Khlong Toei is one of Bangkok’s best-known communities. It is also one of the places where the contrasts of modern Bangkok are particularly visible. Within a relatively small area, you can find major transport infrastructure, markets, businesses, apartment buildings and some of the city’s most disadvantaged communities. For decades, Khlong Toei has also been home...
For a young child, starting school can be the beginning of an entirely different future. Education can provide more than reading, writing and mathematics. A good early childhood programme can provide structure, nutritious food, social development, safety, relationships with teachers and preparation for the next stage of education. But access to early childhood education is...
Volunteering with children can be one of the most rewarding ways to contribute to a community. It can also be one of the areas where volunteers need to think most carefully about their responsibilities. Children deserve to be treated with dignity, respect and care. Volunteers who work with children are entering environments where their behaviour...
Bangkok is a city of more than 10 million people in its wider metropolitan area, attracting millions of visitors, expatriates, students and professionals every year. For many people, living in or visiting Bangkok creates an opportunity to do something more than explore the city. They want to contribute. They want to use their time, skills...
Education cannot solve every problem associated with poverty. But it can change what opportunities are available to a child. A child who learns to read, develops confidence, completes school and gains practical skills may have more choices later in life than a child who is denied those opportunities. This is why education is one of...
When people hear the words “sponsor a child”, they may wonder what sponsorship actually means. Does it pay for school? Does it provide food? Does it help with healthcare? Does the money go directly to one child? And how can sponsoring a child make a meaningful difference over time? These are important questions. Child sponsorship...
How much does it really cost to raise a child in Thailand? It is a deceptively difficult question. The answer depends on where a family lives, household income, housing, healthcare needs, education, food and many other factors. But one thing is clear: the cost of raising a child involves far more than school fees. For...
A child’s first years can shape the foundations for everything that follows. During early childhood, children develop rapidly. Their brains, language, social abilities and emotional skills are developing at an extraordinary pace. The experiences they have during these years can influence how prepared they are for school and how confidently they approach learning. For children...
Bangkok is one of Southeast Asia’s largest and most economically important cities. It is also home to communities where families face significant economic and social challenges. For many children, growing up in poverty can mean facing barriers that go far beyond household income. Access to education, healthcare, nutritious food, safe housing, documentation and other essential...
Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow and build a secure future. Yet for children growing up in poverty, the barriers to achieving that future can begin very early in life. Poverty is not simply a question of how much money a family earns. For children, it can affect access to education, nutrition, healthcare,...
Protecting vulnerable children is rarely something a single organisation can do alone. In practice, it depends on a web of relationships across a community: schools, local leaders, families, businesses and charities all playing a part. Looking at how these partnerships work helps explain why community-based approaches tend to succeed where isolated interventions fall short. Why...
Deciding where to give is not always straightforward. With so many organisations asking for support, how do you know a charity is actually using your donation the way it says it will? Transparency is one of the clearest signals of a well-run organisation, and it is easier to check for than most donors realise. What...
Few individuals have shaped a single community as profoundly, or for as long, as Father Joe Maier has shaped Klong Toey. For more than fifty years, this American Redemptorist priest has lived and worked in one of Bangkok’s largest slum communities, and his story is inseparable from the history of Mercy Centre itself. Arriving in...
In densely packed, low-income neighbourhoods, a single fire or flood can undo years of stability in a matter of hours. Understanding what recovery actually requires helps explain why fast, community-based emergency assistance matters so much in places like Bangkok’s slum communities. Why Fires and Floods Hit Hardest Here In communities where homes are built close...
Every charity that works with children should have a child protection policy. Far fewer can explain, in practical terms, what that policy actually looks like day to day. Understanding how safeguarding works in practice can help donors, volunteers and parents judge whether an organisation is genuinely putting children’s safety first. What a Child Protection Policy...
Of all the interventions that can change a child’s future, few are as powerful, or as underrated, as access to a good kindergarten. For children growing up in poverty, that access is often the difference between falling behind before school even starts, and beginning on a level footing with their peers. The Hidden Cost of...
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