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lonelywombat
January 29th, 2016, 15:56
There are many who live in Pattaya or visit regularly,that do not survive on all the gay bar chat. The Pattaya Street Kids Support Group does untold wonders for those children who used to haunt Sunee Plaza and other places, This report shows what people can do from their open heart, to assist.

Report on Visit to Pattaya December 2015 тАУ January 2016
PATTAYA STREET KIDSтАЩ SUPPORT PROJECT
Registered Charity No. 1104335
12 Dankton Lane, Sompting, West Sussex BN 15 0EA
Tel: (01903) 763286
Website: http://www.slum-kids.org
Email: street-kids@outlook.com

For a .pdf copy of this report with pictures click here.

February 2016

We have recently returned from a five week visit to Pattaya where we had the opportunity to visit all of the projects that we are supporting. The Trustees are pleased to report that the changes we made to the administration of our work in Pattaya have worked well and everything is running smoothly.

The party at the HauyPong ChildrenтАЩs Home was as always a great evening, the kids had asked for burgers, sushi, sausages, rice and fries and these we were able to arrange. There were 280 kids at the party and each child received a gift during the evening. The Home is slowly reducing the number of children at the Home by working with families to, where possible; enable the children to return home. This is a slow process to ensure that the familiesтАЩ circumstances are improved to ensure the safety and welfare of the kids.

We were able to make a number of visits to Pak Ping Kum Pai ChildrenтАЩs Home (PPKP) where there are forty kids being cared for, as always the kids were great fun to be with and we attended the kids Christmas Party as we have done in previous years. Visits to the Home not only enable us to see how the support we have given at the Home has been used but also to see any other needs there are at the Home where we may be able to assist. We are continuing to meet the monthly food bill for the kids at the Home.

A couple of visits to the Crocodile KidsтАЩ Football Club let us see how improvements to the ground and equipment that we financed have improved things for the kids. Heiko who manages the club offered to put on a charity football tournament for both kids and adults and asked us to nominate where the money should be donated. We asked that the money be split 50/50 between KateтАЩs Project Trust who work with kids in the slums and Pak Ping Kum Pai. The tournament raised 60,000Baht (┬г1200) and on the day each project received a cheque for 30,000Baht. Many of the boys and girls from PPKP attend the training sessions at the club.

One Sunday we accompanied Sharon, Khun Ton and тАШLekтАЩ on a monthly food delivery to students in various slums. We admit we were was surprised at how time consuming it is to do the deliveries, on the day despite an early morning start to beat the traffic we were able to do ten food deliveries and that took us six hours. Most of the slums are well away from the main city area and many are located off unnamed tracks which themselves are off unnamed tracks found off unnamed roads. The horrendous traffic problems that Pattaya has add to the time taken to complete the visits. Usually the team spend time talking to families to ascertain if they have any other than the obvious problem of living in a slum and help with the completion of any legal documents that the families require.

We supported the New Year Party for the kids of KateтАЩs Project Trust and most of the one-hundred plus kids come from some of the poorest slums in Pattaya. There were games with prizes for the kids and their families as well as lunch from food carts. Every child received a large food parcel to take home with them. A number of the kids with KateтАЩs Project are sponsored for their education through PSK. Our thanks to Khun Noi for all of her hard work in organising the party.

For all of our students who attend schools in the Nongprue Municipal area we organised a day to give them their New Year gifts and also laid on food for the kids and their families. Shortly before the start there was torrential rain so it was very encouraging to see that almost every student turned up along with their family although as most used motorbikes for transport they were well and truly wet. The gifts were presented on our behalf to the kids by the Mayor of Nongprue and afterwards there was a lunch of noodles and soup for everyone. Our thanks to Sharon and some of the kids at PPKP who packed the gift bags of food for the kids to take home.

As always we were able to meet some sponsors who were visiting Pattaya and again as in previous year take kids for lunch and shopping on behalf of sponsors who were unable to visit. It did not take us long to work out that this yearтАЩs favourite lunch was going to be KFC and after six or seven KFC lunches we could take no more and opted for salad while the kids enjoyed their KFC. Liz, Suky and Boonying have continued to meet and greet sponsors and also organise the shopping trip for the kids. Sharon meets the sponsors of the kids at PPKP. We are delighted that despite changes in the way the project is working in Pattaya we are still working hand in hand with Liz, Suky and Khun Boonying.

A visitor from the UK expressed an interest in visiting a slum and seeing how the projects work so we arranged that we accompany Lhen Lhen of MERCY on a weekly visit to the slums to deliver food. The kids as always seem happy and it does make one wonder how they can always appear so happy when living in such deplorable conditions. Lhen Lhen has been working in the slums for more than fourteen years so she is well able to help the slum dwellers with most problems that crop up. We have had the pleasure of working with Lhen Lhen since 2000 and she is still the same bundle of energy that she was then.

Some of our older students now attend school outside of Pattaya so owing to the distances involved and time constraints we were not able to meet up with them during the visit but we will make contact with them to ensure everything is OK with them.

The kids at Pak Ping Kum Pai chose a McDonalds meal for their New Year Party but taking forty kids to the nearest McDonalds which is 8 miles from the home was not feasible with the transport available. So we went with Sharon to McDonalds to get takeaway meals but threw the staff there into a bit of a panic when we ordered forty various meals. The restaurant is located at Minisiam market on a major highway and when we arrived there was also a night market running so parking at McDonalds was impossible, we eventually parked where we were told not to do so and Sharon left it to us to тАШcharmтАЩ the parking attendant to let us park and in fact he even ended up helpfully suggesting that we visit McDonalds.!

After visiting a slum with Sharon when we did the food deliveries and Sharon saying that there were children there who needed a scholarship we ended up at the end of the visit with another twenty children who we are seeking sponsors for. If you feel you can help any of these kids you can find their details on this page: http://www.kids-sponsorship.org

The military government in Thailand has resulted in many of the laws that Thais have generally ignored in the past now being enforced and this has resulted in a drop in tourism and building projects. The result is that many of the workers in the building and service industries find themselves out of work. This added to the torrential rains and flooding during October and November which damaged many slum homes has brought even more hardship so there is still a great need for extra support.

Our thanks to Khun Sudjai, Khun Ton and Sharon at the Pak Ping Kum Pai ChildrenтАЩs Home for their hospitality and help in visiting the students and some of the slums. Also to Liz, Suky and Boonying for organising the shopping trip for the students and finding time to ferry us here and there despite their workload with Dek Dek Anukhot Sodsai and to Lhen Lhen for organising a visit to the slums she works in. Without them it would be impossible to carry out any visits to see the projects we are supporting.

The Trustees wish to place on record their thanks to everybody who donated towards the New Year parties; your support helped us make a special day for more than 500 kids. If you feel that you can be of help to us in helping the kids please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards.
PSK Trustees.

Khun Boonying, Suky and Liz

Sharon, Khun Ton and Khun Sudjai


Lhen Lhen
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Recent Updates
Report on Visit to Pattaya December 2015 тАУ January 2016
December 2014 тАУ January 2015 visit to Pattaya
Life Saving Surgery For A Child
Baan Ton Rak Project
Visit to the Baan Khong Por ChildrenтАЩs Home, Pattaya April тАУ May 2013
It works тАж it really does
Visit to Pattaya
2013 New Year Party
Special birthday show
Two weeksтАЩ visit
Visit report by American sponsor
A тАШmoment of clarityтАЩ
A child needing surgery
Sponsorship
How to sponsor
Scholarship project information
Kids needing sponsors
Sponsorship costs
YouTube Videos
Homes and supported areas
The Hauy Phong ChildrensтАЩ Home
Lockers for Huay Pong
TVтАЩs & DVD Players for the kids at the Hauy Phong
Hauy Phong Awards 2010
New Beds for the Kids
Baan Ton Rak Project
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┬й2016 - Pattaya Street Kids

Manforallseasons
January 29th, 2016, 22:05
This would be a rather strange thread if the word "chat" was removed from the title. @-)

Surfcrest
January 30th, 2016, 00:00
The entire contents of this website are the copyright of Pattaya Street Kids' Support Project and may not be reproduced
in whole or in part without the written consent of the Charity's Trustees
┬й2016 - Pattaya Street Kids
....Or.....nevermind...LOL.

Surfcrest

Nirish guy
January 30th, 2016, 02:24
Well as they're happy enough ( I assume) for donation pleas to be made here I'm guessing they'll be happy enough for results of the fruits of those donations to be witnessed by the readership, it's as well Neal's gone or he'd be on to them INSISTING they must sue immediately :-)

colmx
January 30th, 2016, 09:27
whilst I don't deny that these charities are doing great work... I often wonder about the oft mentioned "slums" of Pattaya...

There are no "slums" in Pattaya... Pattaya is not Calcutta or Soweto, sure it has some run down areas and some places bordering on shanty towns... But its very "News-of-the-world" reporting to call these slums!

Lets face it the shacks that some of the people live in in Pattaya are a hell of a lot better than they would be if they were still in Issan... yes its not perfect for children to be brought up in these places... but they are with loving families and probably better off than most western children in terms of family support and love...

francois
January 30th, 2016, 09:36
Sure looks like slums to me. Loving families and better off than most western children? Sounds like wishful thinking.

colmx
January 30th, 2016, 09:44
Sure looks like slums to me. Loving families and better off than most western children? Sounds like wishful thinking.
which slums and where?
All I can see in the reports is smiling kids and doctors?

colmx
January 30th, 2016, 09:45
One Sunday we accompanied Sharon, Khun Ton and тАШLekтАЩ on a monthly food delivery to students in various slums. We admit we were was surprised at how time consuming it is to do the deliveries, on the day despite an early morning start to beat the traffic we were able to do ten food deliveries and that took us six hours. Most of the slums are well away from the main city area and many are located off unnamed tracks which themselves are off unnamed tracks found off unnamed roads. The horrendous traffic problems that Pattaya has add to the time taken to complete the visits.

3 hours out from Pattaya gets you to the border of Cambodia at Poipet - even with heavy traffic

Again I am not trying to belittle or demean the great work that these charities and NGOs do... but I really hate this "spin" that the owner of the blog puts on his story
If these so called slums are that far out of the city - then they become "villages" - welcome to the real world of life in a 3rd wold country

As I have stated before, their work is highly commendable... but I wish they would stop trying to proclaim that these are Pattaya's slums.... this is life in a 3rd world country... yes its far from perfect... but I hate this NGO "spin"... Slum Is a very derogatory term to call these peoples homes...

francois
January 30th, 2016, 11:07
I see what I see by riding around some of the back sois in Pattaya. Slums to me, loving homes to you.

I suppose we see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear and believe what we want to believe.

cdnmatt
January 30th, 2016, 11:15
I have to somewhat agree to colmx. Even in the small, delapated Issan villages, everyone is fine. It's probably not the best upbringing, but nobody is going hungry either. It's not like there's a bunch of children dieing of starvation, or anything. Every kid in an Issan village probably knows 30 adults they can go to who are willing to feed them for free. Hence one of the most standard Thai greetings, "gin khao le yang?" (did you eat already?). Nobody goes hungry here.

Not saying it's a glorious upbringing, and you probably have to do things like wear clothes a little past their due date, and things of that nature. However, for all intents and purposes, they're fine. If anything, education is what needs to be concentrated on. Thanks to Thaksin, they all have medical care now as well, so just need to get education up to speed, and should be good to go.

I'm sure the food is appreciated, but it's not necessary either. It's probably more of a, "hey I didn't ask for it, but if you want to give me free shit, sounds good!".

thaiguest
January 30th, 2016, 12:22
whilst I don't deny that these charities are doing great work... I often wonder about the oft mentioned "slums" of Pattaya...

There are no "slums" in Pattaya... Pattaya is not Calcutta or Soweto, sure it has some run down areas and some places bordering on shanty towns... But its very "News-of-the-world" reporting to call these slums!

Lets face it the shacks that some of the people live in in Pattaya are a hell of a lot better than they would be if they were still in Issan... yes its not perfect for children to be brought up in these places... but they are with loving families and probably better off than most western children in terms of family support and love...

There's a Catch22 element in charities as follows; To function staff are taken on. Now 2 groups are depending on the charity-the beneficiaries and the staff. It should be the ultimate aim of charities to make their service redundant eg in the case of this Pattaya Slum charity setting all the kids up in stable homes should be and no doubt is the ultimate aim. BUT whereas the aim of the founders of the chatity may be to make itself redundant the day for this conclusion can be forever kicked down the road by paid staff. It's a bit like a turkey endlessly postponing Christmas- which I'm sure turkeys would do if they knew the bigger picture.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta did what Jesus asked; she fed the hungry, clothed the naked, comforted the dying but this in itself would never solve the big picture. The macro reality in India is that the country is awash with money that's held by a few families that think nothing of spending 50000 dollars on a daughter's wedding dress. Mother Teresa could never solve the macro problem. This can only be solved at the appropriate level. Likewise in Pattaya and in Thailand in general.

francois
January 30th, 2016, 12:33
After reading some of the above posts I now am convinced to renounce all charitable works of mercy and just use my money for my own hedonistic pleasures. :|

thaiguest
January 30th, 2016, 15:50
No need to renounce ALL charitable works of mercy, just inform yourself and become become selective as to whom you lend support.
Make no mistake that SOME of the money you've given to "charities" have funded hedonistic pleasures as well as free homes, free flights, free cars etc for the many scammers out there.
There's a (foreign) charity director that I know of here in Pattaya cos his charity rents my friend's house for him. There are many houses big and small for rent in Thailand but my friend's house is very "high end" having a beautuful garden, a swimming pool and many rooms filled with beautiful furniture. His tenant didn't haggle over the high rent cos he's not paying it. My friend loves this particular tenant .
The next time you go to Cambodia check out the mansions rented by many of the foreign charities there.

christianpfc
February 2nd, 2016, 15:25
whilst I don't deny that these charities are doing great work... I often wonder about the oft mentioned "slums" of Pattaya...

There are no "slums" in Pattaya... Pattaya is not Calcutta or Soweto, sure it has some run down areas and some places bordering on shanty towns... But its very "News-of-the-world" reporting to call these slums!
I have toured Bangkok slums extensively and found most slum* homes there have running water, electricity, spotted some flat screen TV and some have aircon. Nobody there goes to bed hungry! And the garbage that is lying around, they threw it away, do they really need an NGO to tell them not to throw their garbage on the street (I amazes me again and a gain when I witness Thai just letting it fall down or throw it out of bus, train or boat).

*let's call corrugated iron sheds slum, and there are few right angles and construction is haphazard without any plan.

Such housing conditions (corrugated iron sheds, a whole family in one room, shower with cold water from a bucket) are found all over Thailand, it's how the poor live. They could as well hand out food the the poor in Kalasin, but I guess Pattaya is easier to reach and has better hotels.


yes its not perfect for children to be brought up in these places... but they are with loving families and probably better off than most western children in terms of family support and love...
A bit far fetched. I read about alcohol and drug problems, and single mothers.

I'm sure the food is appreciated, but it's not necessary either. It's probably more of a, "hey I didn't ask for it, but if you want to give me free shit, sounds good!".
Agree. Everyone is happy: the NGOs have a job, the poor get free food, and the best is if they don't address the core problem, this can go on for eternity (look at Africa: over 50 years of development aid since most African countries became independent, and nothing has changed!).


Foreign aid is sometimes defined as 'poor people in rich countries sending money to rich people in poor countries.'

cdnmatt
February 2nd, 2016, 16:01
(look at Africa: over 50 years of development aid since most African countries became independent, and nothing has changed!).

Loads has changed in Africa over the decades. Still has a long ways to go, but it's getting there. Here's even a recent news article about it:

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/26/afric ... barometer/ (http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/26/africa/africa-poverty-report-afrobarometer/)

ainamor
February 2nd, 2016, 17:53
I sponsor to kindergarten kids through Pattaya Street Kids and have met one of the organizer personally in the UK. Thinking PSK may be interested in this thread I sent the link and asked what they thought.

I received the following response.

Thanks for the link to the PSK item on the board.

Certainly the usual tourist haunts are not going to take you near any of the slums but I am surprised that some people seems to be in denial that slums do exist in Pattaya. Maybe they should take a look at this link on our тАШChildren needing Sponsors web pages where they can see photos of the homes of some of our students.
http://www.kids-sponsorship.org/slums-w ... live..html (http://www.kids-sponsorship.org/slums-where-some-students-live..html)

Also although I accept that a comment about money being used for staff was a generalisation of charities PSK does not have any paid staff, everything is done on a voluntary basis. The only costs that are incurred are for the fuel used on the monthly food deliveries and these costs are met by an existing sponsor who donates specifically for that purpose in addition to their normal sponsorship.

As for the comment about food, the families that we give food to each month are referred to us by either social Services or the schools as being in desperate need of support. The needs are reassessed every month when the food is delivered to determine whether the need is still there or needs to be increased.

I do agree that education is the key to these kidsтАЩ future which is why we now have 340 children sponsored through PSK on our scholarship programme and about forty more waiting for sponsors. Some of our former students have gone on to University; many are in colleges and others in full time well paid work. The young street kid тАШPodтАЩ who was the catalyst for this project back in 2000 is now the manager of a large air conditioning company near Bangkok, married with a wife and family, lives in a nice house by a river and is also fluent in English. His education was only in state schools but that was only possible by sponsorship, sponsorship that cost less that an average of ┬г75 (3,800Baht) a year but sponsorship that changed his life. Education is free in Thailand but the family must supply the uniforms, book, shoes, money for meals and transport to and from school and that is what the sponsorship money is used for.

Please feel free to use this response as you see fit.

lego
February 3rd, 2016, 01:11
I think it is universally true that there are people who live in slum-like conditions in each and every city. Whether it's an actual slum in the traditional sense or not doesn't really matter. From that point of view, it's laudable that foreigners who feel attached to Pattaya donate money or their time to help people in need there. Saying such people don't exist in Pattaya is laughable.

colmx
February 3rd, 2016, 01:16
I guess some of the posts above are aimed at me, so though I better respond...

Slum:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum
A slum is a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by substandard housing and squalor.[1] While slums differ in size and other characteristics from country to country, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, timely law enforcement and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty houses to professionally built dwellings that because of poor-quality design or construction have deteriorated into slums

Shack:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shack
A shack is a type of small, often primitive shelter or dwelling.

The people pictured above live in shacks, not slums.... And as ChristianPFC points out - so do a lot of people in Issan

The nearest slum to Pattaya is probably Klong Toey in Bkk...

Again I am not knocking the great work that these charities and NGOs do... I simply dispute the semantics of the use of the alarmist term "slum" when "shack" is a more appropriate term

lonelywombat
February 3rd, 2016, 04:51
The link from street kids show photos of places where the kids are living in Pattaya now.
http://www.kids-sponsorship.org/slums-w ... live..html (http://www.kids-sponsorship.org/slums-where-some-students-live..html)

I have visited places not as good as those illustrated.This pedantic discussion on what is a slum or a shack shocks me.

christianpfc
February 3rd, 2016, 10:55
By the definitions posted by colmx, these areas are more shack than slum. But even I wouldn't press for this distinction. And I have seen such (as in the link above by lonelywombat) in Pattaya.

I vaguely remember living areas in Poipet (Cambodian side of Aranyaprathet) looked poorer, but I didn't pay attention to running water and electricity. Have yet to go to living areas of Burmese refugies in Thai border areas to Burma.

francois
February 3rd, 2016, 12:46
.This pedantic discussion on what is a slum or a shack shocks me.

I am in agreement with you Wombat. However for clarification a shack is a dwelling while a slum is a neighborhood (ghetto) of dwellings/shacks.

cdnmatt
February 3rd, 2016, 14:05
I vaguely remember living areas in Poipet (Cambodian side of Aranyaprathet) looked poorer, but I didn't pay attention to running water and electricity.

I could be wrong I guess, but I'm quite confident lots of Thais don't have running water. I remember, Kim's mom was fine as she hooked up with another guy who had a little money. However, Kim's dad, little sister & brother were about as poor as poor can get, and they didn't have running water. Instead it was just a few massive clay pots in the corner of the yard that collected rain water. So when you wanted to shower, you just went to the corner of the yard, stripped down to your underwear, and started pouring water over you with a small plastic bowl.

Point is, we might view these as horrific living conditions, but they don't. That's all they've ever known, and pretty much everyone around them in poor as dirt too, so they don't see anything wrong with it. They definitely don't feel sorry for themselves. For example, even when I was living with Kim, majority of the time he'd still shower in the same fashion. Him and his friends would fill up one of the large plastic tubs outside with water, then take turns sitting on a little stool, strip down to their underwear, and start pouring water over themselves. Same went for washing dishes -- instead of using the kitchen sink, they'd use the plastic tubs out front.

We might view it as quite weird, but they're totally fine with it, to the point they would prefer showering like that instead of using the actual shower in the bathroom.

francois
February 3rd, 2016, 15:28
We might view it as quite weird, but they're totally fine with it, to the point they would prefer showering like that instead of using the actual shower in the bathroom.

Ha, ha, tell that to my Thai boyfriend. First thing he did when he had money was put a hot water heater in his house.

How you write this stuff with a straight face is a wonder but likely you are just having your daily dose of jocosity.

christianpfc
February 3rd, 2016, 23:21
The slums/shacks I have seen have running water somewhere (kitchen and/or bathroom), however there are temporary housing areas of corrugated iron (which look better organized - right angles, uniform shape and size - than the permanent) which have running water only in shared kitchen, toilet, shower area, but every room has electricity.

Sidenote: I have seen some slum housings with rent prices, if you calculate rent per square meter, they pay the same as I do, but the standard is much lower. Wonder what these people pay for water and electricity, maybe they get screwed for that as well? Figure that: because they can't pay a deposit equivalent to two monthly rents, they pay rent per day and effectively pay more per square meter than I do, at a lower standard of living!

(See last year's discussion of a similar issue by firecat69 on gaythailand who gave a boy money for deposit so he could move somewhere better and cheaper than before.)

(Sidenote: a friend reported he had sex with construction workers for a beer and a shower with hot running water.)

(Another sidenote: many people in Africa have to walk kilometers to get water from the next well. I vaguely remember a report about German Army drilling a well and installing a water pump in a village in Afghanistan so the women would not have to walk kilometers to get waters. Once the well and pump were working, the women sabotaged it so they could again spend hours to get water every day, because that was their only chance to get away from their abusive husbands.)

cdnmatt
February 4th, 2016, 00:31
We might view it as quite weird, but they're totally fine with it, to the point they would prefer showering like that instead of using the actual shower in the bathroom.

Ha, ha, tell that to my Thai boyfriend. First thing he did when he had money was put a hot water heater in his house.

How you write this stuff with a straight face is a wonder but likely you are just having your daily dose of jocosity.

Not sure what to tell you, but I'm not lieing or joking. Besides, technically you only need a hot water heater about 6 - 8 weeks out of the year here, such as right now. Aside from that, for the rest of the year the sun does the job just fine.

And heck, a couple times I even caught him squatting on the toilet as if it was a Thai toilet Old habits die hard, apparently, which was my initial point.

colmx
February 4th, 2016, 02:06
This pedantic discussion on what is a slum or a shack shocks me.


Some people call it pedantics, some people call it semantics, some people call it a misrepresentation.



Ha, ha, tell that to my Thai boyfriend. First thing he did when he had money was put a hot water heater in his house.
How you write this stuff with a straight face is a wonder but likely you are just having your daily dose of jocosity.

My BF put a water heater into his new house too
(BTW he used to live in a shack far worse than any of the pics already posted here and he takes great umbrage to people referring to the places that poor people live as a slum - like some stray dogs)

His parents have never ever used the indoor bathroom, hot water heater, washing machine, or indoor kitchen since they were put in!
There is aircon too (in BFs room), and that is never switched on when BF is not about.

The only Mod con that is used is the TV and fridge...so change is difficult, especially if the people don't feel they want or need it

francois
February 4th, 2016, 12:00
And heck, a couple times I even caught him squatting on the toilet as if it was a Thai toilet Old habits die hard, apparently, which was my initial point.

Well yes, now that is a fact as evidenced by footprints on the toilet seat.

cdnmatt
February 4th, 2016, 12:36
Or not bothering to close the bathroom door when I needed it is pretty good evidence too. :)

That's one thing I've wondered at times. The Squatty Potty (http://www.squattypotty.com/) has made 10s of millinos of dollars, was featured on Shark Tank, and the whole bit. That must confuse the hell out of a lot of Thais, or Asians in general.

francois
February 4th, 2016, 17:03
Point is, we might view these as horrific living conditions, but they don't. That's all they've ever known, and pretty much everyone around them in poor as dirt too, so they don't see anything wrong with it. They definitely don't feel sorry for themselves. .

Sure does sound like life down on de olde plantation in de olde South where de slaves danced and frolicked and didn't feel no sorrow about der circumstances.

cdnmatt
February 4th, 2016, 17:49
Well, probably kinda like that, except the Thai villagers aren't slaves.

Read what colmx said above, because he got it spot on. For another example, Kim's mom, little sister & brother all lived with us at different times, and multiple times too. None of them ever lasted more than a couple weeks. They preferred the village versus living in a decent house in the city with modern conviences. That's there home, and where they were the most comfortable.

christianpfc
February 5th, 2016, 09:50
This pedantic discussion on what is a slum or a shack shocks me.
I am in agreement with you Wombat. However for clarification a shack is a dwelling while a slum is a neighborhood (ghetto) of dwellings/shacks.
Discussing the distinction of slum and shack over oysters and caviar (or a good wine for francois) has something decadent/degenerate, which is my style!

(Compare "Let them eat cake" wrongly attributed to Marie Antoinette.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake)

loke
February 8th, 2016, 15:47
For a westerner any Thai traditional building might look like a "slum". We have to remember that Thailand is a rich country compared with it's neigbors Cambodia and Laos.
I can understand the need to support children homes , not only in Thailand but anywhere to give them a happier and better life. But I don't think a Thai that lives here would use the word slum of any places in Pattaya.
But in Bangkok we have the real slum in Klong Toey, I would rather give my donation to the desperate people living under horrible conditions there than in Pattaya.

christianpfc
February 14th, 2016, 13:36
But in Bangkok we have the real slum in Klong Toey, I would rather give my donation to the desperate people living under horrible conditions there than in Pattaya.
Klong Toey slum is the same conditions like the slums in Pattaya, it us just bigger.