Exhilarating outdoor team building event on Koh Samui with paintball and zipline

Take up the challenge, experience a sense of adventure, feel the adrenaline rush and be preparing to go beyond the point of no return when you enter the combat zone! Earn you stripes is the perfect team building event for groups looking for a challenging program.

With many tasks to perform during the day, teams will be challenged to the limit to use a variety of team skills including planning, strategy, creativity, communication, problem solving, and they will require plenty of team bonding to be successful as a unit, with the activities designed to bring their troop to readiness in preparation for the final battle!

Combat Zone

On the 23rd April, 20 delegates from a well-known on-line organization did just that and took up the challenge organized by Beunite, the participants experienced a full day of action and adventure, whilst enjoying lighter moments as well.

Team building location

The locations were split into two places for this program, Sky fox cable ride at Na Muang Safari Park, and Samui Paintball Arena amongst the dense inner jungle on Koh Samui.

The Schedule

09:00 – 13:00 Morning – Sky fox cable line, followed by lunch at Peak Eye View Restaurant

14:00 – 17:00 Afternoon – Combat Zone – at Samui Paintball, jungle area on koh Samui.

The team building event

A mix of team building games and challenges based around an army theme, with Paintball shootout – with up to 2000 bullets per person included!

Building Team Spirit!

The event began with the focus on building each team’s sprint and cohesion, so to do this we chose a Zip line challenge, set in the heart of the jungle, teams were set a series of individual and team tasks to complete as they overcame their fears of heights and whizzed around the exhilarating 7-line cable ride.

Challenges were allocated to each cable line which included, carrying the team egg around the course without it breaking, firing at targets with hand held catapults and paintball bullets, traveling upside down and hands free along the lines, dropping a water bomb onto a target whilst flying and finishing with an aggressive Tarzan call to lay down a marker for the next activity.

Whilst one team took to the skies, the other teams’ task was simple, get them as wet as possible by firing water at them from water guns and buckets, which added a hilariously fun element to the morning’s proceedings.

Once the first team had completed the circuit it was the turn of the second team to fly through the sky and for the first team to get their watery revenge. Both teams performed all the tasks admirably and were bonded together and ready to travel to continue to basic training camp.

The teams had enjoyed the morning, flying through the jungle with fun activities however now the Earn your stripes challenge was about to begin!

Boot Camp training Army style!

Using a selection of classic team building skills and tasks, both teams’ objective was to solve the challenges ahead and work on communication, planning and strategy and prepare them for what laid ahead.

First, they had to navigate a course of imaginary rocks, represented by mats and to get the team around from one location to the other. They could only use the three planks of wood (that has survived an overnight storm and floated downstream), which they had found beside the river.

Both groups had to come up with the best strategy on how to move such a large group in the fastest possible time, with the restriction of only one person being able to walk along the wood and reach the next island at any one time.

Once again, the teams took to the challenge with enthusiasm, as they could see each other’s progress throughout whole activity, in the knowledge that the first stripes would be awarded at the end of the activity to the winners.

Once they had crossed the river, the next team task, was to build a stretcher to carry an injured party to the nearest first aid station. Nearby to their location they found their resources to create the stretcher. A pile of bamboo, a length of rope and a plastic sheet.

Each team took to the task and proceeded to make the stretcher which had to support the weight of one person in the team. Once their designs had been tested, they carried one of their team in a figure of 8 race, to get them safely to the first aid station before the injured party needed medical attention.

Stretcher designs were simple but effective and the groups had performed this team building adventure challenge successful and were ready to move on to the final training challenge.

Find a place, create a space, and build your base!

Each team was allocated a zone of the combat arena and provided with limited equipment they were tasked to create their base camp, their identity, motto and insignia, for which they would fight and be prepared to die for, in the combat zone!

Both groups were set a time limit to create their camouflaged area, to provide protection from attack as well as offensive strategy to fight the enemy.

Using the natural resources around them, they created fantastic camps, with booby traps and shooting vantage points which would become part of their overall strategy in the fight to the death!

Camps created, the next task was to locate the supplies of ammunition which had been hidden around their part of the combat zone with the instructions, whatever they found, would be all that they have to share amongst their team for the fight ahead, so they needed to work as a unit to locate the as much of the supplies as possible and then divide them wisely amongst their unit.

Both teams searched through the undergrowth, amongst the trees, bollards and large tires and located most of the supplies, the ammunition that was left would be redistributed randomly, or found during the fire fight!

Paintball Combat Zone

Each army was now at a heightened state of readiness and spurred on by their Chinese mentors, they were focused and ready for the fight!

Capture the flag

First up, capture the other teams’ flag from the opposing base camp, both armies, were given time to discuss strategy and to decide to move forward cautiously, trying to eliminate as many of the opposition as possible. For a while there was not much movement, rather plenty of firing however, gradually each army moved forward and using diversionary tactics, one team managed to enter enemy territory and capture the other team’s flag from the base camp.

With the enemy flag in hand the winners received their stripes and returned to camp in celebratory mood, whilst the other unit received a dressing down from their superior officer, before becoming re-energized and focused on eliminating the enemy.

Rescue the hostage (alive and well)

The next activity was to rescue a hostage (alive and well), teams chose one person from each team to be placed in the opposing army camp to act as the imprisoned person, with the aim of securing their freedom and returning with them to their base.

Once again, both units proceeded with caution, rather than running into battle until they had advanced to a point whereby they could see a way through the defenses and attack with zest, whilst the rescuers tried to release the hostages.

Once the hostages were released they had to return them to their base camp, using defensive tactics and covering fire as well as the natural surroundings, the hostage must arrive safe and sound and without being killed.

One team managed this objective and added to their collection of every growing stripes. The other team received their just desserts and were ordering to perform 50 press ups, to improve their team performance sighting lack of belief as to why they under performed in this challenge.

High Noon – Shootout to the death

Still with all to play for, both armies were ready for the final battle – shoot out! the objective was simple, eliminate all the opposing army and claim their territory for themselves and their country! Rather than proceed with caution, both teams had now developed on their strengths and weaknesses and were up for the final flight.

They were allowed time to place their troops at different strategic points in each friendly zone, which served as the launch pad for the final attack. Hiding behind barricades, bollards and utilizing natural resources and their camouflaged camps for shields the fight was on and with a vengeance, each troop took to the task.

Which strategy would work out the best, spreading out and trying to cover the whole area, use runners to create havoc in the ranks and return to the friendly zone or hunt in packs and cover each other’s backs.

For this team building group a combination of ‘Hail Mary’ lone attackers, hunting and shooting in packs and using diversionary tactics proved to be the winning outcome as one army completely overran the other’s defenses and claimed the territory for themselves and ‘Earned their Stripes’ which the troop leader displayed with pride on his shoulders!

For the losing army, they lay silently amongst the jungle undergrowth having been obliterated by the opposition in this fantastic adventurous and challenging team building event in Koh Samui!

Will you be next to take on this team building challenge and Earn your Stripes?