Make deadbeat dads pay
Three to six million children in Thailand cannot go to school because it's too expensive and/or their grandparents (usually the ones who bring up such kids) don't appreciate the importance of early schooling.
Primary education in Thailand is purported to be free, but it’s not. New uniforms, books, shoes and backpacks are required at the beginning of each school year. Many folks who are too poor to keep up become mere statistics.
Men who “knock up” vulnerable girls via liquor and sweet talk are allowed, by law to walk away scot-free while their former conquests becomes single mums. More commonly, the child’s mother’s parents are compelled to bring up the kids. Thailand should come out of its 18th-century attitude toward deadbeat dads and start serious prosecution, which could lead to confiscating funds and assets (from the deadbeats and their parents) to help support abandoned children. DNA tests are quite effective and have been used in Western countries for decades to pinpoint who sired whom. Some politicians might have secrets to hide in that department, which could explain why they have no interest in dealing with deadbeat dads.
Enabling all kids, including hilltribe youngsters in Thailand with no nationality, and children of immigrant workers, to attend school is essential. Anything less is heathen and just plain cruel. The cost of doing nothing, as the current government is doing, is more kids sniffing glue, more kids stealing, and many becoming disenfranchised and merely existing at the fringes. I’m sure that’s not what Thailand wants for its future.
Ken Albertsen
Chiang Rai
