The stated objectives of this Charity are:

A. The relief of financial hardship among children under the age of eighteen years living in the area of Pattaya, by providing those children with goods and services they would not otherwise receive through lack of means.
B. To advance the education of children under the age of eighteen years living in the area of Pattaya by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities (not provided by the Government of Thailand) for their education.

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The city of Pattaya is located 165 kilometres south east of Bangkok. It is one of the largest beach resorts in the Kingdom of Thailand and attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.

Ever since Pattaya was ‘discovered’ as a small fishing village by US troops using it for R&R during the time of the Vietnam war the city has prospered and has built itself an unfortunate reputation as one of the main areas of prostitution catered for by the many hundreds of bars that thrive in the city.

Because the city is so vibrant throughout the year many Thais seeking work flock to the city, amongst these hundreds of children from the Kingdom’s poorest families and especially so the street children of Thailand. Many of the children find work as hawkers, selling flowers and gum in the bars, some in markets and for some the only option is ending up being made to beg on the streets by adults who, if the child earns a reasonable amount of money during the day will reward the child with a little food and maybe a dry place to sleep. However, many of the children who do not earn sufficient money are rewarded with nothing more than a beating.

The city also has many children working as prostitutes. Because of the unenviable reputation the city has built for itself over the years and despite the best efforts by many organisations and some government departments the child sex trade continues to flourish. Corruption is rife in many parts of Thai society and a small payment made to someone in authority will often smooth the way for the sordid trade to continue.
Children living on the streets, who have no access to food or drinking water often up selling themselves simply to survive. The choice between starving or being abused so that he/she survives is one that most people find hard to comprehend. However for many of these children it is a day-to-day choice that they have to make.

Many more children whilst not living on the streets do live in the slum settlements of Pattaya, where often the family unit is broken and drugs and alcohol abuse are commonplace. A lot of the slum children are addicted to solvents and drugs and the need for money to satisfy their habit creates a vicious circle of them having to sell themselves into the sex trade. Other children will often take to the streets to beg in a futile attempt to support parents or grandparents that they are living with and who themselves are unable to work because of either illness or drug problems.

All along the line it is the children of Thailand that suffer the most,  with little government finance for the problem of Thailand’s poorest children their chances of an education is almost non-existent unless they receive sponsorship and assistance to improve their prospect of ever gaining employment in a country where there is already massive unemployment,  which in turn creates the poverty that is depriving a generation of a future and its innocence.

www.slumkids.org