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8 | A N N U A L A C T I V I T I E S R E P O R T 2 0 1 6
According to a recent research study carried out by the OECD and UNESCO, Thailand finds itself at a crossroads. In
less than a generation, it has moved from a largely agrarian low-income society to an upper middle-income country
and a key contributor to the economic development of the Southeast Asian region. At the same time, the country
has enacted major education reforms and invested a significant proportion of its national wealth into educating its
youngest citizens. Overall participation rates in the school system are now improving, particularly at the pre-primary
and primary levels, and a large number of youth continues on to higher and professional education.
However, not all sections of society have profited equally from this expansion. Access and performance are particu-
larly poor among children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who live in rural areas. Huge disparities still
remain and the benefits of the economic progress have not been equally shared by all children in Thailand.
This is particularly true for the children of ethnic minorities, migrants, refugees and the very poor who mainly live in
remote or very poor areas, often along Thailand’s borders with Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and Myanmar. Children
belonging to these groups often are not registered at birth and therefore are deprived of many rights such as access
to healthcare and education.
Pistorio Foundation’s Presence In The
Country
Chiang Rai Village Project
In response to these issues, the Pistorio Foundation decided to intervene to tackle the existing challenges faced by
marginalized children living in hill tribe and remote rural communities who were also at high risk of exploitation. The
Chiang Rai Village Project was launched in 2006 as a concrete sign of the organization’s commitment to increase
the enrollment rate and access to quality education of hill-tribe minorities while supporting communities and villages
to become self-sustainable through agriculture programs..
Intervention Areas
THAILAND
Context and Challenges
Pasquale Pistorio visiting the Ban Mhai Pattanà School