Protecting and educating Thailand’s street kids
At least 50,000 street children from Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, including the Rohingya, live in public places. Charities, NGOs, civil society groups and teachers for street children have slowly pulled back because a drop in donations for disadvantaged children.
Bangkok (AsiaNews) – Street kids are one of the social issues that afflict Thai society today, especially in important provinces like Bangkok, Chiangmai, Pitsanuloak, Kon-khan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Samutprakarn etc. where it is commonplace to see them gather in public.
Street Kids are those who fled their homes, perhaps due to domestic violence, and spend their time on the streets, asking for money and food from passers-by, sleeping on the roadside, at train stations, at bus shelters, in markets or together in abandoned buildings.
Nowadays, street kids also include children who have to earn money during school holidays and after school, like selling flower garlands to car drivers at the traffic lights. Of course, they have to be careful of the cops since it is illegal to do so.
No matter why they leave, it is obvious that they have no home, no educational opportunities and certainly no future. In light of this, the director of the Office of Non-Formal and Informal Education (NFE) of the city of Muang, Chiangmai province, together with three teachers set up a special outreach programme for street kids and the poor to prevent them from wandering aimlessly.
Nareerattana Daosanun, a teacher who cares for street kids in Chiang Mai's Waroros market, said that "NFE research shows that 20 per cent are street children, while 80 per cent are poor. Only 30 per cent are local; the other 70 per cent come from other places. All come from poor families and are uneducated. Some of them are involved in drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. Most street children gather in parks.”
Teachers must approach them in a friendly manner and slowly convince them to go to school to have a job and a better standard of living. They can choose between compulsory education and vocational certificate. Teachers can provide a better quality of life, aware that street children will have a better life if they are educated. Ultimately, education is for everyone and everyone can study during their lifetime.
Ashi fled the orphanage at the age of nine and lived at the Waroros market until the age of 21. “I ran away from the orphanage because I wanted freedom. There were a lot of rules and regulations in the orphanage, and I wanted to be by myself.”
“Miss Daosanun, the teacher, persuaded me to go to school but I wasn't interested in learning. After spending a lot of time in ups and downs, I matured and I came to realise that education provides access to a good profession and a better life. So I go to see Miss Dasanun who is helping me turn around my life.”
Ms Thongpoon Buasri, project manager at Founder for the better life of children, explains that many children in the community spend the night begging from night travellers who give them money out of pity. They have to "work" between 7pm to 2am before going home.
"Today,” she says, “street children face more serious and complicated challenges, especially those who have to follow their families who live and work in Thailand.
“The problem is that they have been unable to pursue their education over a long period and are unable to get healthcare. In Thailand, at least 50,000 street children from Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, including the Rohingya, live in public places. This is a big challenge for those who work with street children.”
Charities, NGOs, civil society groups and teachers for street children have slowly pulled away, because of less and less donations for disadvantaged children. Government employees work between 8 am and 4 pm, whereas street children come out at 5 pm until midnight.
The NFE director is aware of the problem of more than 3.7 million poor, underprivileged, abandoned children in the streets who have no opportunity to study. Some are driven from their families because of poverty. Equitable funds have been raised to provide financing and staff to help various groups of children.
The grandmother of an 11-year-old girl who helps her sell garlands on the street said "when my granddaughter sells garlands, people buy them out of pity,” but “I dare not leave her alone because of the danger from cars or from people who might try to snatch her by force."
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