in the three Southern Border Provinces and pushes plans for living condition improvement
As suffering abounds due to the employment shortage and economic setbacks following the flooding in the three Southern Border Provinces—Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat—Senior Group Captain Kampee Kampeerayannon, Chairman of Thai People Council for the Nation, Religion, King; CEO of Sufficiency Economy City Co., Ltd. (SEC); owner of SKYMED products, has rushed to distribute disaster relief packages to flood victims and schools in need, and has called on Thais to offer additional help to the flood-hit region in the hope of speeding up the economic recovery.
Taking note of the humane obligation as a Thai citizen to mitigate the ongoing hardship and uncertain future caused by the recent floods, Sr. Gp. Capt. Kampee formed a team to supply relief packages which include rice, dry foods, and sports equipment to satisfy the locals’ immediate needs. Donations have been made to several communities and organisations, including folk art learning centres in Yala and Pattani provinces, Ban Bo Ngo school, and Sri Chewan Wittaya school, among others.
In addition to distributing these necessities, Sr. Gp. Capt. Kampee took the opportunity to see to the communities’ other needs and devise plans to provide future assistance. He took into account the lack of learning devices and computers for schools as well as the call for new buildings properly compartmentalised to accommodate the locals’ salat prayer regimen and host a self-sufficiency economy workshop.
As daily-need necessities arrive, Sr. Gp. Capt. Kampee further discussed with several local representatives the possibility of simultaneously speeding up the recovery process and reducing economic migration. It has been agreed that the two main solutions are to first involve private sectors in subsidising local communities during the recovery period, and second to implement an agriculture plan in accordance with the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s self-sufficiency economy as a means to reinforce the communal tightness and subsistence practices upon which the locals’ happiness relies.
Confident in the abundance of local attractions across southern Thailand, including its coastline and inland scenery, that make it worth visiting, Sr. Gp. Capt. Kampee noted that the three provinces are notorious for the prevalence of violence yet, he said, the stigma is misleading. He underscored that the region rightfully belongs to the Thais.
On behalf of Ban Bo Ngo community, Mr. Abdul Rahman Jumah, Principal of Ban Bo Ngo School, expressed his gratitude for Sr. Gp. Capt. Kampee’s assistance which he contrasted with the shortage of help and donations from private sectors over the last decade. He lauded Sr. Gp. Capt. Kampee and SEC for being the first private hands to get involved. Meanwhile, Ms.Subaidah Tuyong, a Ban Bo Ngo local, shared her experience of how the disaster worsened the poverty situation and welcomed the relief effort that was making a major difference to her family.
Another local representative, Mr. Somsak Thipmanee, Kapho’s Chief District Officer, pointed out that the scarcity of job availability after each harvesting season has been a perennial issue in Kapho district. Trying to cope with this situation, he has encouraged the locals to create a cooperative to generate extra income to their families. However, as jobs become less available due to the disaster and poverty deepens, it becomes virtually impossible for the locals to carry their community through on their own. To amend the situation, CDO looked to lessons learned from the efforts of previous collaborations between the sub-district administrative organisations and the district administrative organisations to outsource disaster relief packages and other types of assistance to meet the locals’ needs. Nonetheless, their efforts fell short as several individuals and families remained badly affected by flood. However, with continuous help from the SEC, the CDO is convinced that the southerners’ ongoing suffering can be soon released.
