Thailand
In Thailand, Oxfam's focus is on health, HIV and AIDS, sustainable livelihoods, and labour rights.
Campaigning for affordable medicines
Thailand is home to around 800,000 people living with HIV and AIDS.
Drugs to help treat those with the virus can cost as much as double the average Thai monthly salary.
The new drugs are expensive. People on my income can't afford to buy them. I get depressed and stressed when I think about it. I have no choice, I want to survive. I need these drugs.
Irsa (not his real name)
How Oxfam is helping
We support the Thai government’s national HIV and AIDS treatment programme to provide cheap, generic drugs to those in need. We also provide training on how to prevent and treat the disease, as well as counselling to those diagnosed as HIV-positive.
We continue to campaign globally for a change to world trade rules on drug patents which put essential medicines beyond the reach of poor people.
Tackling poverty in the deep south
A conflict has been raging between the radical ethnic Malay-Muslim and the Thai State in the pre-dominantly Muslim Southern border provinces; Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkla since 2003. The violence obstructs social, economic, civil and political development of the area, and has seen it become one of the poorest in the southern region, and the least developed in the country.
The region also experiences natural resources scarcity and increasing natural disasters which threaten livelihoods and food security of men and women living in the area.
How Oxfam is helping
Oxfam is working with the Prince of Songkla University to help vulnerable communities have sufficient access to food, and means of making a living. We also promote peace-building in this area.
The programme focuses on improving socio-economic opportunities for poor women affected by the conflict and promoting women’s role in peace-building. The programme also aims to improve sustainable natural resource management by communities, particularly in agriculture and fishery, and help communities to be prepared and minimise the impact of natural disasters.
Other development work
- Campaigning for better labour rights for workers
- Finding solutions for climate change
Tsunami Crisis
The tsunami that swept across the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004 caused widespread devastation across parts of coastal Thailand.
- 8,500 people lost their lives
- Massive destruction of property across southern provinces
How Oxfam is helping
Our four-year tsunami response will last until 2008, helping the worst affected rebuild their lives.
"We had nothing left to make a living. No boat, no fishing gear. [Oxfam's] revolving fund helped us to get our occupation back.
Saowanee, tsunami survivor, Pakbara
Learn more
Oxfam Connects
Help support children in Thailand who live with HIV and AIDS.
