Read it first on OpenCouchSurfing: The Next CouchSurfing Collective will be in… Thailand!
CS is “accepting applications for a small number of specific positions, including a full-time House Manger whose airfare to Thailand will be paid by CouchSurfing.”
I hope the Leadership Team is aware of the very strict laws in Thailand.
I think there are some positive aspects in this announcement, despite the skeptical attitudes me and most likely others here share about CS collectives
1) There’s an application process! Hooray – this means people who have no clue what besides cooking and cleaning (sometimes not even that) could they contribute can’t just expect to be able to show up because they know the in-crowd personally. (Oh, and transparency on the accepted people and their qualifications would be good so the participants & their selectors can be held accountable in case of misuse of the application process)
2) Appointing a house coordinator is an excellent thing, as this was sorely missing in the other houses (Nelson until the end of February if I remember correctly) and there was lack of responsibility on maintaining a spirit suitable for communal living and productive work.
It would be better if the house coordinator has PROFESSIONAL or other experience in taking care of large household. I guess people with experience in hospitality industry would qualify, as would living in a commune / co-op and what have you. Out of the people in NZ, I wouldn’t mind Bridget (the NZ house manager when one was finally appointed) or Diggs applying.
As for the laws of Thailand, anyone who has been to a collective most likely realizes why this was referred to
Yes, for the sake of longevity of CS organization I do hope LT does take the law there seriously…
Another thing that’s positive, I guess, is that the choice of location could be interpreted as an attempt to address the criticism that CS is too US-oriented.
I can’t find the announcement anywhere (as usual), but I sincerely hope that, besides technical improvement, there will be ample attention for:
- communication with users (‘expectations management’, newsletters, forum restructuring, commitment, organogram…)
- professionalisation of CS (organisational reforms, complaint handling…)
- policies and protocols (concerning safety, privacy violations, database rights, NDA, mediation…)
- legal issues (company byelaws, liability, accountability, proprietary rights…)
I wouldn’t take the laws of Thailand too seriously. I know of people who have bought their way out of jail while facing extradition to the US for traveller cheque fraud.
Thailand. Think about it why Thailand ? Is it to make cs better that the location was chosen or to make the local community stronger like the nz collective?
I think you would realize the real reason these exotic places are chosen just like the place BM is held after a lil thought .
application processes like in other collectives are to be circumvented by the people at the top so dont hold your breath .I think getting conned once is enough.
Also the spread of VD is a concern …. (for those who know the whole story
)
cheers
Daz
We’re committed to making the Thai Collective the most productive and most accountable use of member donations yet.
http://www.couchsurfing.com/group_read.html?gid=3886&post=376993
yes, good and bad aspects of application process and resume submission.
In one way its showing they are seeking serious results and progress.
Other ways its building a wall around the community, as participation will be a challenge at peak airfare season for Thailand and who has vacation or holidays at this time of year really ? Outside of family.
It should maybe be delayed to Spring when more have breaks and airfare is more affordable to all.
Otherwise, I think its great the core team gets together and tackles some adjustments and retooling of the project.
Like many grassroots projects on the web, early efforts involve no prior experience. They do the best they can. Time now is to attract experienced or dedicated people with potential and see how best their talents can be applied.
A good point made yesterday by Pickwick – what about the work visas?
As I’ve been to a bunch of these events, no other than tourist visas were instructed to be applied by the participants, and I don’t think much would have changed this time around (after Canada, I was lucky enough to have the proper paperwork myself, though not thanks to CouchSurfing). Otherwise the preparations for the collective should have been made public sooner, in order to have time for the visa applications of the accepted collective participants to be processed. (I got a student visa for India in 4 weeks, but a real working visa also allowing volunteering would have been more complicated to obtain and would probably have taken a bit longer – India is not Thailand, but I suspect there might be similar issues there as well)
I think CS leadership will consider taking up this issue a “threat” by someone not wishing them well and think that someone will instantly contact the Thai authorities which may then “destroy the collective”. But hey, it’s time to grow up and for once not ditch the responsibilities that should be taken for granted in a legitimate non-profit.
I’m surprised that the Nelson Collective ran its full course without various authorities intervening. Given that it was in a 3 bedroom family dwelling in a residential neighbourhood its quite amazing that not a single neighbour in the street complained to the City Council or other body.
Not just immigration violations there but also breaches of Council zoning regulations, Health Dept, Fire Service regulations, OSH regulations, and many, many more.
I don’t believe they’ll have it so easy in Thailand.
I think they’ll have it much easier in Thailand. Issues like Health & Safety, Fire Service Regulations, etc, etc simply don’t apply. Unless somebody makes an enemy of a policeman (not impossible) then they’ll be fine.
Many thousands of people live in Thailand long term without the proper visas. Thailand’s an easy country to get what you want, so long as you’re prepared to pay.
I seriously doubt there will be any problems with the authorities.
Callum “I seriously doubt there will be any problems with the authorities.”
Yep the countries chosen for a collective are chosen for a reason .Or should we say many reasons…
Casey said, “this is the beach*.”
http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=55
Where was “the beach” shot
Shot on the stunningly beautiful island of Phi Phi Le off the beach resort of Phuket,