Homeless in Thailand
Homelessness in Bangkok By Suthida Sangsuwan 5345928629 Chulalongkorn University, AY 2012 Contents Section one: Introduction3 Section two: Background of Homeless 4 Situation in Bangkok Section Three: Strategy and Making it happen 10 Section one: Introduction The situation of homelessness has been endemic in the human family from the beginning of civilization in every part of the world.While some people hold the view that homelessness is something that can happen to anybody, there is a growing body of research which indicates that there are underlying causes of homelessness, such as poverty and lack of housing options, and risk factors such as mental ill health, addiction, weak family supports and experience of institutional care, which put certain households at increased risk of becoming homeless.
Homelessness has been experienced over the centuries by a great variety of people.Nevertheless, destitute, disables and antisocial have been typically made up the core of those for whom homelessness has been a way of life. In pre-industrial society, slaves and prostitutes were also among these groups. When the Industrial Revolution encouraged migration from rural to urban areas and across continents, the ranks of the homeless were expanded by seasonal labors and migratory workers. Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling.People who are homeless are most often unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure, and adequate housing, or lack “fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence. ” The legal definition of “homeless” varies from country to country, or among different entities or institutions in the same country or region.
The term homeless may also include people whose primary night-time residence is in a homeless shelter, a warming center, a domestic violence shelter, cardboard boxes or other ad hoc housing situation.American Government homeless enumeration studies also include persons who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. In this article, I do not think that using the word homeless is suitable for Bangkok public living problem because some of them have homes but they choose to stay out. Therefore, in some point I may use the word public living, tramp or wanderer instead of homeless if the specified groups are in the category. Section two:Background of Homeless situation in BangkokIn Bangkok, Public living is a serious problem which for a long times every government seemed to ignore.
It has been divided to 10 types of homeless in Bangkok which are 1. Homeless person: a person who lives in public areas such as on the street since he owns no land or has been evicted from his own land. 2. Gypsy: a person who lives in public spaces for instance; the street, Sanamluang, Sapanput (memorial bridge area), Hua Lumpong, Mo Chit, Lumpini, and under the highway or the bridge, usually urban areas such as bus terminals, markets, and tourist spots.The reasons of being gypsy vary among diverse problems for example unemployment, family dilemma, handicapped, following the parents, as well as seeking for freedom.
3. Homeless gypsy: a person who moves out from his/her own place for whatever reason, live in public spaces, or even set up a new family in public. Homeless gypsy can move around or temporarily settle down at some places. 4.
Homeless children / Homeless family: children who live on the street or other public areas.. Alcoholism can cause trouble at people’s work as well their health, can be chronic even losing self-control leading to many negative results socially, politically, mentally and physically which many patients do not realize that these problems caused by alcoholism. These people might be motivated by denial or refusal from their families since they are alcoholic, otherwise they might use alcohol to relieve their pain for too long therefore later become addicted to it. 6.Mental patients in public: people who have mental illness that might get lost from their homes and later on become gypsies anyhow including homeless gypsy who have psychological or mental problems as well. In which, mental patients in public is large estimate by street in Bangkok that every streets in Bangkok has one mental illness homeless.
7. Sex-worker: People, who earn their living from sexual services, provide mental and physical pleasure for customers in exchange of money. Having this job maybe the result of poverty, problems in family, personal reasons such as being nobody and bad environment.Some of them are both sex-workers and service-ladies. 8. Former prisoner: people who already served their time in prison but receive neither chance nor forgiveness from their community therefore force them to live in public. 9.
Urban poor: people who live in slum or have no permanent home, distant from social welfare, face economic problem, indebted, thus seek their chances in the city however, with high living expenses too no hope as they expected, they have no place to go and no land to return so they become people who live in public areas. 10.People who temporarily stay in public: people who have special purposes to stay in public for a length of time for example; to visit relatives at nearby hospital, to work in the factory, or to work as motorcyclist but not enough money to rent the room/apartment therefore use public spaces to rest at night. The survey found that in Bangkok 82 percent of households have homes of their own which located in municipalities 62 per cent. In 2012, the city and its suburbs have residents for sale of 135,598 units, while the median income for a household in the city was 43,669 baht per household.One out of third of income will be used to finance housing of 14,556 baht to pay for installment of 20 years or 240 months.
Assuming an 8 percent interest rate, borrowers can borrow to 90 percent of housing price. The survey found that people in the city can afford a house of 1. 93 million, while in 2011 there are 85,800 units of new residential sales for less than $ 2 million to 41,415 units, or about 48 percent as the general public to have access to the house (Bangkok Post).From the number of people living in public places in the city have increased every year by the year 2010. There were 2,451 people in 2011 there were 2,561 people in 2012 increased by 4. 2 percent divided to 931 men and 1630 women. Categorized people living in public find that homeless is the most followed by alcoholic, temporary living, sick people and poor who migrant to the city for employment which have residents outside or inside Bangkok but choose to live in public.
The districts that have the most of public living in Bangkok is Phra Nakhon district of 472 people followed by Bang Sue 258 people, Chatujak 207 people, Pathum Wan 182 people and Samphanthawong 163 people. Across the country, there are around 30,000 tramps. Not only Thai citizens that are homeless but poverty caused by economic, social, income distribution and political conditions BOTH within and between countries with different income.
Which cause Bangkok to face the problems of migration, alien labors, smuggling to the city, alien beggar and human trafficking. All these problems are complex and subtle, and very concerned with human rights. The current homeless policy in Thailand Department of Social Development and Welfare, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security have been supported the offender of The Beggar Control Act BE 2484, and helpless individuals aged 18-60 years experiencing trouble homeless and no foster care.Assistance in housing people without shelter in 11 locations around the country to support people without shelter divided to three types homeless without housing resident, impotent people who have economic and social conditions, and beggars who were pledge guilty by the control Act bE 1940, will be treated as followed by four factors social services, recreation therapy training mined, funeral housing and vocational training. For vocational training, it is a discipline skill training for future employment or self-employed as follows. Seek for employment for recipients to be able to live in the society as normal and training in occupational skills for living such as such as self-segregation of waste components, employees and food selling.
* Seeking jobs for both internal and external of foster housing is considered as a therapy. Welfare recipients will spend their time enjoying socialization ,benefits from free time and generate income of their own, such as the clothing and so on.However, lacking process and a series of operations to support and organize the people into homelessness, beggars and isolated victims of human trafficking, coordination and linkages with homeless persons and beggars, or victims of human trafficking to the place for the agencies involved to provide relief leads to the current homeless situation in Bangkok. The implementation of manage the beggars must have guidelines and procedures in the isolated victims of human trafficking or are at risk of being trafficked for begging voluntary. It should not be sweeping shake-inclusive.
In a way, the group beggars with any type must take into account human rights and human dignity. Bangkok is the key measures to promote the social concrete. Create awareness among people in society and cooperation of the public to report any useful clues to the campaign to stop people in the support group beggar. The welfare state is not able to handle the problems that reflect the lifestyle of living in a public place that is truly home to foster home.
To be more specify, foster home conditions are relatively inflexible, not available for as a whole families living in public.Family homelessness is homelessness. There are some family with husband, wife and children who are homeless but when official step in and deal with the problem, they often separate family apart. Although in some cases can be a mother and child together. But the husband always has been separated out of the family.
The work showed that almost 100% of the families in public life have been brought into relief in the form of state ultimately becomes a broken family. It caused controversy in the area on a regular basis include the children when they are separated from the relief are often abandoned by their families.The burden of the state is to take care of children being abandoned as a child. Time to change the mechanism of the state To start curing homelessness problem, we need to understand that not everyone has home. Therefore, the work is not only to find shelters for homeless but to heal different kinds of homeless and give them back to the society with joys. It is time consuming and mostly public policy by political parties always impetuous. The concept of only finding residents for homeless is the cycle which is not completed to support future movement will only burden the foster home in the future.
Consequently, it could be harder than ever to help those who are not fully integrated into the group of public living. We’re might not able to stop the nomadic way of life and may be passed on to the next generation through the children born in the area. The circuit needs to be increased in order to deal with public living which is working through the place they’ve left and to build a future of hope in their lives with them along with the rehabilitation of mental healing. Encourage them to return to society as quality citizens once again.
The range of work requires the participation of all relevant sectors, both public and private sectors and citizens themselves. Starting from within area both public and private needs to work together to restore the lives and minds of homeless and prepare them to apply for rehabilitation and assistance in both the public and private shelters that have choices in the decision to get help. Developing a service tailored to meet recipient groups. The public sector is more suitable in comprehensive regional mechanism and accessible source of people.Next, there should be group officials in the area who will do the pre-screen of homeless by interview and gather information of homeless to find their sources which will lead them to the next process of healing. If homeless have only minor problem will make the process less complicated. Therefore, we can send them back to where they’re from immediately.
But if there is some difficulties either small or big, the mobilization of budget both the state and the private sector will reconstruct assistance and create wave of restoring homeless lives.In the past, a work pattern has been focused only on the work of providing relief which made the development of social work significantly lower. So the problem is not in the service of the state but the misunderstanding of service that made most of homeless just sit back and wait for money assistance.
Therefore, it should be a practice of social, life and labor development not only monetary aids. Working to improve the quality of life of citizens in the matter of the new pattern, government must recognize that it is time consuming and quantitative evaluation may be less important parts to follow.However, it needs to focus on the subject of the quality of service and changing in quality of life of patients after be treated. It may take more than two or three years in order to assess the quantitative equivalent to just one year ago, in the same patterns.
Universal policy for homeless may not be working for Bangkok One significant problem that occurs not only economic but also a political one with the problem is clear that every country has the same problem; it is homeless homelessness or whatever it is called.If we mention one of best the city that have best care for homeless, I believe it is New York City. NYC Department of Homeless Service or DHS located to 4 locations to allocate homeless to different 250 shelters all over New York.
The department receives the budget of 24,000 million baht annually. DHS welcomes homeless 24 hours every day, there are 100-200 guests visiting in average per day. Since the DHS began to operate, there has been 42,468 visitors divided to 24,822 adults and 17,646 youths lower than 21. Lodging is divided to 3 types’ family, couple and single.
Most people who visit the DHS are African-American. Not only DHS give a place to stay but provide money aid of 30,000 bath for family homeless and 15,000 for single homeless. Besides, fundamental standard of livings are provided to homeless as normal citizens such as education and healthcare. Every visitor will have to go through process of registered and interview to identify whether the visitor has residents or relative to pick them up or not. If the process identifies that visitor truly homeless, DHS will deliver them to optimal shelters.As you know that homeless divided to different types so by sorting out to different shelters for different treatments is better solution rather than keep everyone in the same shelter.
Last year, DHS successfully helped homeless to back to the society 70% of visitors. However, there are difference between New York and Bangkok homeless. For Bangkok, most homeless do not want to be limited in certain area. They urge for living in public and freedom. Especially, aging people who are hurt emotionally by their children.There was a case of the lady who was hurt by her son emotionally that his son did not have time to take care of her and only give money but not love. So she decided to leave house and spent time publicly in Sanam Luang area.
But when the independent entity called “Issarashon foundation” stepped in and talk to both sides, the lady was willing to come back home with her son. Sometimes, the problem is small but when no one cares to solve it is still a problem. In contrast, in NYC most homeless cause by economic reason which is lack of income and resident. Another difference is the point of view of people in the city.There was an article called homeless person “a living city trash”, in the article it’s said that most people in Bangkok including government official look down to homeless and consider them as a trash in the city or social problem that should be getting rid of because it is disgraceful as an image of the city.
From this perspective, often homeless are handled by being expelled out of that area instead of receiving treatment or help. Therefore, Bangkok city needs a little bit different approach homeless problems. Economics Theory on Homeless and feasible * Housing Subsidy by Brendan O’FlarthyFrom the perspective of O’Flarthy, he believes that subsidy homeless is one way that can reduce homeless by giving them money for being housed. Therefore, he came up with the idea of the introduction of an Optimal Homelessness-Reducing Home Allowance or “OHRHA”. In terms of funding such a program, the author recommends imposing a new land value tax on Calgary property owners.
He argues that the advantage of such a tax is that any costs would be absorbed by the positive impact of OHRHA on land prices. In fact, the tax would be proportional to land value increments “OHRHA is what economists call a Pigouvian subsidy.A Pigouvian tax or subsidy aligns an individual’s incentives with those of the rest of society by making her bear all the costs or realize all the benefits that her actions impose on other people. For instance, a Pigouvian tax on industrial emissions charges polluters an amount equal to the damage their emissions cause.
” Housing Subsidy,O’Flarthy. Feasible to Bangkok Housing subsidy is not likely to suite Bangkok due to a very sensitive issue that we do not use the land value tax. The structure of tax in Thailand is very inefficiency and beneficial to the rich.Most of the time rich people own large pieces amount of land and make profit by speculative the price of land. Therefore, leaving a large difference in income distribution. The practical issues of land value mainly spread in to 3 issues Assessments/Appraisals, Limited revenue and requiring clear ownership. In some countries, LVT is nearly impossible to implement because of lack of certainty regarding land titles and clearly established land ownership and tenure.
For instance a parcel of grazing land may be communally owned by the inhabitants of a nearby village and administered by the village elders.In Thailand, there are many exemptions in paying land tax such as royal property and government property. Given subsidy may encourage moral hazard to homeless and decelerate the recovery. Section Three: Strategy and Making it happen Making it happen require public and private afford. However, the strategy to cope with homeless as follows: 1. The survey area and drop in: Just like in DHS method that the officials of homeless department need to sort of different types of homeless.
The government should have temporary place for homeless to stay while waiting to be sort of or in a process of finding identity.As we know, Thai working system is not as functional as it should compare internationally. Therefore, it is important on the first step that homeless should feel safe and secure. The ground officials should gain visitor trusts; this process might take time but it is worth. When homeless trust government sector, they are now be willing to share information of themselves which will be lead to sorting out. The officials such as social workers and psychologist will play the role of sorting of homeless to different shelters.However, it is strongly important that this checkpoint is able to separate homeless and beggar who work as a team.
The beggar who pursues it as occupation should be separated and captured to proceed legislatively. But homeless should be aided and passed on to optimal shelter. 2. The moving fast unit: Some homeless in Bangkok just does not have enough money to go home.
The moving fast unit has duty on delivering homeless who willing to return home safely and deliver homeless to special institute for treatment such as addiction and alcoholic homeless. 3.The optimal treatments: At this stage, homeless were sent to best sector depends on their conditions. However, I suggest for Bangkok to locate shelter that support all 3 types of homeless which Bangkok still lacks of shelter for homeless as a family. The homeless with special conditions such as drugs addiction, alcoholic and mentally illness need to be treated as patients will receive the right to be cured in different institutes on their best conditions. 4.
The right solutions: After sorting of different types of homeless, homeless will be treated as follows: 4. Homeless with economic conditions: The department will train skills for self-employed or employment. The government should aid money in order to give them some start-up to return to the society. However, it is very important that it should not create moral hazard that government just give money for free.
Homeless should realize that the money aid is for restart his/her life in the society. The amount of money given should be calculated carefully. The long term plan is to improve the quality of life of people from their homeland on their own and encourage higher education for all the family.
Including secured with unemployment. Significant factor is to make sure that those homeless will not be repeated the same path again. So in long term the benefit will be higher than the cost of dealing. 4. 2 Homeless with social condition: Specialists and social workers play important roles in solving the problem.
Just like the lady in Sanam Luang case, some issues are sensitive and need someone who really cares. The officials should gain their trust and arrange the best accommodations. 5.
The Prevent of repeating: it is strongly important that once homeless return to society, they will not turn back to the old path again.Creating permanent income for homeless is very important to prevent the repeating. We should promote a strong society and second chance opportunity. For example, the former prisoner should be forgiven in the community. The Range of Measures will focus on early effective interventions where homelessness occur or where there may be a risk of homelessness occurring.
The intervention less detrimental to individuals and families involved than the trauma of homelessness. Also, there are more cost efficient than provision of emergency accommodation.The range of measures necessary to prevent homelessness include an adequate supply of housing, together with supports as necessary, and actions to prevent homelessness from becoming long term. In conclusion, homeless is very delicate problem. If Bangkok has solved homeless problem, I believe that it could bring a good reputation for Bangkok and government, increase social equality and spread income distribution. The benefits are massive socially and economically.
Socially, increase in equality and increase the attraction to Bangkok. Less equality leads to more peace within the country with less protest and conflicts.It also decreases rate of prostitute in both adult and child.
However, it costs time, money and the most important is the afford of people. It is significant to address that this type of problem cannot use only money to solve but care and heart can cure. Economically, if we can actually solve the problem the productivity of workers will be increased. Workforce becomes more efficient. Since Bangkok becomes more attraction, it could lead to increase in rate of tourism.
If we compare Bangkok to the company, it’s like she had succeeded in corporate social responsibility.