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Sponsor's update from Nongkhai, Thailand
SOS Children in Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, lies in the heart of South-East Asia. It is a country in transition, moving from an agricultural to an industrial-based economy. However, due to the uneven distribution of wealth, environmental degradation and the effects of urbanisation, large disparities in socio-economic welfare remain. Much of the population, particularly in the countryside, lives in extreme poverty.
Over 6 million people live in the capital Bangkok, the most densely populated area in the country. Many are migrants from rural areas, living in appalling conditions in the city's teeming slums. HIV/AIDS is a serious issue because of the large-scale sex industry, which flourishes in Bangkok. UNICEF estimates that around 290,000 children have been orphaned by the HIV epidemic, and a further 2,000 are born with the disease each year. In all, UNICEF puts the number of vulnerable children in Thailand at more than one million, including orphans, street children and children with disabilities.
SOS Children's Villages provide orphaned and abandoned children in Thailand with a new mother, a family and a home where they can stay until they are ready for independent life. The charity began its work in the country in 1972 and currently cares for more than 450 children at its five purpose-built Children's Villages, and a further 55 youths at its three youth houses, where young adults live while they prepare for independence. SOS Children also run nursery schools in Thailand which together serve 330 children from SOS villages as well as the local community.
SOS Children's Villages in Thailand
The SOS Children's Village Bangpoo (Bangkok) was the first to be built in the country, in 1972, and is located in one of the capital's suburbs. It has 12 family houses (each house can home 10 children), a youth home and a nursery school.
In 1990, the charity built a community in Hatyai in the south of the country, near the Malaysian border. Hatyai is the main city in the south and a large commercial centre. The SOS Children's Village is built on the site of a former rubber plantation about 20km outside the city on the main road to Malaysia. It has 12 family houses, a youth house and a nursery.
The third village is in the provincial capital of Nongkai on the river Mekong on the northern border with Laos, a mainly agricultural area. The village has 11 family houses built in the traditional local style and a nursery, and is situated close to the city's modern government district. The charity has also built a house for older boys, in Udonthee, 55 km from Nonkgkai.
In December 2006 a fourth SOS village was opened in Chiang Rai close to the northern borders with Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. The community has 14 family houses and a nursery school.
The fifth SOS village in Thailand was opened in Phuket in 2008. It has 12 family houses and a nursery school. The main objective of this community is to help children in the southern region, especially children who lost their families in the Tsunami disaster.
Local contacts
SOS Children Thailand
18 Moo 3, Soi Boonsiri
Sukumvit Road
10270 Samutprakarn / Thailand
Tel +66/2/380 46 82
Fax +66/2/756 20 29
email: sosthai@bkk4.loxinfo.co.th
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