|
Time for better measures to get kids off the streets
On the 2nd of October, Pattaya mayor Pairat Suthithamrongsawat held a
conference with the Thai and foreign press on the continuing problems of
the youth in Pattaya. The mayor said there were still many street
children and prostitutes in Pattaya, even though the city does clean-up
operations twice a month.
The clean-up operations are a co-operative effort between the Pattaya
Police, the Crime Suppression Division and the Social Welfare
Department. Once they are apprehended, these teenagers and children are
then sent to the Youth Home of Rayong.
Mayor Pairat said that most of these children come from other provinces
and are usually products of broken homes. Aside from being homeless, the
mayor said the young people engage in prostitution and theft.
The mayor also asked for entertainment venues, especially hotels and
restaurants, to cease admitting underage people without proper ID. He
also called for increased action by the Social Welfare Department, as
there are people in the background who take young people out of youth
centres on false pretences for their own nefarious purposes.
He continued to say that the street kids are not in school and are from
other provinces. He said they are often here with their parents who have
come to find work in Pattaya, but since the parents do not change their
residence, the children cannot study in Pattaya’s schools. The mayor
told reporters that this neglect of one’s own and Thailand’s children by
their parents is criminal.
He said he sees the same faces in almost every clean-up of street kids
and appeals to all parents to take interest in their children. He
surmised that the parents say they come to Pattaya because they need to
make money for their families. But no matter how much money they have,
nothing can replace a secure home.
The mayor concluded by saying that it is an issue that all citizens must
co-operate on for the children’s and Thailand’s future.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
