Vacation activities for children
With Thai schools closed during October for the mid-year vacation, the Duang Prateep Foundation organised a "Children's Cultural Play Ground", which provided cultural, creative and sporting activities for children on 6 afternoons during the month. Between 80 and 100 children attended each session, with children from kindergarten to secondary levels among the participants.
The children could enjoy puppet shows, a toy library, painting and sports classes, handicraft workshops, a Thai dessert cooking course, computer and singing classes, and more. The activities were all free and were provided by DPF staff who were organising the cultural play ground in addition to their regular activities.
The photo below shows some of the youngsters competing in a tug-of-war match
Embassy party for New Life Project youngsters
Last month the Australian Ambassador Mr. Miles Kupa, along with his wife, Zuly Chudori, and their four year-old-son, hosted a party for 32 children from the New Life for Abused Children Project.
The children from the Kanchanaburi based project visited the embassy with project staff, DPF Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata and Australian volunteer Mark Bennis and his wife.
Several Australian Embassy staff members joined the ambassador and his family in hosting the party. Australian Embassy staff Alison and Michael Stanford were able to meet their sponsored child, a girl who lives at the New Life for Abused Children Project. Minister and Deputy Head of Mission John Griffin was among other staff members who also attended the event.
In the wake of the recent bombing at Bali, security was tight on arrival at the embassy. Once the group was in the embassy compound, the Ambassador and his family took the group on a tour of the embassy grounds. Afterwards there was entertainment provided by a magician and a lavish food buffet for everyone at the party. Children from the project provided a dance performance and a girl from the project sang two songs.
When Ambassador Kupa had visited the New Life for Abused Children Project last April, he was presented with a painting done by a child at the project. The original painting now hangs at the Australian Embassy, but the Ambassador had arranged for a laminated and framed copy to be made, which he presented back to the young artist.
When it was time to leave after a very happy party, the children were given take home presents of school equipment and balloons.
The photo below shows Ambassador Kupa, back centre, with other Australian Embassy staff, Duang Prateep Foundation staff and children from the New Life for Abused Children Project.
Outings for sponsored children
During the school vacation during October, there were several special outings for sponsored children.
The Indian Embassy invited 10 sponsored children to visit an Indian navy ship which was moored at Klong Toey port during a goodwill visit. Captain Radha Krischnana of the I.N. Mysore welcomed the children aged from 12 to 14 to the ship. Later in the day, some of the Indian sailors also visited the Duang Prateep Foundation, where they donated toys and medical supplies and did some art activities with some children.
The photo shows sailors from IN Mysore with youngsters at the Duang Prateep Foundation.
The British Embassy Social Club invited 10 children aged from 6 to 9 to a Halloween party at the embassy. The 10 children from Klong Toey were joined by a similar number from embassy families in trick or treat visits to residences in the embassy compound. In addition the children also played games and the children from the DPF sang songs, food was also served.
Long time sponsor Mrs. Chander Sivasriamphai and the Rembrandt Hotel invited their sponsored children to a party at the hotel last month. The Rembrandt Hotel is sponsoring the education of 10 children and Mrs. Chander is sponsoring a further 2 children.
Media youth camp
The Aids Control Project at the DPF took 90 Klong Toey youngsters away last month on a two-day camp in Rayong Province, East of Bangkok. The children, who were aged between 12 and 15, were joined by 20 adults at the camp. The primary focus of the camp was youth involvement in the media. The young campers were given training on the written media, with advice on the preparation of brochures, magazines, pamphlets and the like. They were also given training in radio techniques.
Among the objectives for the camp was the hope that the youngsters would use the skills they were taught, in peer group education on topics such as Aids, drugs and education. The camp has proved successful, with a burst of literary creativity among youth groups in Klong Toey Slum. Young people from Klong Toey can also be heard in Bangkok sometimes on the Children’s Radio, which can be found at AM891.
Also last month, the Aids Control Project hosted a meeting for 30 people who have offered to act as volunteer tutors in 13 different slum communities in Klong Toey. The tutoring idea came out of the Mothers and Fathers School, which the Aids Control Project has recently hosted. The tutors are taking it in turns to be available at the community centres every work day evening as well as at weekends, where they give advice about home work and other academic problems to the children who drop in to see them.
Books about slum life
The Duang Prateep Foundation has recently published two books about slum life for use by Thai kindergarten and primary school aged children. The books are written by Nithan Caravan Project head, Ms. Rotjana Phraesrithong and illustrated by two artists from the Klong Toey communities. One of the illustrators is now a professional artist. His interest in art developed as a member of the DPF's Slum Children's Art Project and he was later able to get a bachelors degree with the help of sponsorship from the DPF. The illustrator of the other book is still studying for a bachelors degree, with the help of sponsorship from the DPF.
The publication of the books was financed by the Rev. Yo Ishikawa of Japan. The main text is in Thai, but each book also has a summary in English and Japanese. The two books are titled, 'Sweat for my Darling Children' and 'The Garland Life'. The former is about a family where the man works as a manual labourer and the latter the lifestyles of people who make and sell garlands. The books are intended to teach Thai children about how people in the slum live and show how in difficult environments there are also good role models.
Chance to see Nithan Caravan perform
Nithan Caravan, the mobile puppet troupe at the Duang Prateep Foundation, who take their mixture of education and entertainment to schools in poor communities all over the country, are giving public performances in Bangkok in the coming weeks. As part of the Bangkok Theatre Season, which has already started, UNICEF are sponsoring a series of performances promoting children's rights. Nithan Caravan are giving two of these performances at Santi Chaiprakarn Park on Phra Athit Road, at 17.00 on Sunday the 24th of November and at the same time on Saturday the 1st of December.
Last month, in addition to their usual activities, Nithan Caravan hosted a dharma workshop for 30 people from all over the country who have done dramatic techniques training at the DPF under a project sponsored by the Canada Fund.
Library to be built for relocated community
By next February the Chalongkrung community in the Minburi district of Bangkok will have a community library, which is being built under the supervision of the Duang Prateep Foundatio,n with finance provided by the Peace Station Foundation of Japan. Most of the community residents were relocated to Minburi when they were evicted from inner city slums. Once completed, the library will be administered by the local community.
Last month a ceremony was held to celebrate the beginning of the construction of the library, which was attended by Japanese sponsers, DPF staff and the local community.
Speaking engagements for Prateep
Last month DPF Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata attended a Ramon Magsaysay Awardees meeting at Siem Reap in Cambodia. A number of Ramon Magsaysay Awardees from Thailand and elsewhere were invited to join trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Foundation in two days of discussion on the topic of 'Promoting Peace One Mind at a Time'. The objective of the meeting was to bring new insights into the solution to peace and to combine the synergies of Magsaysay laureates to push for peace with one voice.
Also last month Prateep was the keynote speaker at an event for 5,000 representatives of groups which have benefited from the disbursement of money under the Social Investment Fund scheme, which was set up with World Bank support in response to the 1997 financial crisis.
Prateep was also a speaker at an event the UN arranged in commemoration of the World Habitat Day.
On another occasion Prateep was invited by Care to speak to a large number of youth leaders who had been brought together for a workshop.
News from Thailand
Children of illegal immigrants robbed of rights
Children of illegal immigrants are being robbed of their rights because the authorities refuse to recognise their existence. Thai authorities are refusing to provide birth certificates for the newborn babies of illegal immigrants, for fear that the documents could be used to claim Thai nationality.
Without documents, newborns remain non-entities, meaning that they do not exist legally. That means no education, no health care, no opportunity to improve their lives while they're in Thailand and no chance to return home because they have no documents to prove who they are.
In Samut Sakhon, a province bordering Bangkok, it is estimated that there are nearly 4,000 stateless children. There are no accurate figures for the number of stateless children in Thailand. But it is estimated that there are more than one million illegal workers in the country, excluding their dependents. Eighty percent are Burmese or from ethnic groups fleeing wars, persecution and poverty in Burma.
Thai civil registration law actually provides for the registration of every child born in the country. But the way the law and an accompanying ministerial rule are being interpreted means that registrations are not happening in practice.
In June the civil registration office stated that it was prohibited to issue birth certificates for the newborns of unregistered illegal workers. The order has sparked strong complaints from human rights groups, but civil registration officials insist they are not doing anything wrong.
The Interior Ministry's policy violates the children's rights by denying them access to education, health care and other basic services, which makes them vulnerable to exploitation.
This also violates several international treaties, which Thailand has ratified. The UN
Declaration of Human Rights, for example, states that everyone has the right to be recognised as a person before the law. Meanwhile, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires member states to issue birth certificates to everyone born in the country.
Thailand is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, but it has reserved the right not to grant Thai nationality to all children born in the country. Yet, the authorities are still concerned that registering the births of the illegal immigrants' babies will cost Thailand a fortune in providing them education and health care. Worse, it might lead to the children's claim on full Thai citizenship later.
With new births not being registered, the authorities lack an accurate database, which is necessary for policy making on illegal immigrants. The children's movements cannot be traced and updated. And when and if repatriation becomes possible, the Thai authorities may not be able to send the children back with their parents, because there will be no documents proving that the children are nationals of the other country.
Meanwhile, the rise of ethnic prejudice against illegal immigrants ends up hurting many legitimate Thai children. It used to be the case that all abandoned newborns were sent to state orphanages. The infants' citizenship was never questioned and orphanage officials could request birth certificates for them, as a matter of course. Now registration officials are tending to assume that the babies are non-Thais. That's how some 100 orphanage babies have become stateless. These babies will not be covered by the government's 30-baht health scheme, leading to increased financial burdens on orphanages' limited health budgets. Enrolment in schools is also more difficult and education officials often refuse to give children official certificates upon graduation, thus robbing them of an opportunity to get higher education and decent jobs.Denying the children of birth certificates robs them of an opportunity to become adopted into a Thai or foreign family. Very few countries allow adoption of stateless children and they all at least require the children's birth certificates, which Thai public welfare officials cannot now produce due to the Interior Ministry's policy.
Responding to the recent criticisms, civil registration officials have argued that the children of illegal workers can use another document issued by hospitals, the Tor Ror 1/1, to prove their nationality when and if they are repatriated. Human rights groups say this does not solve the problem. The Tor Ror 1/1 doesn't carry the same legal weight as a birth certificate. And only babies born in hospitals receive the Tor Ror 1/1. What happens to those who are born elsewhere?
Although the authorities insist that current practice on this issue is legal, the wave of fierce criticism from human rights groups seem to have succeeded in shaking the official line. The civil registration bureau reported that the office is compiling public feedback with a view towards reviewing the policy.
Meanwhile, the number of stateless children rises all the time as the authorities keep passing the buck and as public prejudice intensifies against illegal immigrants.
Slum-dwellers want 30-year leases on state properties
At a function to mark World Habitat Day last month, slum-dwellers and activists called on the government to allow the poor to lease state land, sparing them from eviction from city areas. Thousands of slum people attended the event.
Chalerm Borisut, chairman of the Four-Region Slum Coordinating Network, said eviction from state land must be stopped, while long-term leases of at least 30 years should be allowed if people agreed to put their living spaces in order.
Long-term leases would provide security to the poor. State agencies with wealthy landlords such as the State Railway of Thailand should allow access to the poor, and place less emphasis on commercial return.
"The government must adopt a housing policy which allows the poor to be part of the city, rather than pushing them to the outskirts, because these people need to stay close to their source of income," said Mr Chalerm.
Deputy Prime Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng pledged to revive a national body to solve slum problems. He spoke in response to a call for partnership among state agencies, the public and NGOs.
In Klong Toey Slum, the Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) is forcibly evicting tenants of 147 houses. An unnamed legal officer said the port authority would first evict all 147 families living on the plot and would then try to evict all other squatters from its land in the Klong Toey communities.
People's rights still lacking, seminar told
Protection for people's rights and freedoms is still lacking, five years after the new constitution came into effect, a seminar was told last month. The seminar was held by the respected King Prachadipok Institute.
Bavornsak Uwanno, its secretary-general, said the constitution ushered in changes to political structures and administration, but failed to protect the public's rights, freedom and human dignity. This reflected a failure of political reform based on the fact that democracy meant not only democracy in politics but also economic and social democracy.
The underprivileged still had no rights and freedoms even though political structures and procedures had been changed to make for more accountability.
"More than 40 articles and 50 points in the constitution's rights and freedoms section have not been implemented yet," he said.
Anand Panyarachun, the former chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee said that the constitution was written well to ensure justice and human rights, but the government and parliament have not put it into effect. Mr Anand said little preparation had been made to implement many articles that are due to take effect on the fifth anniversary.
Activists call for human rights to be part of policy
Senators and activists want human rights to be a cornerstone of policy under the new Social Development and Human Security Ministry. They said social development was all but ignored by previous governments. The new ministry could make a difference by making social development a key part of its work. Efforts to better the lot of children, the elderly, the disabled and minority groups were proposed.
State drug agency to make cheap Aids drug
The Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) has begun manufacturing and marketing tablets of the anti-retroviral medicine didanosine (ddI) at half the price of the patent holder, the US-based drug company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS). The company was ordered by the intellectual property court on October 1 to amend its patent and produce the drug at dosages specified by its original patent of 1992, which was altered in 1997. The GPO can now produce the drug in pill form at dosages different than that produced by BMS.
Aids activists have now filed a second suit against BMS in an effort to revoke the remaining patent protection on ddI. They claim that all property rights for the drug should be considered invalid as there were no relevant laws in effect when BMS applied for its patent protection in June 1992. Furthermore, the drug was not created solely by BMS as it was also researched by the Washington-funded National Health Institute in 1989. The only innovation made to the drug by BMS was the addition of an antacid.
Until recently, due to the high cost, only about 10,000 of almost 100,000 HIV sufferers nationwide had access to anti-retrovirals, according to Kamol Uppakaew, of the Thai Network for People Living with HIV/Aids. Lifting the patent protection on all dosages of ddI would enable the government to supply the drug under the 30-baht health care scheme, he said.
Govt unveils plan to help the disabled
Last month the government announced a detailed plan to help disabled people but says first it needs to know how many there are. Government agencies keep different numbers, mainly because the definition is unclear. The Sirindhorn National Medical Rehabilitation Centre believes the number is around one million, while the National Statistical Office's estimate is six times higher. The new Social Development and Human Security Ministry has been ordered to provide definitive figures.
Key strategies include an education fund for the disabled with 200 million baht a year from the Government Lottery Office, coupons allowing the disabled to choose support equipment and better access to medical services. The Education Ministry would set up special education centres for the disabled in all provinces, while schools and universities would include lessons on disability to increase public awareness. Other plans would ensure access to information, technology and public services, a sign-language training programme for the deaf and translators, sign language for media programmes and facilities for the disabled at tourist spots.
The strategies come together as the National Plan for Development of the Disabled, which takes effect this year and will last until 2006.
Disabled people, however, are sceptical. The vice-president of the Disabled Council of Thailand, said he was unsure whether the government was serious. Increasing special education centres was a good idea, but he doubted whether many handicapped people would manage to get there. Public services rarely responded to the needs of the disabled. Bus services, for example, could not accommodate people in wheelchairs.
It was also reported last month that substandard equipment provided by the government is making life even more miserable for many disabled people. Many disabled have complained about their wheelchairs, white canes and hearing aids not fitting or working properly, and in cases making their life even more difficult.