Duang Prateep Foundation Monthly News for December 2000
Contact details
Address: Lock 6, Art Narong
Road, Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.
Telephone: (66 2) 671 4045,
249 4880, 249 3553.
Fax: (66 2) 249 5254
Email:
<dpf@internetksc.net.th>
News from the Duang Prateep Foundation
Singapore visitors host parties for kindergarten
children
A group of six visitors from Singapore, led by
DPF sponsors Leona Wong and Charles Loh, visited the Duang Prateep Foundation
last month. They hosted parties for children at the Locks 1, 2, 3 Children’s
Centre in Klong Toey Slum and at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten. At the latter
venue, the visitors from Singapore were able to join the children in
celebrating the Thai festival of Loy Krathong. The group from Singapore also
donated sports clothing, cold weather jackets and school equipment to the
students. The following day the group travelled to Baan Yang Nam Kat Tai in
Petchaburi province, where they donated blankets and books to pupils at the
local school. The village school is a centre for young women’s development
activities, which are supported by the Duang Prateep Foundation.
The attached file <loy.jpg> shows the
visitors from Singapore celebrating Loy Kratong with children at the Duang
Prateep Kindergarten. Ms. Leon Wong is in the front row with the children, with
Mr. Charles Loh in the white shirt behind.
Young artists paint at garden opening
Last month twenty members of the Slum Children’s
Art Project, accompanied by the project leader Chatchada Kruakaew, were invited
to paint at the opening of a garden in the grounds of a large supermarket not
far from the Duang Prateep Foundation. The guest of honour at the opening
ceremony was Bangkok Governor Samak Sundaravej. After officially opening the
garden and planting a tree Mr. Samak took time to talk to the young artists and
admire their paintings on the topic of greener visions of Bangkok.
The attached file <art.jpg> shows Bangkok
Governor Samak Sundaravej admiring the children’s artwork. On the right is DPF
art teacher Chatchada Kruakaew.
Hearing impaired children perform for princess
Last month children from the Duang Prateep
Foundation’s Special Project for Hearing-Impaired Children gave music and dance
performances at a special event for the disabled. The guest of honour at the
event, which took place at Suan Amporn, was Princess Soamsawali. The
hearing-impaired children were among many disabled performers of all ages who
provided an outstanding cultural display for the princess.
Slum fire
Forty-eight houses were destroyed in a fire in
the Pattana Mai community of Klong Toey last month, which resulted in fifty-two
families becoming homeless. The householders are being permitted to rebuild
housing on the same site and the construction of the new houses is now starting.
The fire is believed to have been started due to a candle falling over. The
present year has seen more fires in Klong Toey slum communities than has been
the case for several preceding years.
November visitors
Visitors in November included 30 young officers
from various Singapore ministries, who were able to meet DPF Secretary General
Prateep Ungsongtham Hata. The group from Singapore were accompanied by Loh Tuck
Keat, First Secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of Singapore. The visit to
the Duang Prateep Foundation was part of the Singaporean’s training programme,
which includes visits to other ASEAN capitals with a view to giving them a
deeper understanding of the social, cultural, political and economic aspects of
the region.
Another group from Singapore visited in
November: Forty-two students from St Hilda’s school in Singapore came to the
DPF as part of their field trip to Thailand. The students donated school
supplies to children at the Duang Prateep Kindergarten and toured the local
community.
Eighty young people from the 20th
Nippon Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Programme visited the Duang Prateep
Foundation during their stay in Bangkok. The ship, which was anchored at Klong
Toey, took a party of 360 young people from ten Asian countries on an
educational cruise around Southeast Asia.
The Duang Prateep Foundation hosted an informal
“Open Day” for a group of visitors from several UN agencies and international
development organisations. The visitors were informed about the work of the
foundation and discussed areas of possible cooperation with the DPF. The
session was hosted by Prateep Ungsongtham Hata and Dr. Vithavas Khongkhakul.
DPF supporter Tony Colacitti, who coordinates a
network of sponsors in Ontario, visited the Duang Prateep Foundation. Tony
brought along sponsors Bill and Luisa Merdzan from Toronto. During their stay
in Bangkok they were able to take some of their sponsored children to the
Ploenchit Fair at the British Embassy.
Senator’s News
Foundation Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham
Hata travelled to Japan in November to be one of three guest speakers at the
125th anniversary celebrations of Doshisha University. The university is
in Kyoto but Ms. Prateep joined a very distinguished panel of guest speakers at
the anniversary celebration in Tokyo.
Prateep was one of thirteen Bangkok senators who
attended a meeting for an exchange of opinion between senators and the public.
The 18 senators from Bangkok are elected from the whole of the city and do not
have any constituency responsibilities but they intend to arrange meetings at
different locations in Bangkok every two or three months. The meetings are
intended to allow the senators to gauge public opinion and to give the public
the opportunity to question their senators. Three hundred people attended the
first meeting at the Thai-Japanese sports hall in Din Daeng. Most of the topics
raised concerned labour problems, social and health welfare, and state
corruption.
Prateep now hosts a weekly radio programme.
Monday mornings from 6.00 to 7.00 Prateep can be heard hosting a phone in
programme on FM87.5. The programme is about current affairs and social
problems, with Prateep giving advice and opinions on topics raised by the
people phoning the programme. During the first weeks of the programme the most
popular topic has been the drugs situation.
Development News
Foundation staff have joined the campaign to
encourage a corruption free general election on the 6th of January.
It is Thailand’s first general election under the new constitution. Election
Commission representatives visited the DPF at the beginning of December, where
they briefed foundation staff and community representatives on the new election
system. Foundation staff will be assisting the Election Commission to ensure that
people living in slum communities understand the new election system, which
combines single seat constituencies with a party list system.
The holiday activities programme which the Duang
Prateep Foundation arranged for local children throughout October has been well
received (see October’s newsletter). Television coverage of the event prompted
enquiries from other children as to whether the Duang Prateep Foundation could
set up similar activities programmes in their locality. The foundation has
promised to try and give some assistance if there is a group of young people
who want to come together. Reaction to the DPF programme has been very
positive, both in Klong Toey and elsewhere. It is apparent that there are many
young people who are looking for creative activities in the holidays, but for
those without much money it is difficult to find things to do.
The Aids Control Project has supported the
Chumchon Moo Baan Pattana school with the opening of an advice hotline for the
students. It has been found that many students are scared to seek counselling
in face to face meetings but favour using the hotline, which protects their
anonymity. Many students are seeking advice on topics related to sexuality and
drugs.
The head of the Aids Control Project, Khun Nittaya,
is assisting the local police as an independent witness when the police are
questioning children. A witness is required under new child protection
regulations, which recently became law.
Foundation staff have been attending various
meetings to help the urban poor and strengthen cooperation among NGOs.
Foundation Secretary General Prateep Ungsongtham Hata participated in a meeting
on slum dwellers housing problems. There are increasing signs that evictions of
poor communities will soon be increasing. The foundation was represented at a
meeting for Bangkok youths which looked at problems of concern to young people
such as drugs and the environment. The Duang Prateep Foundation also joined
with other non-government organisations working to help children in a
discussion on government support for their activities.
News from
Thailand
More poverty through recession
Between 1996 and 1999 the number of poor
increased by three million, taking the total up to almost ten million, one
sixth of the population. The number classified as ultra poor, almost one in ten
Thais, increased by two million. Inequality has also worsened. After 1992
inequality started to lessen but one year of the economic crisis wiped out the
gains, with inequality now back to 1992 levels. The rise in poverty is only
partly due to the crisis. Low agricultural prices have also played a big part.
The World Bank in its World Development Report on “Attacking Poverty” argued
that the worsening poverty associated with financial crises is difficult to reverse.
The economy may recover to its old size, but the numbers of poor do not fall
back to old levels. In crises the poor tend to lose their savings, land and
other assets which makes recovery harder. The policy of fast economic growth
pursued by successive Thai governments has led to massive environmental damage,
community breakdown and social tension.
Hope for child labourers
The International Labour Organisation Convention
on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (UN Convention 182) came into legal force in
Thailand last month. The worst forms of child labour as outlined in Convention
182 are as follows: All forms of slavery, forced labour and armed conflict;
prostitution and pornography; illicit activities, especially the drugs trade;
and work likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
According to the Office of the National
Education Commission there are 2,477, 917 children not in school, including
many in the 11-14 age group. With the exception of armed service, many of them
are engaged in the worst forms of child labour. A 1994 survey found that almost
twenty percent of women working in brothels started between the ages of 13 and
15. The International Labour Organisation estimates there are 17,400 street
children with increasing numbers of child beggars from neighbouring countries.
Each state must present a biannual report on its
progress in implementing the convention to the International Labour
Organisation.
World Bank warns of Aids challenges
Last month the World Bank issued a report on “Thailand’s
Response to Aids” which warned that, despite past successes in containing the
rate of new HIV/Aids infection, the government must be prepared for new
challenges. The report said that the government has invested only two baht per
head per year on prevention, even though prevention was the best way to contain
the epidemic. Overall public expenditure on the national Aids programme has
declined by 28% since 1997, with prevention accounting for only 8% of the
national Aids budget. A World Bank representative raised concerns that as
Thailand recovers from the economic crisis, rising incomes are likely to lead
to renewed demand for commercial sex.
Council affirms abortion ban for Aids cases
The Council of State has ruled out abortions for
pregnant women with HIV/aids, in spite of growing pressure to change the law.
Under the Criminal Code, abortion is permitted only if women have been raped or
if there are problems with the health of the unborn child. Many people have
called for a change to permit abortions in HIV cases as it would eradicate
possible ensuing problems such as HIV-infected babies and the side-effects of
AZT consumption.
Seaweed gel may prevent Aids transmission
Clinical research on the use of a seaweed gel to
prevent sexual transmission of Aids is being conducted on 165 women in Chiang
Rai. The gel does not destroy HIV but it is expected to prevent the virus from
entering blood cells. The compound has the ability to create an enamel-like
coating on the surface of the skin. A parallel study is being conducted in
South Africa.
Urgent need to revamp drug treatment programmes
With an estimated one million drug users and
addicts in Thailand, there is an urgent need to revamp Thailand’s treatment and
rehabilitation programmes which have not been able to cope with the explosion
in drug abuse over the last few years. There are only five specialised drug
treatment facilities operated by the Ministry of Public Health, which provide
both treatment and rehabilitation. Existing programmes were developed for the
treatment of heroin and opium addiction. Last year 86,603 people received
treatment at the facilities. 70% of the patients were addicted to heroin and
opium, whereas the most common problem now is amphetamine addiction. Thai
experts have been studying treatment programmes in the US and are now working
on how to adapt US methods for use in Thailand
Environmental deterioration continues
An annual report by the Department of
Environmental Policy and Planning states that Thailand’s environment has deteriorated
further over the last three years, despite the slowdown in production during
the recession. Increased contamination of water resources, more dumping of
hazardous waste, and higher levels of dust and noise pollution in Bangkok are
some of the problems mentioned in the report. Environmental conservation groups
have asserted that the situation is a result of unbalanced development
policies. They said the government has given priority to industrial sector for
rapid economic growth while ignoring the degradation of the ecology and the
livelihood of the poor. The report states that only 15% of the 1.6 million
tonnes of annual hazardous waste could be treated because of the shortage of
treatment facilities.
Slum houses to be moved from under expressway
The Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority plans
to remove slum housing in the Klong Toey area from underneath the expressway.
The authority is concerned after a fire recently destroyed some housing built
next to expressway pillars. The authority wants to coordinate with the National
Housing Authority to find the dwellers alternative accommodation.
Bangkok schools will get computers
The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) will
equip all its 431 schools with computers next year. The computers will be
distributed to each school based on its size. Schools with less than 100
students would get from three to five machines, while those with more than 500
pupils will receive 20. The BMA should be able to procure some 7,000 computers.
Insurance policy to be delayed
The Labour and Social Welfare Ministry is likely
to delay implementation of the unemployment insurance policy for two years. The
International Labour Organisation also suggested recently that the introduction
of the scheme be delayed. The recession has made employers and workers
unprepared to make contributions to the proposed employment fund. A new study
is being jointly conducted by the ministry and the ILO to ensure an effective
scheme once it is implemented.
