Who is Issarachon ....?

1.How long have you been working for this problem ?

 I started working as a volunteer in 1985 for less-fortunate children. Later on in 1996 I became a full-time worker since I got more serious with marginalized population issues. In 2000 I focused to work with the homeless. So, I’ve been in this field for 22 years; 11 years for marginalized people and 7 years for the homeless.
2. The main problem of those homeless e.g. where are they from and why are they here ? 

The problem develops from many factors, such as being raised in a broken home, impact from community belief, economic status, education, and so on. The problem starts from every single facet. Even those who move to Bangkok, the main motivation is about education and economic. Following former success, most people come to Bangkok for better jobs and better luck. But when they got tricked by employers, such as, taking their ID’s away, not getting paid, and getting fired, they come to live in Sanam Luang.   

3. The responsible of your association towards them 

We support more access to basic social welfare, such as, helping them to get back their status. We coordinate with BKK health center 9 to issue their new IDs and help them get basic healthcare. We encourage couples to prenatal care and to deliver at hospitals.  We help finding relatives for unidentified dead bodies and sick homeless. Our main goal is to empower these people to sustain themselves and get public awareness to respect their human rights. In a long run, we motivate them to return home and improve their quality of life. We try to tell the society to see and hear them with equity. 

4. Is there any suggestion to resolve the problem? 

Society should treat all people with equity and accept the diversity. We all should learn to be more open-minded. Also, public sector should provide social welfare, sufficient and equal to everyone.   As for anyone interested to volunteer for homeless, you are absolutely welcome.