At the Duang Prateep Kindergarten over 200 children and 150 guardians attended a party at the beginning of March. The children put on a show for their parents and teachers. In turn groups of parents and former students at the kindergarten had arranged a fairground atmosphere in the school grounds, with a wide range of games for the children to enjoy. Food was also available at the event, which provided a lively end to the school year.

Later in the month the sixty children who have now left the Duang Prateep Kindergarten to go on to primary school had a one night camp at the school. The children first went to an aquarium in Bangkok, before returning to the school to prepare food for their party. The children then enjoyed games and a meal with their teachers before settling down for a night at the school.

The photo shows some of the party action at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten.

Last month over 500 guardians of children receiving educational sponsorship through the Duang Prateep Foundation attended a meeting on drugs problems at the Chumchon Moo Baan Pattana school next to the Duang Prateep Foundation. The event was jointly organised by the Sponsorship section at the Duang Prateep Foundation, the Klong Toey Anti-Drugs Volunteers Association and local community leaders. A senior police officer spoke at the event, which was moderated by Dr. Vithavas Khongkhakul, a sociologist with many years connection to the Duang Prateep Foundation.

A survey was carried out at the meeting, which revealed some interesting results. Methamphetamines consumption was very definitely seen as the major drug problem in Klong Toey Slum. When asked to list what drugs were used in their neighbourhood over 90% of the responses were methamphetamines.

People believed that most drug dealers in their neighbourhood were aged between 21 and 40 (63%), but the next highest number (28%) were believed to be between 10 and 20 years old and 2.5% were reported as being aged under 10. 55% believed that the current police anti-drugs crackdown (see News from Thailand section) was having some success but only 14% believed that the crackdown was having a significant impact and 30% of respondents saw no impact from the police action. Amongst the people who attended the meeting, there was a strong willingness to help with anti-drugs activities but there was a widespread fear of recriminations if people inform the police about drugs dealers. Almost 80% of people said they can help in anti-drugs activities but the majority do not dare inform on dealers to the police. 55% believed that they could not rely on state protection if they informed on drug dealers, the underlying fear is that they could be communicating with police who have connections with drug dealers.

Over 90% of respondents said that the drugs problem affects the quality of their lives and over 80% believed that Klong Toey Slum is the biggest centre for drugs. A massive 86% of respondents believed that over 50% of Klong Toey Slum residents are involved in drugs. When asked to name the main reason for the spread of drugs, almost 60% named economic factors as the main cause. 60% of respondents confirmed that defaulting debtors must work of their debt by dealing drugs.

Teachers from the Ratchada Bungkum Children's Centre and staff from the Sponsorship Section of the Duang Prateep Foundation went on a two day workshop to a naval base at Sattahip east of Bangkok last month. The Ratchada Bungkum Children's Centre is not in Klong Toey Slum but is affiliated to the Duang Prateep Foundation, with support for the children coming from Stiftelsen Barnmission I U-Land in Sweden. A total of 21 teachers and Duang Prateep Foundation representatives attended the workshop.

The purpose of the workshop was to discuss how teachers could aid the community beyond their role as kindergarten teachers. The group looked at the teachers' roles in community development and how to help older children in the community move into higher education.

Krichmontri Tipprapai, the sponsored student who was featured in the November 2001 Duang Prateep Foundation newsletter, left at the beginning of April for four years study in Japan.

Krichmontri will have one year of Japanese language study followed by three years of computer science and engineering studies at Matsue National College of Technology. Krichmontri’s programme in Japan is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Technology under the College of Technology programme.

Krichmontri came first out of over 200 applicants from throughout Thailand for the scholarship programme. In all three applicants were successful in winning scholarships from the Japanese government.

Last month the Indian Women's Group in Bangkok visited the Duang Prateep Foundation to donate money for craft training activities for sponsored children organised by the Sponsorship Section The group was met by DPF Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata and was also joined by Ms. Lalitha Houtman, who is both a member of the Indian Women's Group and a part time volunteer at the Duang Prateep Foundation. The donation will be used for materials and training. Sponsored children have been sewing patterns on plain tee-shirts which are being marketed by the DPF with the profits going to the children.

Ms. Prateep Ungsongtham Hata is third from the left, with Indian Women's Group members to her right, the Head of the Sponsorship Section, Ms. Wassana Sanitmuenwai is second from the left and Ms. Lalitha Houtman is on the left.

The Development Section has been busy assisting community groups in their activities connected with the Social Investment Fund (SIF), which is administered by a government agency and funded by international donor organisations.

DPF representatives joined with youth group members from Klong Toey communities in evaluating the impact of activities which have taken place in the previous year with the support of SIF. Foundation staff also led a three-day seminar for community groups in Klong Toey Slum about how to apply for money from SIF. The meeting was attended by representatives of 14 community groups.

The Development Section has also been monitoring the progress in the Bonkai community, where houses are being rebuilt after two fires destroyed over 280 houses at the beginning of December.

Another concern of the Development Section has been assisting residents in the Locks 7 to 12 community of Klong Toey Slum with their housing rights. The community is living with the threat of imminent eviction.

As reported in the March newsletter, the Bangkok Post newspaper has now donated money to aid victims of the March 1991 chemical fire at the Bangkok Port. The donation was accepted by Ms. Prateep Ungsongtham Hata on behalf of the Duang Prateep Foundation. Amongst the victims of the fire who are eligible for assistance are two boys who have had to face more than life's fair share of burdens because of the fire.

Boat is eleven years old. At the time of the March 1991 chemical fire, he was six months old and living with his family in the Koh Lao community of Klong Toey slum. The area was destroyed in the fire. Subsequently both of Boat's parents died as a result of illnesses from the chemical fire. Boat now lives with his grandmother and three other relatives who are all dependent on the modest income Boat's uncle earns as a labourer. Their small house is in a very poor condition, with water pouring in through the roof any time it rains.

Nophaphon was born a few months after the 1991 fire. His parents lived near the chemical storage facility at the Bangkok Port but were made homeless as a result of the chemical blaze. The pregnancy had proceeded normally up to the time of the blaze and the bay was moving vigorously in the womb but after the fire all movement in the womb ceased and Nophaphon has been retarded since birth. Nophaphon's father died four years ago and his mother deserted him three years ago. Nophaphon now lives with an elderly grandmother, he continues to be slow in development and experiences frequent convulsions. The only income for Nophaphon and his grandmother is what the old lady can scavenge from rubbish for resale.

The 23^rd annual general meeting of the Duang Prateep Foundation took place in March. The meeting was attended by trustees, foundation staff, community representatives and others with an interest in the work of the foundation.

The photo shows Duang Prateep Foundation trustees with the chairman, Dr. Sumet Jumsai na Ayudhya, sitting third from the left and the secretary general, Ms. Prateep Ungsongtham Hata sitting second from the right.

The New Life Project hosted a meeting at the Duang Prateep Foundation for people who had previously attended the New Life Project drugs rehabilitation centre at Chumphon in the South of Thailand. Some 60 alumni of the project attended the meeting and they were joined by about 40 guardians of the youngsters. The meeting was an opportunity to give everyone information about progress at the project and to share experiences amongst the youngsters about how their life has developed since they left the project. There was also discussion about establishing a network among the alumni. The network could serve as a source of advice and support for members and could support the work of the project.

Last month the children's art group at the Duang Prateep Foundation went on a one day outing to the ancient Thai capital of Ayudhya. 34 children and 12 adults enjoyed creating art in the serene surroundings of Ayuthaya’s ancient temples. The outing was also filmed for television and was recently shown on Thai television Channel Three's 'Thung Saeng Tawan' show.

The photo shows the DPF art teacher, Ms. Chatchada Kruakaew, discussing an art work in front of Buddha images at Authaya.

For the third time a group from Susaban Osaka visited the Duang Prateep Foundation from Japan to teach jam making techniques and how to use fruits in desserts. The Japanese group gave a two-day course for ten participants at the New Life Project for Girls in Kanchanaburi province. They then came to Bangkok to give the same course to a group of ten housewives over two days at the Duang Prateep Foundation. The course introduced participants to several techniques which could be used for income generation activities.

A drugs crackdown by a team of 55 Border Patrol Police officers in Klong Toey slum communities, has caused shortages and driven drove the wholesale price of methamphetamine pills from Bt35 to between Bt40 and Bt50 each.

The police action has made it tougher for dealers. It has been reported that big dealers are not around now, with numerous police in the community every day.

The police operation has not yet led to any large suppression of major drug traffickers, say border police. Border-patrol police do not have the authority to arrest drug dealers in the targeted neighbourhoods. Their job is to gather information and identify drug dealers, leaving the arrests for the local police. However, it has been reported that those who do have the authority to arrest drug dealers in the community do not seem to be in much of a hurry. After being tipped off by the Border Police team, local police moved slowly. Sometimes, it took about three weeks for local police to visit the community and check on suspects identified by the operation team.

The presence of the border patrol police is only for 6 months and there is some concern that drug dealing could flourish as before once the police have left.

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) reported last month that about 7,000 major drug traffickers and 80,000 small-time dealers will be arrested by the end of this fiscal year as part of a plan to fight drug abuse.

The ONCB said that so far about 300 major drug traffickers had been arrested under the plan, which began in the middle of last year and ends in September. The ONCB was confident that it would reach its target of arrests because it had received a lot of information and tip-offs about drug traffickers. The ONCB hopes to put 230,000 drug abusers into rehabilitation programmes this year.

About 100 youth groups from across the country agreed to establish a national youth assembly last month, in an attempt to force the government to seriously look into social problems affecting the youths of today.

With an 8,000-strong initial membership, the youth-run network should grow and be able to convince the government to offer more support to ease problems resulting from the spread of Aids, drugs, prostitution and sweatshop labour.

Unlike in the past when each youth group worked individually, the network of the national youth assembly would encourage its members to work as a team and exchange their regional experiences in problem-settling.

Youth groups in Klong Toey slum, which work with the Duang Prateep Foundation, and some younger members of the Duang Prateep Foundation staff have been involved in the setting-up of the national youth network.

Thailand to provide cheapest anti-viral relief in the world

Thailand's first locally-produced anti-Aids cocktail drug goes on sale in April. Made by the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO), the drug, GPO-VIR, is a triple combination of three substances which have already been prescribed separately to patients and have proven effective in cutting virus loads, with few side-effects. The cocktail drug will cost only 1,200 baht a month, making it the cheapest anti-retroviral medicine in the world.

From this month, GPO-VIR would be available on prescription in state hospitals nationwide as well as GPO drugstores for 20 baht a tablet.

Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said 695,000 people in Thailand had suffered from Aids related symptoms, with 29,000 new cases each year.

"This triple combination will help ease the burden of Aids sufferers as they will be able to buy anti-retroviral drugs at much cheaper price, compared to the more than 10,000 baht a month they paid in the past," said Ms Sudarat.

Within six months the GPO would be making three million of the tablets a month, and within a year six million tablets a month.

The development of a new HIV/Aids vaccine, in which Thailand has been involved from the very beginning, has shown encouraging results and is likely to go for clinical trials on humans.

The vaccine, developed for HIV-1 Subtype-E virus which is common among Thai and other Asian Aids carriers, is a result of international collaboration between the Thai Public Health Ministry's Medical Science Department and Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Last month a meeting took place in Bangkok to evaluate the vaccine and to decide whether to proceed to clinical trials on humans. The meeting had participants from concerned authorities in Thailand and Japan, as well as experts from the World Health Organization. If approved, it should take another five years to complete the entire process.

Currently, the Public Health Ministry is also planning a phase III trial of a combination of two HIV vaccines on 16,000 people in Chon Buri and Rayong provinces. The two vaccines are Aidsvax, developed by VaxGen company, and Alvac developed by Aventis Pasteur. The combination of the vaccines would probably work better in warding off HIV infection.

Aids has become the fourth most likely cause of death in the world. In Thailand alone, the number of people living with HIV/Aids has surpassed one million with over 50,000 already dead.

The number of tuberculosis cases is rising as the number of people with HIV/Aids who contract the disease continues to rise, said Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan last month.

Last year, 67,150 tuberculosis cases were reported, with between 80,000 and 100,000 new cases expected to occur each year. One in four HIV/Aids patients was found to have the disease, the minister added.

The Communicable Disease Control Department is urgently trying to locate tuberculosis suffers who are unaware that they have the disease. There are between 20,000 and 30,000 Thais who have TB but do not know it. The department would test young relatives of current patients. The estimated 900,000 Thais with HIV/Aids have a high risk of developing tuberculosis.

It was reported last month that Thailand is one of the countries in Asia where violence against women and children is frequent yet its prevalence is often overlooked as an important indicator of women's health status.

The problem was discussed at a three-day international seminar on reproductive and sexual health issues organised by the International Planned Parenthood Federation. To counter the growing problem, moves are being planned to make the penalties more severe. The majority of abuse cases involved rape and sexual harassment by teachers, fathers and partners.

A large disparity between the annual per capita incomes of people considered as belonging to the poor and underprivileged sections of society and that of the general population was revealed in a study last month.

According to the study by Chulalongkorn University, poor and underprivileged people have an annual per capita income of Bt17, 941 compared to Bt73, 600 for the general population.

Common problems for the poor included a lack of basic necessities, encroaching on other people's land, restricted access to medical services, and the inability to finance their children's education. The majority of poor people were found to live on farms and have a higher rate of divorce than the general population. And although most poor people face a high risk of calamities related to health, economics, politics, environmental and natural disasters, the aged still enjoy the care and welfare provided by younger family members and the community.

Police brutality, corruption, infringement of press freedom and trafficking of women and children remain problem areas in Thailand although the government generally respects the rights of citizens, according to an annual US State Department report

The "Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2001" said the trafficking of women and children for the purpose of prostitution continued to be a major problem for Thailand, and that some corrupt police and military were involved.

The report also said some police "occasionally beat suspects in order to coerce confessions" and added that prison conditions were poor, with overcrowding worsening during the past year.

The US report notes that Thailand is a developing democracy, generally moving forward but not without problems. The lengthy report, compiled from numerous sources and issued by the US State Department, only covers 2001, and there is no mention of recent conflicts between the media and the government.

It was reported last month that following the introduction of unleaded petrol in 1996, blood tests conducted on students and traffic police in Bangkok have shown a marked decrease in the amount of lead in their blood.

The average rate dropped three- to four-fold to 5.58 micrograms per decilitre of blood for students and 5.86 micrograms for traffic police. Ten micrograms or less is considered an acceptable health risk, according to the World Health Organisation standards.