Education and guidance can help keep the young off the streets

Deh, a 14-year-old boy, carries a heavy sack of cement in the hot sun while most children his age are at school. He is not alone as a child worker in the thriving resort city of Pattaya. ''I work from eight o'clock in the morning to five o'clock in the afternoon every day. I carry and mix cement and lay floor tiles. Sometimes I suffer back pain,'' Deh said, squinting his eyes in the sun.

The boy is paid 180 baht a day and gives all the money to his grandmother because he wants to help her.

''I have been in this job for about one month and will continue because it's better-paid than collecting garbage,'' he added.

Deh Chanrasmi has been living in Pattaya since his early childhood with his parents and grandmother. His parents collect garbage while his grandmother stays home because she is old and unwell.

According to Deh's grandmother, Thongkham Chomklin, 64, the family depends on the boy's additional income to make ends meet. As garbage collectors, Deh's parents earn only about 30 to 100 baht a day.

Deh added that his father rides a motorcycle to collect garbage from dawn till dusk every day, while Deh and his younger brother, aged eight, take up the evening shift.

The boy and his family live in a shabby shelter they rent for 700 baht a month. The cramped and small hut is full of garbage waiting to be sorted. Whenever it rains, the water leaks through the damaged zinc roof, making it almost unlivable.

However, the grandmother has a bigger worry. ''Drug problems are serious in our neighbourhood,'' she said. ''Boys aged 15 and 16 like smoking, and that can lead to nastier things.''

Deh, she said, used to smoke a whole packet of cigarettes a day until he developed coughing problems. Now, he is trying to quit, and has cut the number of cigarettes he smokes to one an hour.

''I want him to stay away from drugs that can land him in terrible situations,'' said his concerned grandma.

She recalled that Khru Taen (''Teacher Taen''), or Sudjai Nakphian of the World Vision Foundation of Thailand's Street Children in Pattaya Project, tried to enrol Deh in a school, but the school had refused, claiming he was too old to study with little children as it was feared he might bully them.

Therefore, the project has been encouraging Deh to enter a non-formal system. But Deh has to wait until the age of 16, as is required by the school.

''The teacher has promised to send me to the non-formal school,'' Deh said with hope.

Deh's younger sister and brother, Mint and Bew, are more fortunate. They are studying at Wat Thamsamakkhee School. The foundation pays for their education, textbooks, uniforms and learning materials.

The foundation believes one of the most effective ways to reduce the number of street children in Pattaya is to identify high-risk children and give them proper support. Deh and his siblings are among the children under its support.

According to volunteer Pastor Sudjai Wangsa, from the Phra Siri Church, the programme has presented opportunities for children in difficult situations, such as Deh, providing a variety of activities, ranging from summer camps and group activities to anti-drug orientation and counselling.

Deh's younger brother, Chartchai Chanrasmee, or Bew, in second grade, said he plays fun games, prays and sings during summer camps. His half-sister, Piyachat Thongyang, or Mint, in grade four, added that she enjoys the camp activities that make her realise the dangers of drugs as well as teach her English.

Like Deh, Mint said she wants to be a police officer when she grows up because she wants to arrest drug dealers.

According to Khru Taen, the children eligible for help from the foundation's programme must be under 18 and reside in one of five flagged Pattaya communities _ Thepprasit, Kor Phai, Nong Prue, Wat Thamsamakkhee and Pachajeen.

Their parents must also meet risk criteria, such as not having permanent addresses, ineligibility for public utility services and insufficient income which forces their children to enter child labour.

The project has about 250 children under its care. The children are classified into two groups _ homeless children and street children. The first applies to children who migrated to Pattaya with their families and have no permanent address in the resort town. Meanwhile, street children are usually from broken homes and have run away because their parents don't care for or understand them.

''A lot of street children hang around in Sunee Alley, which is notorious for child prostitution. Many of them offer themselves to the sex trade,'' Khru Taen said.

The foundation has tried to help these youngsters by operating a day centre named Little House in a Big Forest. The centre provides counselling for those in trouble and arranges medical treatment for sexually-transmitted diseases.

It also offers art and music therapy. Every evening, a number of children drop by to sing and enjoy the music in addition to taking Thai and English language classes. The teaching is aimed at decreasing the children's communication problems with their employers and foreign customers to prevent them from being taken advantage of.

''Also, we guide them for career changes in the future. We always tell them that their jobs are short-lived. And there are tendencies for them to become mama-sans or pimps when they are older,'' she said.

According to her, the number of the centre's users has grown from five or six to 20 or 30 a day, with new faces showing up all the time. Among the visitors was Parn, a 14-year-old street girl. She escaped from home at the age of 10. She worked as an independent child prostitute in Sunee Alley from the age of 12 until six months ago.

''Parn entered and left our shelter so many times that we told her we could not help her if she was still doing so, but she said she didn't want to be locked up, wake up early in the morning and follow orders,'' Khru Taen said.

At last, however, Parn made a very important decision to change her life. Parn reportedly stopped selling her body and has been staying at the foundation's shelter for six months.

According to Khru Taen, it is estimated that Pattaya has more than 500 homeless and street children who are at risk of falling into prostitution and drug use.

''Here in Pattaya, there are neither preventive mechanisms nor safe zones for children. From Na Klua to Jomtiem lies a long stretch of karaoke and beer bars. Children see strippers dancing and bar girls drinking with foreigners everywhere. There are even beer bars near schools. Where are the safe zones for youngsters?'' she questioned.

''Some mama-sans and drug dealers have sent children to join our project as their spies. We knew that but still wanted them to listen to our message. Some of these children changed. They are now waiters or waitresses or still working at nightspots but no are longer prostitutes,'' Khru Taen said.

Despite the odds, it is important to show high-risk children there are other choices in life, she said. ''That's basically what we're doing, giving them choices. It's up to them to decide which way to go.''

The project needs volunteers to help the children with art, music and sports activities. For more information, call Sudjai Nakphian on 08-6042-5040