After attending to a lady at his outpatient clinic in Chulalongkorn Hospital, a few hours later Dr Kris Chatamra saw her sitting under a scorching Sun underneath a flyover nearby.
"I looked at her as I was crossing the street and remembered she was the person I just examined," recalled the renowned breast cancer specialist. "I stooped down and asked her where she lived. She laughed and pointed her finger to the flyover. The lady required five weeks of radiotherapy. During the day, she came to the hospital for treatment. At night, she slept under the bridge. She was doing that for five weeks."
Pondering over what he had seen happening with this sick woman, Dr Kris suddenly realised the difficulties facing many of his patients who came for treatment from other provinces. Most of them were poor. While some could stay with friends or relatives in Bangkok, many others had nowhere to live except cheap hotels, temples or even under a flyover like the lady he saw. These poor patients could not afford to travel back and forth from Bangkok to their hometown during the course of treatment so they chose to stay temporarily in the capital even though their sleeping quarters could hardly be called a bedroom.
That was what drove Dr Kris to initiate his project "Pink Park Village", Thailand's first hospice for terminal-stage breast cancer patients, located in Bangkok's Nong Chok district. After two years of construction and 250 million baht in donations well-spent, the first phase of Pink Park Village is complete, ready to open its door to the first group of patients this year.
Despite ongoing campaigns and activities to educate about breast cancer screening and prevention, the malignancy still wreaks havoc in the country. According to a 2016 report from the National Cancer Institute, breast cancer ranks No.1 in terms of new cancer patients in Thailand, followed by liver, colon, lungs and cervix. Statistics from the Ministry of Public Health reveal that Thailand now has almost 30,000 breast cancer patients from across the country.
On a global scale, breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), affecting 2.1 million women each year. Breast cancer also causes the highest number of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. In 2018, it is estimated that 627,000 women will die from breast cancer -- approximately 15% of all cancer deaths among women.
The hospice, a specialised type of care facility for patients in their final stages of life, is not a familiar concept in Thailand. But Pink Park Village, according to Dr Kris, will ensure that the terminally-ill will be taken care of until their last breath. During this final period, painkillers and other pain control therapies can be prescribed to keep the patient in peace.
But Pink Park Village is like no other facility in Thailand, as it caters only to the poor.
"Those who stay at Pink Park Village do not need to pay anything. This is not a place where we bring patients to wait for death. Rather it is where we take care of them just like they are our relatives," said Dr Kris, also founder and director of the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer.
The first phase of Pink Park Village comprises two hospice buildings, each catering to eight patients, and one convalescence centre. While the hospice is for impoverished terminally-ill breast cancer patients who have nowhere else to turn, the convalescence centre, which is designed for 16 cancer patients, is for those being treated at the Queen Sirikit Centre but have nowhere to stay during their chemotherapy or radiotherapy course. For these cases, the centre provides a free shuttle service from Pink Park Village to the Queen Sirikit Centre and back.
Other than these three main service buildings for patients, Pink Park Village is also equipped with facilities such as wastewater treatment, a mortuary building, oxygen tank storage and nurse dormitory. Doctors and 12 certified nurses will be available around the clock. And in case of emergencies, patients can be referred to Seriruk Hospital, which is located close by.
It is not an overstatement to say that every element of Pink Park Village is top-grade -- from medical facilities and furniture to interior design and even landscape. According to Dr Kris, 4,000 trees have so far been planted on this 121 rai plot, which was donated by one of his patients. Yet he still needs a couple of thousand more to make the place a verdant space for the sick and their families to stay until they part.
To be eligible to stay at Pink Park Village's hospice, patients will be first selected through a network of the Thai Red Cross Society and then will be screened by a committee that mainly comprises a senior cancer specialist, a general medicine practitioner, a senior nurse, a social worker and one from outside the medical fields. Criteria are simply they have to suffer terminal-stage cancer and be poor.
"These patients were born poor and they are suffering cancer in its incurable stage. Now they are still poor. Many of them have no relatives. Here at Pink Park Village, we wish them to feel as if they were in paradise before they die … something they never experienced before," said Dr Kris.
Also it is most important that every single patient who stays at Pink Park Village is treated with dignity regardless of their social status.
"These poor patients have been looked down on for all their lives. We have this attitude that poor people deserve to be treated like this. This is not right. Here everyone must be treated equally. While they are nursed and cared for, they must be given the dignity every human being deserves. Though poor, they must not be treated like trash," said Dr Kris, adding that he wishes terminally-ill patients could live at Pink Park Village long enough to appreciate all the best moments in their lives, ideally two to three months.
The second phase of Pink Park Village is expected to continue soon, Dr Kris said. It will have three more service buildings for patients and a rehabilitation centre for cancer patients where physical therapy, pain control, psychologists, psychiatrists and supplementary/alternative medicine will gather under one roof. He needs help from all parties involved to make it possible.
"I wish this place could set a standard for Thailand in terms of cancer care. It's all up to Thai society and all Thai people. If we do not succeed here, it means society does not pay attention to this group of patients. Remember, they are not just seriously sick people waiting to die."
Donations can be made through the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer Foundation.
Savings account numbers:
- Siam Commercial Bank: 045-4-92405-0
- Bangkok Bank: 913-7-01266-3
- Kasikorn Bank: 623-2-05989-1
- Thanachart Bank: 098-6-04465-1
For more information, call 02-214-6044 or visit http://qscbcfoundation.org.
Lending a helping hand
Several private organisations have been playing their part in making the construction of Pink Park Village possible. Among them is Central Group.
Pichai Chirathivat, executive director of Central Group, said the company has operated its business with a socially responsible mindset for over 71 years. Breast cancer is one of the issues the company is committed to lending a helping hand with hope to improve the livelihood of patients in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in terms of gender equality as well as the promotion of welfare and well-being.
How does Central Group contribute to projects to help breast cancer patients in Thailand?
Since 2005, Central Group has never stopped helping people with breast cancer. We do so through activities to raise awareness regarding the importance of prevention and healthcare, for example, as well as providing financial aid through several campaigns. In 2010, we initiated a project called Women Cancer particularly to help impoverished breast cancer victims in the country.
What about initiatives to help Pink Park Village?
Since 2015, we started sales-promotion and fundraising activities in Central Group stores as well as raising funds through donation boxes in collaboration with our trading partners and also organising a mini marathon. Proceeds from all these activities have been donated to the construction of Pink Park Village under the Queen Sirikit Centre for Breast Cancer.
How does Central Group plan to support Pink Park Village in the future?
Our target is to raise another 5 million baht, setting aside the 15 million baht that we have donated. Altogether it will be 20 million baht to help with the construction of Pink Park Village. We will fully gear towards organising more activities to help with the fundraising, one of which is Central Group Pink Power — an activity to educate the public about cancer care and prevention as well as workshops such as how to make artificial breasts for patients. There will also be a sale of pink-themed products, clothes, accessories and snacks. Parts of the proceeds will be given to Pink Park Village. Central Group Pink Power will run from Oct 25 to 28 at Temp Shop 3 on the 1st floor of CentralWorld.
