The National Council on Social Welfare has renamed the Community Chest of Thailand, a budget for welfare programs, as the United Way of Thailand last year. The United Way is an organization which is operated for social cause of Thai people and is based on the concept of caring and sharing.
Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali is chairing the organization with supports from academics, the private sector and various institutions who are members of the committee.
Thailand is a member of United Way Worldwide (UWW) which is operated on the community and national levels in 46 countries across the world.
The UWW’s priority is to provide support for education, heath and income generation programs for those in need. Each year, the UWW holds a conference with an aim of strengthening relations among members and hosts a forum for participants to exchange ideas and opinions on problems and solutions.
Thailand took the honor of hosting this event for the first time in 2003. The 8th conference, which was supposed to be held in the Kingdom last year, had taken place elsewhere due to political tensions.
The 9th conference is, however, slated to be held this year in Bangkok from 28 June – 1 July, 2011 at Arnoma Pathumwan Hotel.
There will be 100 UWW members from 14 countries including Thailand joining the conference. They will have the opportunity to learn about similar operations in other countries in the Asia and Pacific region.
The objective of UWW is also to reduce social disparity and to consolidate communities of the word as well as to increase the opportunity for underprivileged children and people with disability.
