8 children.

Now Baan San Fan has a capacity of 40 but a lack of financial support means that they are only able to care for 14 children at the present time. The tsunami has long since passed but Thailand is very poor and hundreds of children in Phang Nga still desperately need care and protection from the drug and prostitution trades that blight the poverty-stricken people of the region.

We are working hard to become self-sustainable and we are running a number of programmes to create revenue, including;

Organic farming
Volunteering
Handicrafts and local products

We cannot do this on our own and we need help from the outside. We are looking for partner organisations to buy or sell our products, volunteers to help with the day-to-day running of the orphanage/farm, and, of course, donations. If you feel that you can help, in any way, we’d love to hear from you.

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What people say about us

I've just spent two superb weeks here at Baan San Fan. Gai, Sam and all the children have been so warm and welcoming, coming here really is like having an instant family! I’m really happy to have been included in so much around the home: going to the markets with Gai, helping to dig the new pond with Sam & the children, playing games, doing homework, helping (I hope!) with coconut oil. There were special occasions too: I was here for Christmas which was a lot of fun, food and giggles, we also had an awesome trip to beautiful Bangsak beach one morning, again a lot of giggles. One of the highlights for me was being able to teach at the local school and my enormous thanks to Gai & Sam for helping to arrange that, it was more than I'd hoped for. Gai’s cooking deserves a very special mention. If nothing else, come for the peanut curry, mushroom salad and plentiful papaya. I hope to be back to visit again soon.

Read more from Lucy at www.lucyjames.com

Lucy James, UK

I have a family of my own to love and now I have another to love. Enjoy the wonderful Thai hospitality, the smiles that make you smile back and enjoy an experience that only comes from giving. I cannot recommend the Baan San Fan Orphanage highly enough. Add another dimension to your travel and feel the difference. We look forward to coming back to see the chickens and their house which has been our project whilst here. If you would just like to come for time-out, I am sure they would welcome you with open arms.

Lucy, Australia

We stayed with Baan San Fan Orphanage for a wonderful week in September 2010. As it was the end of the rainy season, we worked with the family to weed vegetable patches, preparing them for seeding and growing in the coming weeks. We stayed onsite, lived, ate, worked and played with the family and the children. It has been an amazing experience, to see how well the children are cared for, how much the orphanage is like a family – providing love and care for all the children. It has been incredibly warming to be able to help and be part of the support to the children. Thai cooking lessons are also a part of the experience, and a brilliant one too – the food here is very good, and varied, and Gai is an extremely good teacher. Thank you to all the family at Baan San Fan, we thoroughly recommend the experience to other volunteers – get involved and help this very worthwhile home provide support to the children.

James & Rebecca, UK

We arrived at Baan San Fan Orphanage not knowing what to expect, over the week my mother and I stayed we became part of a beautiful family. Sam and Gai care for 15 children 3 of whom are their own but share their love equally among all. We have made bamboo lattice, built fences, played football, taught English, sung songs and ran around laughing for hours, not to mention eating the best Thai food cooking by Gai and the children. If you have the opportunity to come and visit for one day, one week or one month your time here shall be something to remember.

Robin, Australia

“I dreamed of this moment for years. The moment when you are surrounded by children’s smiles, that lift you with happiness and love. You forget everything. All that matters at this moment is to be there.”

Morgane, France