U.N. Refugees Mission -THAILAND
Actress Angelina Jolie, Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has asked the Thai government to grant to refugees from Myanmar greater freedom of movement, after spending a day listening Refugees tell their life difficult in closed camps in northern Thailand. “I was saddened to meet a young woman of 21 years, born in a refugee camp, which never left the camp and now raises her own child in a camp, “said the actress after her visit to the camp at Ban Mai Nai Soi, where 18,111 refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, 3 km from the border with Myanmar.”
THE MAP OF THAILAND
While these Refugees are unlikely to return to Myanmar in the foreseeable future, we must find a way to help them find work and become independent, “she added. The 111 000 registered refugees living in nine camps in northern Thailand along the border are not allowed to leave the camps or for receiving instruction supérieur.
Dans a house of two rooms on stilts, Ms. Jolie has sat down and discussed with Ma Pai, a woman 44 years of the minority ethnic Kayan who has applied for resettlement in the United States. In a school for children orphaned or separated from their parents, she listened carefully to two girls, sent across the border by their parents to receive education, to show their fear of having to return to Myanmar at the end of their schooling.
”I hope we can work with the Thai authorities to accelerate the procedures for authorizing the government to ensure that you do not have to return to Myanmar if the danger persists,” Angelina Jolie said.
The Provincial Council for authorizing the Thai government, the only organization that grants refugee status to persons fleeing conflicts or persecution in Myanmar, has yet to deal with some 5,000 people arrived in the province of Mae Hong Son in 2006 and 2007, the last period of major conflicts in the Kayah State, just across the border.
Last year, others have continued to seep into Ban Mai Nai Soi and three other camps in the province, mainly fleeing forced labor and other violations of human rights. A woman of 26 years, Pan Sein, told Angelina Jolie how she left her village in Kayah State last November, taking a dangerous path and indirect, on foot, which ultimately led to the camp early January.
“Did you not afraid to let your parents and leave alone? “Asked Angelina Jolie.
“Yes I was scared,” said Pan Sein. “It was dangerous to leave, but even more dangerous to stay in my village. ”
Visiting Angelina Jolie at a time when international attention is focused on the large number of Rohingya migrants fleeing Rakhine State, northern Myanmar, the ships of fortune.
“Visit Ban Mai Nai Soi and see Thailand to hospital where almost 111,000 people in recent years, gives me hope that Thailand will be as generous towards the Rohingya refugees who are now arriving on its shores, “ said Angelina Jolie.
“ I also hope that the situation of Rohingya will stabilize and that their lives will improve in Myanmar so that people do not feel the desperate urge to escape, considering the dangers that accompany their journeys, “she added.
“All these people deserve respect for their human rights. “
INNOVATIVE APPROACH :
This innovative approach will get refugee families out of camps and on the road to rebuilding their lives, strengthen local Thai communities.
The establishment of reliable and coherent curricula for its primary and secondary schools is subject to such rapid changes that schools and their teachers are not always sure what they are supposed to be teaching, and authors and publishers of textbooks are unable to write and print new editions quickly enough to keep up with the volatile situation.
The issue concerning university entrance has therefore also been in constant upheaval for a number of years. Nevertheless, education has seen its greatest progress in the years since 2001, most of the present generation of pupils and students are computer literate, and knowledge of English is on the increase at least in quantity if not in quality.
Global Needs Assessment
Refugees fleeing conflict have been crossing Myanmar’s eastern border jungles for the safety of Thailand for nearly 25 years. Inside Thailand, they find refuge in nine government-run camps along the border, where today some 140,000 Myanmar refugees and asylum-seekers receive basic food, shelter, medical care and schooling.
Although their basic needs are met, refugees have no freedom to leave the camps. Some who were born in the camps are now raising their own children there and frustration levels are high. Rape, domestic violence and substance abuse are chronic problems.
READ THE FULL REPORT : Country Operations Profile -THAILAND.
The Royal Thai Armed Forces and Other paramilitary Forces
กองทัพไทย (Kongthap Thai) is the name of the military of theKingdom of Thailand . It consists of the following branches:
- (นาวิกโยธินไทย) – ROYAL THAI MARINE CORP
- (กองทัพอากาศไทย) -ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE
- (กองทัพเรือไทย, ราชนาวีไทย) - ROYAL THAI NAVY
- (กองทัพบกไทย) – ROYAL THAI ARMY
Today the Royal Thai Armed Forces comprises about 306,600 personnel. The Head of the Thai Armed Forces (จอมทัพไทย: Chomthap Thai) is His Majesty KING BHUMIBOL ABDULYADEJ (Rama IX), however this position is only nominal. The Armed Forces is managed by the MINISTRY OF DEFENCE OF THAILAND, which is headed by the Minister of Defence (a member of the CABINET OF THAILAN) and commanded by the ROYAL THAI ARMED FORCES HEADQUARERS, which in turn is headed by the CHIEF OF DEFENSE FORCES OF THAILAND. According to the CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM , serving in the Armed Forces is a duty of all Thai citizens. However only males over the age of 21, who have not gone through reserve training are subjected to a random draft. Those chosen randomly are subjected to twenty-four months fulltime service. While volunteers are subjected to eighteen months service, depending on their education.
About EDUCATION in Thailand
Thailand enjoys a high level of literacy, and education is provided by a well organized school system of kindergartens, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary schools, numerous vocational colleges, and universities. The private sector of education is well developed and significantly contributes to the overall provision of education which the government would not be able to meet through the public establishments. Education is compulsory up to and including Grade 9, and the government provides free education through to Grade 12.
Thailand has never been colonized, and its educational system is not based on European models to any great extent. Education in a modern sense is relatively recent and, according to some sources, still needs to overcome some major cultural hurdles in order to ensure further development and improvement to its standards, which in some respects have fallen to the lowest levels in southeast Asia.
The 75 provinces of the Kingdom of Thailand
Thailand is divided into 75 province (จังหวัด, changwat) , which are gathered into 5 groups of provinces by location. There are also 2 special governed districts: the capital Banglkok (Krung Thep Maha Nakhon) and Pattaya, of which Bangkok is at provincial level and thus often counted as a 76th province.
Each province is divided into districts and the districts are further divided into sub-districts (tambons). As of 2006 there are 877 districts (อำเภอ, amphoe) and the 50districts of Bangkok (เขต, khet). Some parts of the provinces bordering Bangkok are also referred to as Greater Bangkok (ปริมณฑล, pari monthon). These provinces include Nonthaburi,Pathum Thami Samut Prakan Nakhon Pathom Samut Sakhon. The name of each province’s capital city (เมือง, mueang) is the same as that of the province: for example, the capital of Chiang Mai province (changwat Chiang Mai) is Mueang Chiang Mai or Chiang Mai.
A unified Thai kingdom was established in the mid-14th century. Known as Siam until 1939, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to have been taken over by a European power. A bloodless revolution in 1932 led to a constitutional monarchy.In alliance with Japan during World War II, Thailand became a US treaty ally following the conflict. A military coup in September 2006 ousted then Prime Minister THAKSIN Chinnawat. The interim government held elections in December 2007 that saw the former pro-THAKSIN People’s Power Party (PPP) emerge at the head of a coalition government.The anti-THAKSIN People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) in May 2008 began street demonstrations against the new government, eventually occupying the prime minister’s office in August. Clashes in October 2008 between PAD protesters blocking parliament and police resulted in the death of at least two people. The PAD occupied Bangkok’s international airports briefly, ending their protests in early December 2008 following a court ruling that dissolved the ruling PPP and two other coalition parties for election violations.The Democrat Party then formed a new coalition government with the support of some of THAKSIN’s former political allies, and ABHISIT Wetchachiwa became prime minister. Since January 2004, thousands have been killed as separatists in Thailand’s southern ethnic Malay-Muslim provinces increased the violence associated with their cause.
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