Ngos (charities) In Thailand

[uk_falang]

There are many small NGOs operating in Thailand, particularly in Mae Sot where they are dealing with refugees. There are numerous other charities based in rural Thailand dealing with child protection, prevention of prostitution, orphanages, AIDS awareness etc, agriculture, taking care of soi dogs or whatever.

I have been told that the organizations themselves change hands regularly and are often sold for substantial profit. Apparently this is for some kind of tax write off for large corporations. Most of the college kids who come here to volunteer seem like pretty decent bunch - but having met some of the organizers, I cant help feeling that they are being misled. Like they are in the outer circle of a big scam.

Non-profit doesn't mean you cant pay yourself a fat salary.

How much of a percentage of money collected goes to their causes, and how is this regulated, what licenses do they need, operating costs etc. How can you check up on the credentials of these organisations before donating or supporting. Is the government unable to cope, or would the government do more if they didnt have the help of these organization?

Are they worthwhile, supporting? I guess some are better than others/

[canadiangirl]

This is a very complex issue.

To be honest, I don't know a lot about how the specifics in Thailand, but many people are raising similar questions about the politics of aid on a global scale.

This aid isn't always motivated by the greater good (surprise, surprise), but often reflects the political and moral concerns of the donor.

Here is an example I discovered while doing some research for school:

Some NGO money comes from private donors, some also from goverment programs.

The U.S. has committed a certain amount of money to the global fight against HIV/AIDS over the next few years. When the bill was passed through Congress, certain amendments were attached to it by congressmen with connections to Christian fundamentalism. One was that 1/3 of all money set aside for prevention programs would be devoted to promoting sexual abstinence as the best means of preventing HIV. As well, organizations are required to sign a document condemning "human trafficking" before they can receive funds. Ok, no one is FOR "human trafficking", right, but in pratice it means that NGO who want money from the U.S. have to explicitly condemn ANY forms of prostitution and specific outreach to sex workers. Before this particular bill, it was already the case that any organization wanting to receive foreign aid for family planning from the U.S. was NOT ALLOWED to promote abortion, suggest it was a solution to people, or fight for abortion rights even with other money, not received from the U.S.

Some countries, like Brazil, have turned down funds from this program because they feel that these conditions get in the way of effective HIV prevention. Other NGOs (I read something about a few groups in Thailand being part of this, could try to track it down if you want) with successful HIV prevention programs that included programs for prostitutes have to choose between losing helpful parts of their program or losing funding. Other countries have no other useful sources of funding -- at least not on the scale that they need -- in some countries in Africa the HIV rate is 1/3 of the population -- and so they have no choice but to accept these conditions. So foreign aid becomes a means by which to export the sexual morality of a certain segment of the U.S. population to the developing world.

I'm not trying to pick on the U.S. in particular, other first-world countries have their issues as well, but the this is the one big issue with foreign aid that I've read about.

I would be curious to hear more from people who know more about the specifics in Thailand. I know that Kat has done some work about displaced people from Burma, perhaps she will chime in?

So --- I probably haven't answered your questions at all, sorry! But here is a little example of how complicated foreign aid can be.

[sbk]

I remember reading about a website or magazine that investigated NGO's and what percentages of their funding was funneled to the actual recipients, to admin etc etc. Sorry, I can't remember the details right now, but perhaps someone else remembers who, where and when?