GUIDELINES FOR GOVERNMENT WORKERS AND ADVOCATES
Thailand’s Child Protection Act 2003 was written before the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children. However many aspects of the 2003 Act are in line with the guidelines – for example the requirement for all private children’s homes to register with the government.
Thailand has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and accepted the guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children as a framework for an ideal care system for children.
The question that remains is how long it will take to achieve this vision.
We encourage the Thai government to:
- Use the full power of the 2003 Child Protection Act to bring oversight and accountability to private children’s homes as a first step towards implementation of the guidelines.
- Develop new legislation for the care and protection of children fully compliant with the guidelines and ensure its full implementation with a robust accountability process.
We encourage individual government employees with responsibility for vulnerable children:
- to familiarize themselves with the guidelines and to play whatever part they can in speeding up the process of care reform so that the vision of the guidelines becomes a reality.
- We believe it is possible to bring an end to the unnecessary separation of children from their parents in Thailand and to establish Thailand as a regional leader in the provision of high quality family based alternative care.
If you are a government employee interested in improving the alternative care system in Thailand and you feel that we can help in anyway then please contact us.
Institutionalization in Thailand
EXPLORING THE “ORPHANAGE MYTH” IN THAILAND
Based on interviews with 605 children in December 2014 this report looks at the reasons why children entered 18 unregistered private children’s homes in Sangkhlaburi District.
The study also looked at the standards of care provided by the homes.
With 90% of the children confirming that they have at least one living parent and the majority identifying poverty or its consequences as the main reason they came to the home, this report found a huge gap between the current operating of these children’s homes and the good practice set out in the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children
A HIDDEN CRISIS, THE PROLIFERATION OF PRIVATE CHILDREN’S HOMES IN THAILAND
Based on research conducted in 2016 and 2017 this report estimates the full extent of the private children’s home industry in Thailand.
Existing under the radar and without government monitoring, these institutions are home to thousands of children in Thailand. Their very existence confirms the large gap that Thailand is yet to cross in order to implement the guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children.
If you see or hear about a child in danger please contact:
1300
Thai Government Child Protection hotline
1387
Childline Thailand hotline