We have recently visited Somboon, an intellectually handi-capped girl of 31 living in a remote part of Kanchanaburi province. She lives with her sick mother and uncle in a simple house in the fields at the end of a muddy track. They have no running water or electricity and their drinking water is of poor quality taken from a rain water tank during the wet season. They have a very low income based on doing paid daily labour whenever its available. They also have about an acre of land from which they gain a small rice harvest each year.
A local Thai ngo working for citizens’ rights has established contact with this family and recently managed to gain formal citizenship status for Somboon which will entitle her to free medical care. On behalf of O the citizens’ rights group will present them with a thousand baht per month to help meet their daily food and living expenses.
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