Bangkok's Street People - The Hunger For A Home

[webfact]

The hunger for a home

Chularat Saengpassa

The Nation

Two questions to ask Bangkok's street people: Why are you here? Is this where you want to stay?

BANGKOK: -- The sight of an obviously homeless person on a city street naturally evokes feelings of sympathy, but often you might also get the sense that person is exactly where he wants to be. Maybe you're right to feel that way too - but not in most cases.

A meek and scruffy man sits on the lawn of Sanam Luang with the proud and polished Temple of the Emerald Buddha a stark contrast in the background. In his tatters and beard he looks dauntingly crazy, but turns out to be quite friendly.

He remembers growing up playing basketball in Phetchaburi. Then his parents died and left him Bt80,000, and he came to Bangkok in search of something - but he's long since forgotten what it was.

On his first night in the capital he got drunk and someone stole all that money.

The man on the lawn resells bits of things he finds in the trash and is trying to save up enough money to get back to Phetchaburi. His immediate responsibility is "guarding" a woman who's stretched out nearby, sleeping off a boozy night.

Somyot Phurayong, who patrols the area for the city, came by on a motorcycle and assigned him the task. Somyot's thankless job is clearing the royal ground's footpaths of homeless loiterers, especially first thing in the morning and at noon.

His superiors wouldn't appreciate the scene at the moment. The homeless have reclaimed newly refurbished Sanam Luang.

Phetcharat, a former boxer who's lived in a tent near Khlong Lod for 10 years, is paid in meals to serve as watchman for shop owners. He has no money at all and says "disgrace" prevents him from returning to his home province.

"Granny" Panchana is snoozing under a tree, but soon she'll wake up and splice more rope to sell at Khlong Lod Market.

This is how Kasem Chantawong spent 40 years of his life. He came to Bangkok from Ratchaburi looking for his brother but couldn't find him, so he ended up wandering around, earning money as a garbage scavenger and attending merit-making ceremonies as far away as Ayutthaya to cadge the free give-aways.

"But I never begged," he wants to stress. "All those years I wanted to return home, but I never had any money." In any event, he'd lost track of his seven siblings. Only recently did the welfare-minded Issarachon Foundation track down his aunt's daughter. She was willing to take him in.

"Homeless people don't 'love their freedom' as much as the general public believes," says foundation secretary general Natee Soravaree. "They're usually ready to go home and settle into a new life if we can help."

Natee also recently helped a 60-year-old woman return home to Buri Ram. She'd left when she was 17, deserted by her husband, who was also her brother. She had a baby and then took off, finding work in Bangkok as a prostitute.

Natee spent a year gaining her trust. Once he has someone's trust, he can ascertain their identity and verify their story. He's often given fake names, either in deliberate lies born of fear or in delirium born of stress. He's seen many homeless people die as "John Doe" or "Jane Doe", impossible to identify.

But in five years the foundation has helped about 300 people find new lives. Getting them a new ID card is like reinstating their existence.

The patience that Natee musters to slowly win the confidence of the people he's trying to help is sometimes rewarded, sometimes not. He's been cruelly kicked. He's also been helped in turn, as when an old man guarded his camera equipment when Natee unexpectedly nodded off on the grass himself.

"Those who don't want to return home refuse to share any information with us," he says. "They think that if society doesn't regard them as human, they might as well be ghosts, surrendering everything.

"But many homeless people dream of returning to their original homes, just to regain some dignity, if they only had Bt5,000 or Bt10,000."

On more than a few occasions the destitute homeless turn out to have come from wealthy families. "What happened that drove them away? Do they love freedom that much? No!" Natee insists. "Our mission is to find out what pushed them out. You can't just assume they love 'freedom' and then ignore the real problems they're facing."

A recent foundation survey found the number of street people increasing steadily in Bangkok, 110 more last year than there were in 2010. Last year they counted 2,561 people, of whom 1,630 were male.

Every day Kasem roamed about Sanam Luang clutching a bag of clothes, his sole possession. He spent the days under shade trees. In the evenings he was allowed to sit in front of food shops, but the occasional handouts didn't fill his stomach. He washed when he could.

After the government's Welfare and Social Development Department initiated assistance for street nomads five years ago, Kasem was persuaded to accept shelter at the Mitrmaitree Home. "They asked me nicely to come here," he says, still a little amazed. "Before, all they wanted to do was arrest me!"

His relative was tracked down and he was issued a new ID card. Kasem was glad to reunite with his remaining family - the cousin and her husband - but within three days he decided he was too much of a burden for them. Their income wasn't much. So he returned to the Mitrmaitree Home, where he helps with the cleaning and gardening.

The facility is only for people under 75, however, so Kasem is going to have to leave soon. In the meantime, though, his cousin has built a small house for him and he'll have an elderly allowance deposited in the bank. He thinks he can also get a job as a supervisor at a local mushroom farm.

"I never paid attention to the funny looks I got from passers-by - if they wanted to stare, so what?" he says of the street life. "But all the time I dreamed that one day, when I had some money, I'd build my own home."

That dream has been fulfilled, in a roundabout way, and Natee hopes that more understanding and help is coming for others like Kasem, the homeless folks whose numbers will only continue growing without it.

-- The Nation 2012-03-22

[theblether]

Homelessness is a distressing sight all over the world, and too often it's associated with alcoholism and drug abuse. In the UK just now there are many former professional people becoming homeless because of the recession. Homes are being repossessed and people are losing their dreams.

Look behind the rags and look at the human being inside.

[cgphuket]

Maybe the homeless would get more help if the police would crack down on the fake beggars along Sukhamvit that are run and controlled by the criminal gangs. They take money away from people who really need it.

[nullx8]

Maybe the homeless would get more help if the police would crack down on the fake beggars along Sukhamvit that are run and controlled by the criminal gangs. They take money away from people who really need it.

Absolutly True!!!

Also most of thai society consider this Peoples as Thread.

There is a big difference in living your Life like this on the edge of society and beeing mad or organised in using peoples pitty senses like the gangs on shukumvit.

[noitom]

This article does little to provide true insight in to the homeless issue and challenge.

[keestha]

Also in the west, anybody can end up as homeless. The guy's marriage goes down the drain, he loses his job, can't pay the rent/mortgage anymore.

[softgeorge]

Here the government has a real issue. Put the dreams of the F1 and Disneyland to bed and concentrate on issues such as the homeless, health and education etc.

[FangFerang]

All the lonely people. Where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong? -- Sir Paul McCartney

Edited March 22, 2012 by FangFerang

[4evermaat]

Also in the west, anybody can end up as homeless. The guy's marriage goes down the drain, he loses his job, can't pay the rent/mortgage anymore.

Yeah....not all the homeless are uneducated drunkards. A surprising # have trades like plummer or carpenter and even white collar jobs. There are many "tent cities" out there that the news does not report. That kind of living does not happen in the first world countries.

"2nd best time to plant a tree is today." Sent from TV android app.

[sparebox2]

Like prostitution, most people who live on the street choose to live on the street. They don't want help.

I say most, as there are some exceptions, who really need help.

[anterian]

Perhaps if they tackled street kids less would turn into homeless adults.

[DP25]

A recent foundation survey found the number of street people increasing steadily in Bangkok, 110 more last year than there were in 2010. Last year they counted 2,561 people, of whom 1,630 were male.

Quite a low number compared to many big US cities. In LA last year they did a 2 day survey and counted over 51,000 people living on the street. The availability of low cost basic housing helps a lot. A crappy 1 room concrete box isn't much, but it's better than being on the street.

[theblether]

The temptation is always to judge. Resist that temptation. You don't know and I don't know what brought these people to this.

There can be a million reasons, we just don't know. I think many people revile the homeless as it is one of our greatest fears.

However I can't see what good it would do to cancel employment projects such as Disneyland. How would that help the homeless? Surely the more jobs the better for everyone?

[ivan96822]

Regardless of their issues, the homeless shouldn't be ignored.

Some choose it, some embrace it, some can't avoid it. Whatever the case, they are human beings and need some level of support.

I saw a woman on Soi 4 sleeping face down in a gutter for hours....woke up, ate lunch, went to bed, she was still lying there in front of a 7-11.

I asked the tuk-tuk drivers if she needed help and they looked at her disdainfully as though she were a piece of garbage....

Regardless of their scenarios, they have families, mothers, sons, ...... treat them decently.

[Sailfish1]

What's the deal with the women beggars with little children on the streets of Pattaya? Are they homeless too?

[theblether]

What's the deal with the women beggars with little children on the streets of Pattaya? Are they homeless too?

No....many are professionals....there has been ongoing reports of a certain lady who has begged at the same spot in BKK with a baby for about 12 years......she just borrows the baby. Good money in sympathy you know.

That doesn't get away from the fact that there are people who are genuinely homeless.

[ginjag]

When you have corruption in Thailand on a gigantic scale, and people are in a homeless state --then the government of the day has to try to deal with it, WE KNOW it happens all over the world but it is here that it's happening, so it is here they have to deal with it. Look at India just for example, their economy booming, then look at Calcutta Bombay etc, this is a greedy world, another glaring example is countries with massive arms programs , and rely on food aid for it's people. We talk about the poor farmers and Issans undereducated people, but they are rich compared to the canal dwellers, and they are rich compared to the homeless, so I do smile sometimes when we hear about the poor farm workers, I live among them, most have money for laos whisky-and cigs, they are not as poor as we make out. I just wonder if the red shirt brigade occupy slum villages.

[DoctorHu]

High rent and low wages are the main reasons why people in LA in the us are living on the street or in cars. My estimate is closer to 90000. People. It is disgracefull. Most people figure out how to make some money but there are no super cheap safe one room (private) places for rent in LA. No place you can pay by the day that is affordable. Hotels are out of reach. The situation for low income persons is worse, much worse in the USA than in Thailend. The high price of houssing in LA has a lot to do with it.

[DoctorHu]

Each of us can help. Treat all people as people just like us with respect and compassion. Earn merit help that strainger lying in the street. Bring them water and a sandwich from 7. =here is also important to remember 100 + medical reasons why a successsful person can forget who they are, loose everything, and end up dirty and unconscious in the street. The person you are looking at may have only have been on the street a few days.

[keestha]

Each of us can help. Treat all people as people just like us with respect and compassion. Earn merit help that strainger lying in the street. Bring them water and a sandwich from 7. =here is also important to remember 100 + medical reasons why a successsful person can forget who they are, loose everything, and end up dirty and unconscious in the street. The person you are looking at may have only have been on the street a few days.

Exactly. Helping these people, I have the feeling I am helping myself, because some day it could be me. Never become arrogant and think it could never happen to you.

[cup-O-coffee]

This article does little to provide true insight in to the homeless issue and challenge.

Well said!