Context
FXB worked very actively in Thailand from 1990 to 2012 and was involved in numerous programs against extreme poverty, against human trafficking and sexual exploitation and in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programs.
One-off education-related projects continue to be carried out – on a voluntary basis by the committee members – of its small local branch.
FXB in action
In 1990, FXB opened two FXB Emergency Shelters in Bangkok, in partnership with CPCR and MSF, to take in girls who had escaped from brothels or been evacuated by the police. Soon after, a third FXB House is opened in Chiang Mai and a fourth in Chiang Rai. This programme has since been taken over by a local NGO.
Also since 1990, FXB has been setting up HIV/AIDS prevention, education and awareness programs on Human and Children’s Rights in Bangkok, Buriram province and, through a local radio station, in the mountainous regions where the Akha live.
In 1992, FXB opened 4 FXB Houses for orphaned, HIV-positive and AIDS-affected children in Chiang Mai province. FXB Houses offered very much more than medical care, they were based on the concept of Tender Loving Care: the premise that they will have a better and a longer life if they are living into a family environment that cares for them (FXB replicated this Tender Loving Care Concept in the United States, Colombia and Brazil).
The FXB Houses were also at the time a significant statement in the fight against stigma and discrimination against people infected with HIV and an alternative for access to palliative care for young patients. As soon as antiretroviral became available in the region, FXB’s strategy was – as with all FXB Houses – to hand over the project to a local NGO, in this case the Support for Children Foundation, in order for FXB to be able to fully engage in other development projects in Thailand.
From 1993 to 1995, FXB – in partnership with the monk Ahra Alingar (PRA ALONGOT ) – supported the launch of a pioneering hospice in the Buddhist temple of Lopburi to care for AIDS patients at the end of their lives. This hospice, offering medical and spiritual support to patients to help them live and die with AIDS, is now run by the Dhammaraksanives Foundation.
In 1994, a National Committee – made up of representatives of the Thai Government, NGOs (including FXB) and bodies such as UNICEF, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – was formed in order to launch a comprehensive national action plan to combat prostitution and human trafficking to Thailand.
This committee was set up following the rescue operation launched in 1992 by Albina du Boisrouvray, Founder abd President Emerita of FXB, and Senator Saisuree Chutikul, at the time Advisor to the Thai Prime Minister on the Status of Women and Child Prostitution. In July 1992, the Association received a call for help from girls working on the Thai-Burmese border. These young women were subjected to sexual slavery, beaten, malnourished and highly exposed to HIV/AIDS. Albina du Boisrouvray then alerted Saisuree Chutikul. The police raided and freed 153 women and girls, including 95 young Burmese women. Aged between 14 and 20 years old, 50% of them are HIV-positive. They will be repatriated to their country of origin a few months later. In September 1993, FXB opened a pilot project in Myanmar, offering individualized reintegration based on the aspirations and aptitudes of each of the young women and the possibilities of the economic market in Myanmar.
In 2005, following the December 2004 tsunami, FXB started a boat reconstruction project for “Moken” fishermen and organized psycho-social support sessions in schools in Phuket and Phangnga for more than a year.
Faced with the spread of the AIDS pandemic, which in particular restricted the ability of families and communities to take in more orphans and children affected by the disease, FXB also decided to replicate, in Thailand, its VillageFXB poverty alleviation model, which has shown very positive results in Africa.
