Kanchanaburi New Life Project buildings opened
Last month the Duang Prateep 20th Anniversary Building and the Thai-Japanese Ruamjai Building were formally opened at the Duang Prateep Foundation’s New Life Project for Girls in Kanchanaburi province, West of Bangkok.
The ceremony was to be presided over by Princess Soamsawali but unfortunately she was ill and royal representative Khunying Bhattrapha Issarasena na Ayudhya was guest of honour at this royal sponsored occasion. Also present was the Minister of the Japanese Embassy, H.E. Mr. Takashi Saito.
Khunying Bhattrapha was welcomed to the project site by DPF chairman Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya and Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata. There were speeches by Dr. Sumet, Mr. Saito and Ms. Nobuko Yoshida from the Duang Prateep Foundation 20th anniversary fundraising organisation in Japan. Khunying Bhattrapa presented mementoes of the occasion to benefactors of the Duang Prateep Foundation, some of whom had travelled from as far away as the USA, UK and Japan to attend the event. Afterwards Khunying Bhattrapa formally opened the new buildings before inspecting the facilities and meeting some of the youngsters who are living at the project.
The New Life Project for Girls presently has twenty-three children and four young adults at the site, with an age range from three to twenty-four. The new buildings are being used for dormitories and training and the number of girls at the project can increase to a maximum of thirty-five.
The attached file <kanchanaburi03001.jpg> shows Prateep Ungsongtham Hata giving a present to Khunying Bhattrapha Issarasena na Ayudhya, watching front left are Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya and Mr. Takashi Saito. Mr. Tatsuya Hata is to the right and behind Mr. Saito.
The attached file <kanchanaburi03002.jpg> shows Khunying Bhattrapha Issarasena na Ayudhya talking to some of the children who live at the project. Accompanying Khunying Khunying Bhattrapha are from the left Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya Mr. Tatsuya Hata, Prateep Ungsongtham Hata (kneeling) Mr. Takashi Saito (in background) and Ms. Prakhong Ungsongtham, New Life Project coordinator and DPF Deputy Secretary General.
Prateep to remain secretary general after senate triumph
Duang Prateep Foundation trustees met for their annual meeting on the 1st of April and voted that DPF founder Prateep Ungsongtham Hata will continue to lead the foundation as secretary general, despite her duties as a senator following upon her success in last month’s election.
Senate meetings will usually take Prateep away from the foundation on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Prateep hopes to keep Mondays and Fridays for administration work at the DPF and she will be available for community activities on Saturdays and Sundays. Prateep will be serving as a senator for the next six years, before new elections will be required.
The trustees also resolved to permit the establishment of a “Senate Office” at the Duang Prateep Foundation. This will be a small room to be used as a centre for people to bring their concerns and opinions to the attention of Klong Toey slum’s first ever senator.
Vocational training centre opened at New Life Project, evaluation finished
Last month a new vocational training centre was opened at the New Life Project at Chumphon. The centre, which includes facilities for computer training and car mechanics was donated by Lions Clubs from Laemthong in Thailand, Kanazawa in Japan and Tainan in Taiwan. A total of 57 Lions Club representatives from the three countries made a one day trip to the New Life Project for the opening ceremony.
Also last month, an evaluation of the New Life Project for Boys at Chumphon was completed by freelance consultant Gerry de Kort and was handed to Prateep Ungsongtham Hata. Gerry de Kort talked to project staff, young people at the project and parents of youths at the project. The report makes several recommendations to further enhance care for the youngsters who go to the project. The report is presently being translated into Thai before a comprehensive review at the DPF.
There is an article about the Chumphon New Life Project at the end of this newsletter.
Seminar on education for the disabled at DPF
Last month the Duang Prateep Foundation joined with the Sikkha Asia foundation in hosting a seminar on education for the disabled. The event, which took place over two days at the Duang Prateep Foundation was attended by about forty people. The objective of the event was to make educators more aware of the special challenges involved when educating the disabled. In recent years there has been increased awareness in Thailand of the importance of education for disabled citizens.
Bangkok district councillors visit DPF to learn about slum problems
Last month the Duang Prateep Foundation hosted a seminar for Bangkok district councillors on the topic of the development of slum communities. Forty councillors attended the one day event. After general discussions the councillors split into three groups to tour the community and then hold group discussions on the topics of housing, economic development and environmental problems each of the group discussions was led by a slum dweller. At the end the groups came together again to report on their discussions to all the other participants.
Legal officers learn about drugs situation in Klong Toey
A third seminar last month was arranged by the Office of Judicial Affairs. As part of a four-day training programme on addictive drug problems in Thai society, 60 legal officers made a half-day visit to the Duang Prateep Foundation. They came to the foundation to learn about the drugs situation in Klong Toey slum and about the remedial work of the New Life Project.
Schools closed for long holidays
Schools closed for the end of the school year in the middle of March and will not reopen till the middle of May. During the holiday the newly opened toy library is proving a popular venue for many youngsters from the surrounding slum, who are meeting at the foundation to play with the toys which have been donated from many sources. The new computer centre at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten is also being made available to local children, who are using it informally under adult supervision.
Before the kindergartens affiliated to the Duang Prateep Foundation closed for the holidays there were special end of year events, which gave an opportunity to say goodbye to the six-year-old children who now move on to primary school.
Eleven teachers at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten used one day of their holiday to visit Topsy Turvy International School to learn about English style kindergarten teaching.
March visitors
Mr. Hans R. Spillmann from Lombard Odier & Cie of Geneva visited the Duang Prateep Foundation last month accompanied by two colleagues. Mr. Spillmann was welcomed to the foundation by Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya and Prateep Ungsongtham Hata. Mr. Spillmann made a donation to the Slum Children’s Art and Development Project.
Also last month Dr. Ides Nicaise and Ms. Ilse Fripont from the Higher Institute of Labour Studies at Leuven in Belgium visited the Duang Prateep Foundation. The pair are carrying out World Bank sponsored research into school drop outs in Thailand as a result of the economic recession. At the foundation they talked to DPF sponsorship section staff and some children who have been forced to leave school because of a lack of money.
In early March there were several foreign visitors who travelled to Thailand for the opening ceremony at the New Life Project in Kanchanaburi - see above. Most of the foreign visitors were from Japan but people also travelled from the UK and the USA to attend the event.
Batik training in Petchaburi province
Foundation staff recently visited Baan Yang Nam Kat Tai in Petchburi province to give training in batik painting techniques to members of the Young Women’s group there. Forty youngsters aged between eleven and sixteen attended the one day event.
The attached file <batik0300.jpg> shows youngsters at Baan Yang Nam Kat Tai displaying their batik works. DPF staff are back row right and second from right.
Nithan Caravan in Cambodia
Nithan Caravan, the Duang Prateep Foundation’s mobile puppet troupe went overseas for the first time last month when they joined with staff from the Sikkha Asia foundation to give a special performance in Phnom Penh . A group of eight travelled to the Cambodian capital where they performed in front of a group of over 500 children.
Aids project staff help raped girls
Aids project staff have recently been helping two victims of rape, one of whom was infected with the HIV virus as a result of the assault. Aids project staff have been able to locate the assailant of a fourteen-year old girl and obtain compensation for the victim. In the second case the foundation has arranged for a lawyer to assist a seventeen-year old who was raped and infected with Aids.
Aids project staff have also been surveying motor-cycle taxi drivers in Klong Toey slum and talking to leaders of motorcycle taxi stands prior to starting a series of programmes to raise Aids awareness among motorcycle taxi drivers and their customers.
News from Thailand
Riots at remand centres raise questions about juvenile care
Questions are being asked about the suitability of the country’s juvenile detention centres in the wake of riots and breakouts at several remand homes last month. The limited space, outdated policies and punitive measures have failed to adapt to social change and a rise in juvenile crime, mostly drug related.
The situation at the state remand centres compares unfavourably with therapeutic centres such as the Duang Prateep Foundation’s New Life Projects. In the wake of the recent troubles the Nation newspaper wrote about life at the New Life Project for Boys in Chumphon province. The article "Farm life puts troubled youth on reform path" appears at the end of this newsletter.
Drug prevention to replace suppression
A consensus has been reached among narcotics suppression authorities that prevention should replace suppression as Thailand’s top strategy against illegal drugs but there is no clear policy about how to tackle the mounting problem. Thailand’s current drug treatment systems were originally developed in response to opium and heroin addiction and are not applicable or effective for methamphetamine treatment.
Drug experts are alarmed at the recent shift to smoking methamphetamines rather than oral consumption of the drug. The percentage of addicts in Bangkok treatment populations who ingest the drug by smoking has increased from 5% in 1992 to 95% in 1997. Other statistics also give cause for alarm: The Police Hospital in Bangkok saw a 100% increase in the number of methamphetamine abuse patients in the second half of 1999; 60% of addicts in treatment are aged between 15 and 19.
A report by a Western embassy in Bangkok recommended specialised addiction training. “It will be impossible to develop an effective treatment infrastructure in Thailand without a major sustained commitment to providing training in chemical dependency treatment” the report said.
Self-sufficiency target for 9th National Plan
Economic planners have set a goal of 4% to 5% annual growth in the ninth National Economic and Social Development Plan starting in 2002. The five-year plan's objective contrasts with 7% annual growth in the preceding plan. In setting the ninth plan the National Economic and Social Development Board is aiming for an attainable target based on self-sufficiency with people-centred development as a core element. Other elements include reform of the bureaucracy, strengthening economic competitiveness, promoting good governance and ending corruption.
Bridge-dwellers move postponed
The relocation of more than 800 families living under city bridges has been postponed from next month until the end of the year because the new sites are not ready.
An organiser for the 68 communities to be relocated announced that the communities wanted to run and administer their own affairs and proposed that the NHA collect a monthly rent of only 200 baht instead of 500 as planned.
The National Housing Authority (NHA) has said that the rent is acceptable if the communities administer themselves as the NHA will not have to hire staff. However there is concern at the NHA that they might have to step in and solve problems in the future. The residents the NHA and the Bangkok Metropolitan Adminstration are considering setting up a board to oversee the new communities. The areas under the bridges will be redeveloped as small parks.
Women suffering more in recession
According to a recent survey , 72.9% of Bangkok’s unemployed between the ages of 20 and 30 are women. A survey by the Friends of Women Foundation shows that last year 80% of unskilled workers laid off were women but 13,486 more men than women were reaccepted into the workforce. In lowest paid manufacturing jobs women outnumber men but in the highest paid manufacturing jobs, those above 10,000 baht, men outnumbered women two to one in 1995 and almost three to one in 1999.
Women workers face health hazards
A survey of 412 female textile and restaurant workers showed that most workers are not provided with medical welfare and are working in an unhealthy environment.
Only 12% of workers enjoy primary medical health care provided by their employers. The study showed that 87% of the workers suffered from breathing problems caused by exposure to heavy dust concentrations at the workplace. The majority of workers also complained about high noise levels, unusual temperatures and inadequate lighting.
The Social Statistical Office also reported a sharp rise in illness due to environmental pollution and exposure to chemicals at workplaces. In 1998 there were 790 reported workplace deaths and 186,498 workers had severe health problems
The Labour Ministry has announced that inspectors will carry out stricter inspections of workplaces. The move comes after the Labour Protection and Welfare Department found that almost half of the 100,000 premises inspected were in contravention of the law.
Free education plan set-back
In a public relations blunder last month the government first announced that free education for all students at lower-secondary level would begin this year before announcing that the policy might not be implemented due to a lack of money.
Many schools are concerned at the introduction of free education as they fear they will not get sufficient funds from the government. Schools have reported that they will not be able to provide quality education.
It has also been announced that the Office of the National Primary education Commission will lend out textbooks to primary and lower secondary students in every public school and that children from poor families will be given two sets of free uniforms.
Free medical aid for poor
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will provide free medical services for up to one million low-income residents as part of a comprehensive social safety net to help the poor. The BMA scheme would be set up to cover households with an income of less than 2,800 baht per month or single people who make less than 2,000 per month.
Sight for the elderly
The Ministry of Public Health has started a project to raise funds to help elderly people who need cataract operations. The ministry is cooperating with a tv programme in raising funds for the operations. It is hoped that 100,000 intra-ocular lenses will be donated.
Plan to help people with Aids
A national meeting of people with Aids, attended by representatives of 200 self-support groups, agreed to mobilise community support at the local level, in preparation for decentralisation of power which would give full authority to the tambon administrative organisation. It was reported that people with Aids felt that they had no choice other than to work towards more understanding at the local level as there was little hope their problems would be solved at the policy level.
There were reports at the meeting of continuing violations of the rights of people with Aids, especially in areas concerned with denial of job opportunities, violation of privacy and discrimination in medical care.
Thais to price Aids vaccine
Later this year the Health Systems Research Institute and the National Statistical Office will survey 2,500 households to ascertain the public’s willingness to pay for an Aids vaccine. Presently one Aids vaccine is in the final stage of trial in Thailand and several other vaccines are in earlier stages of testing.
A preliminary study has identified 15 groups of people at high risk of HIV/Aids infection in Thailand, with direct commercial sex workers at the top of the list of eight groups deemed suitable for receiving the vaccine. The other groups are intravenous drug users, men who have had sexually transmitted diseases, transport workers, indirect commercial sex workers, conscripts and prisoners. The study estimated that it would cost about US17.7 million to vaccinate these vulnerable groups at a cost of about $26.30 per dose.
Government promises inexpensive pills on sale soon
Last month the government pharmaceutical organisation made a commitment to the production of lower priced anti-Aids drugs so more patients can gain access to treatment. The organisation will soon manufacture a powdered form of didanosine which will lower the cost from 42 baht per table to 26 baht. The production of other anti-Aids drugs is also planned by the GPO and the organisation is working on the research and development of herbal medicines that could be used as alternatives to anti-viral drugs.
Health groups criticise loan terms
NGOs concerned with health topics have complained that Asian Development Bank (ADB) loans for health system reforms will marginalise the poor and those who can least help themselves.
Local NGOs are planning a conference to run parallel to an Asian Development Bank meeting in May. The meeting would cover public health, education, agriculture and labour - four areas which the NGOs say will be negatively affected by ADB loans.
Disabled launch wheelchair business
Thailand’s first wheelchair factory to be run by disabled staff was opened last month. The factory, called ThaiWheel, presently has eight employees, all of them disabled. The company hopes to make wheelchairs for Thailand and the region and reduce the dependence on expensive imported wheelchairs.
People’s News Agency to start soon
Academics and non-governmental organisations are going to soon start a “People’s News Agency” to ensure that news reports fully represent the rural population and underprivileged groups. All the agency’s reporters will work for NGOs throughout the country. The hope is that the new agency will reflect the lives of real people and counteract the perceived Bangkok bias in the main-stream media.
Transparency International to fight corruption
Transparency International Thailand (TI-T) has been started under the chairmanship of former prime-minister and Ramon Magsaysay Award winner Anand Panyarachun. Transparency International Thailand is the national chapter of a global organisation with branches in more than 70 countries. TI-T is designed to promote awareness about corruption and to inform society how transparency can build a good foundation for development.
Heinrich Boell Stiftung opens Thai office
The Heinrich Boell Foundation became the fourth German political foundation to set up office in Thailand last month. The foundation, which is affiliated to Germany’s Green Party, will focus on environmental issues, including nuclear non-proliferation, human development and women’s rights.
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Farm life puts troubled youth on reform path
This article first appeared in The Nation newspaper on the 26th of March 2000. The article appears here with the permission of The Nation. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be used in any form without the written permission of The Nation.
CHUMPHON Six hundred kilometres south of Bangkok, many juvenile delinquents watched the television news reports of the recent breakout and unrest at one correctional home after another.Those glued to the TV were no relatives of the youths who tried to break free, but some knew what it was like to be in their place. Others realised that they themselves may have ended up in those correctional homes if not for the fact that the Duang Prateep Foundation had set up Niwathana New Life Project (NNLP) in Chumphon province's Lamae district some 14 years ago.
The project usually takes in boys between nine and 18 (some older) for a period of three years. The project accepts residents sent voluntarily by their parents, for, as its name suggest, it aims at giving new life to these youngsters and not at punishing them further.
While there are only a handful of state run correction home alumni at the New Life project, the youths knew that any of them could have ended up in one. Luckily, their parents discovered the need for intervention and chose to send them to this project in the south.
None of the three former inmates of the Baan Karuna Correctional Home currently at the New Life centre expressed surprise at the breakout. To them, the state-run home was like a volcano waiting to erupt. Others said it was not worth rebelling for they would be punished even more severely once they returned to the correctional homes.
But when asked what they thought of these state-run homes and what improvements should be made, a whole Pandora's box of bitter memories was opened.
"It was very crowded. We didn't have enough drinking water and there were 1,500 people," said 17 year old Samruay, who was at Baan Karuna for drug abuse. The 16 rai area of the state-run correctional home was meant to house 500 juvenile delinquents not 1,500.
"The wardens also used huge sticks to punish us. And some of the punishments were actually meted out for very little reason."
"It's not like here," said Pat, a 21 year old member of the New Life centre who was also at Baan Karuna for six months in 1996 due to heroin abuse. "If you have a wound they don't really care. There are eight toilets and the wall covering is just waist high."
"It's now 18 [toilets]," countered Samruay, a more recent inmate of the notorious correctional home. "But the sleeping quarters are still very crowded."
Somkid, sent to Baan Karuna following charges of robbery and sexual obscenity, said physical abuse and gang attacks were common there. "If you have fair skin and look cute, someone may take you to sleep with them," he said.
The three former Baan Karuna inmates said greenery and the opportunity to work with their hands on the land, as they have been doing at the New Life Project, are important factors in the healing process. At this 191 rai project, various vegetables are grown by the youths, including string beans, cucumber, Chinese cabbage and morning glory. Robusta coffee, rubber trees and palms are also grown to raise funds and make the environment, which is surrounded by a mountain range, even greener.
"I didn't know what a coffee tree looked like before I came here," said Ton, one of the 90 residents of the New Life centre. "Growing vegetables and plants is definitely enjoyable."
Nature and greenery aside, many felt that a sense of home and caring wardens were necessary to improve the many government-run correctional homes. "I think there's one important key to running a successful correctional homes to have good staff. Some of the wardens do not love their work," said Suchinda, one of the four teachers at the NNLP. "It takes some dedication and sacrifice."
Currently, there are 150 children whose parents want to place them at the New Life Project. However, the project can only accept two more at the moment. And the Bt3 million yearly budget for 90 youngsters is already difficult for the foundation to bear.
"I should say that we are 80 per cent satisfied with our work here," said Sarayuth, another teacher at the project. He said that some youngsters at the project went on to study at university level, but some came back to become teachers at the project.
Twenty year old Vasant came back soon after graduating from the project. He went home briefly to Nakhon Prathom province, where he found that amphetamines had taken over his neighbourhood and home province. A former drug addict himself, Vasant feared he might fallinto the vicious cycle again, but he also realised that he wanted to use his experience to teach young children how to make a change like he had done.
"Society at large is full of drugs. You find it in front of your home, even the police are into it," said Vasant, who is dark and plump, easily the most recognisable figure at the project.
Vasant, now an assistant teacher at the centre, said dealing with a mixed bag of young delinquents was no easy task. "They are alldifferent. Some are orphans and when they see others' parents visiting they feel lonely, so we try to make this a home-come-family. Others may be aggressive, so we let them do a lot of sports and try to tell them that winning [or beating] is not everything. And we also have attention seekers whom we have to ignore from time to time," he said.
To Vasant, nothing is more challenging than to change the youths' mentality and he hopes this project may provide a lesson to government run institutions. "It's easy to get people off drugs. But to make them leave the past behind and offer hope for the future is no easy task it's a challenge," he said.
BY Pravit Rojanaphruk