Wichan Jitphongamphai once saw the world in vivid colours, just like nearly everybody else. But around the time of his high school graduation, he noticed his vision starting to become murky. The clarity of his sight gradually deteriorated until he was totally blind in both eyes.
The setback did not dim his strong passion for learning or curb his ambition to become a teacher. His hard work won him a scholarship from the Office of the Civil Service Commission and he eventually obtained a master's degree in Early Intervention from the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States.
Now 39 and teaching at the Lampang School for the Blind, Mr Wichan reflects on how frustrating it is to be treated unfairly in society and the workplace. "Stereotyping and discrimination are what we face every day and everywhere we go," he said.
"We want people to treat us and look at us the same way as they look at non-disabled people. We want to be recognised inclusively within the organisation and the society.
"In the workplace, employers usually fail to realise that disabled people also want to be an essential part of the team that drives the organisation forward. We want to have proper training and to be able to develop our careers just like everybody else."
Thai law requires public and private organisations to hire one disabled person for every 100 employees under Section 33 of the Persons with Disabilities Quality of Life Promotion Act BE 2550 (2007).
However, employment quotas can be a double-edged sword, says Esteban Tromel, senior disability specialist with the International Labour Organization (ILO). While they ensure that employers consider people with disabilities in their workforce, quotas can also send a negative message that people with disabilities should be employed because of their disabilities rather than their skills.
"The world is increasingly moving away from specialised and segregated programmes for employment of people with disabilities," he said. "Quota assistance undermines the fact that people with disabilities have comparable sets of skills and they are willing to be trained."
Companies often do not recognise disabled workers as having the ability to develop their talents, skills and career paths the same way as other non-disabled employees. Therefore, they are usually bound to certain sets of responsibilities, usually at the bottom of the pyramid.
Kannika Sarauysuwan, director of the Lampang Skills Development Center for the Blind, says Thai businesses also face challenges in recruiting disabled people.
"There is no bridge linking the recruiting teams with this group of people," she said. "Companies do not know where to find them, while disabled people themselves are unsure about how they could fit into the team."
Matching people with the right skill sets is another major problem. "Given that there are different categories of disability, not all positions and responsibilities in a firm will suit the capabilities of disabled people," she said
Some companies have created special units for people with disabilities where they can accomplish the tasks they are assigned in a supportive and comfortable environment.
But some employers, because of the nature of the work they do, have trouble meeting government-mandated quotas.
Rungroj Tuntivechapikul, vice-president for human resources at Betagro Group, an agribusiness conglomerate with 21,000 employees in various countries, says his company can recruit only half of the required staff. As a result, it is required to make financial donations to the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Fund in accordance with Section 34 of the law.
Thailand currently has around 1.7 million people with disabilities, accounting for 2.5% of the population, according to the National Statistical Office. About 770,000 of them are of working age, but only about 28,000 are in the labour market while around 350,000 are unemployed.
The Thai government has demonstrated a strong commitment to the disability movement by ratifying the ILO convention on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) No. 159 in 2007 and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities the following year.
Article 1 under ILO convention No. 159 states: "Members shall consider the purpose of vocational rehabilitation as being to enable a disabled person to secure, retain and advance in suitable employment and thereby to further such person's integration or reintegration into society."
However, Mr Tromel thinks that creating a special unit for disabled workers goes against the spirit of what the ILO is trying to promote. "Having an extra section in a company, or subsidiary firms within a large organisation to employ only people with disabilities will only reflect segregation and will stigmatise disabilities," he said, adding such approaches were not inclusive and were very old-fashioned.
In his view, companies need to ensure that all their workers, disabled or non-disabled, have the same opportunities for career growth and development.
Because so many disabled people have experienced trouble finding work, some non-government organisations have stepped in to provide training and employment opportunities.
The Power Blind Coffee Shop in Lampang is one such example. It employs people with disabilities and trains them to become baristas. The shop also offers massage services and sells souvenirs made by disabled people.
"I'm very satisfied with the current responsibility I've been given and I'm excited to train others to become a barista like myself," said 20-year-old Phanuway Ainplaeng, who works at the shop.