United in kindness, Thais launch food campaign for all those overlooked of government's COVID-19 measures

Pattawadee ‘Dao’ Boonsamak and her husband have spent days gone by 3 years selling rice and omelette on the roadside of Bangkok.

The couple works six days a week, a lot more than 10 hours a day, in the sweltering heat, mostly standing behind a tiny second-hand trolley that took them months to get.

Despite their hard work, money is never enough. Yet things got worse when the COVID-19 pandemic commenced to place financial pressure on low-income earners like themselves. 

With rocketing degrees of unemployment, a lot of their customers can't afford a US$1 meal, which includes plain rice, some meat and an omelette.

“We’ve lost 70 per cent of income because of the pandemic. A lot of people can’t afford to get our food. We’ve lost so many customers,” Dao said.

The 40-year-old never thought her business would be influenced by the outbreak. She had not been worried when the early cases were reported in Thailand. 

But it didn't take long before the problem snowballed right into a health crisis which has so far infected a large number of people. A lot more than 50 people have died.

The economical impact is far-reaching, particularly among day-labourers, who are Dao’s main customers. Most of them have been hit by the closure of shops, restaurants and various other businesses rather than everyone can access the government’s relief measures.

REACHING OUT TO MARGINALISED GROUPS

Frustrated by the situation, several Thais decided to part of and do what they could to greatly help people in need.

“We’re looking at social disparity. The support system is selective and the planning process didn’t include marginalised groups,” said Arisa Phochaisarn, a Bangkok resident and PhD student in medical and health social sciences from Mahidol University.

“We thought about how precisely we can help these persons whom the government doesn’t see or reach out to. Then a friend explained about a movement called Pay It Forward, where you purchase a meal in advance to help people in need. That’s how I became considering the idea and began designing food coupons,” the 27-year-old recounted.

In April, she started funding the programme with her own money and small donations from friends and colleagues at Siriraj Hospital. They include researchers and doctors who have been treating COVID-19 patients because the outbreak emerged in Thailand. The fund was then used to pay for coupons she had created for distribution to food stalls in her neighbourhood. They are worth between 20 Baht to 40 Baht (US$0.60 to US$1.20) each and cover different varieties of food and drinks.

“On the first day, I gave the coupons to some stalls and asked the sellers to provide food to persons who actually need help,” she said.

Some children from a slum came to use them. I received a note - a bit of paper torn from a children’s book. It said ‘Sister, I don’t have money and wish to take three boxes of food for the kids’.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pay It Forward movement had already existed in Thailand but only on a tiny scale. Today, Arisa said the movement is spreading through communities nationwide. 

Its popularity grew after her Facebook post on Apr 14 about the campaign she had started with friends. The post became an instantaneous hit. It's been shared by a lot more than 10,000 users and attracted practically 1,000 comments - many of them feature food stalls that be a part of the activity. Hundreds of people have reached out to ask her for the coupon’s format.

“At this time, the campaign has spread to different parts of Thailand. It’s getting bigger. We've it going in many provinces, including Uttaradit, Uthai Thani, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Saraburi, Ayutthaya, Ubon Ratchathani and Pattani,” Arisa told CNA.

“It is continuing to grow so big and way beyond my expectation. It’s overwhelming.”

"WHY DOES HELP NEED TO BE SELECTIVE?’"

The world could be reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic but not everyone is equally affected.

In countries like Thailand, where relief packages have their limits and social welfare struggles to include all the citizens, unwanted effects of the health crisis seem harsher for all those on the margins of society.

To soften the financial blow on the people, the Thai government has rolled out a cash relief programme called “We Don’t Leave Anyone Behind”. The financial support package offers 30,000 Baht over a period of six months to Thai citizens who've lost their livelihoods as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

However, millions of folks cannot access the programme. Its registration, which is only available online, is slow and complicated for Thais not really acquainted with the digital platform. Numerous others are simply struggling to afford the Internet.

A food seller in Bangkok shows food coupons given to him by a participant of the Pay It Forward movement in Thailand. (Photo: Pichayada Promchertchoo)

“Are you aware some people only have 100 Baht and have to use some of the money to get Internet data to get the cash relief. I understand someone near my dorm with this issue. I may not manage to change the policy but this campaign is what I could do,” Arisa said.

The government didn’t consider how homeless persons would be able to access the website to join up their details or how an 80-year-old person or persons with disabilities would manage to do it. How come help need to be selective when we’re all feeling the impact?

With Pay It Forward, Arisa hopes help will reach more persons who actually need it. Every day, she and her friends spend about two hours at night visiting small food and drink stalls in various neighbourhoods and offering the coupons to them. 

Donors can then purchase the coupons from the vendors. The coupons can be utilised by the needy to cover their meals.

Dao is among the campaign’s beneficiaries. She received the coupons from a participant last week and her stall has since begun to see more customers. She said only 1 in ten clients would utilize the coupons and she often gives them a bigger part of food without the extra charge.

“Individuals who can still afford to get our food don’t utilize them. As for those who actually need help, they’d thank the donors and wish them well. A lot of them have been told by their employers to only come to work almost every other day or every two days,” she told CNA.

“Most of them work in the restaurant business and used to get free meals at work. Now, they don’t because many restaurants are closed.”

Shortly after the food coupons became offered by her stall, Dao said residents from her community began to chip in. "A doctor came by and bought ten coupons last week, saying she would like to participate," she added.

Arisa and her friends want to help as many people as possible. However they intend for the growth to be organic and natural and driven by communities. This means not accepting monetary donations from persons they don't know.

“We usually decline donation offers not because we’re narrow-minded or not because we wish the campaign to spread across Thailand. If you give us money, it will only stay near us but we've people in big trouble everywhere inside our country. So community members are the best persons to distribute help,” she said.

“If people want to donate, we’ll tell them we’d prefer to send them the coupon format instead so they can download it and distribute help themselves.”