Tippawan Jommanee, her husband, and their four children live hand to mouth, in a house made of straw in Nhong Chan village in Khon Kaen's Chumpae district. Their village has no access to electricity.
The family's yearly income of approximately 70,000 baht, which they earn growing tapioca, is too little for the family of six.
"To be honest, it's never enough," said Tippawan, 42. "We need to do extra jobs, like working on other farms, and forage for local vegetables, like bamboo shoots and ant eggs, to sell. I'm also a part-time tour guide and these extra earnings help us survive the year."
Tippawan's family is not the only one in Thailand that lives in poverty. Many Thai families face a similar situation, and have no better way out than forcing themselves to get used to it. As well as attempting to eradicate poverty, Thai society should also be concerned with how children are raised in impoverished, underprivileged families.
Last month, the Cabinet approved a monthly subsidy of 400 baht per head for children up to the age of one. Such financial assistance from the government will be launched as a pilot project, only for poor families, in October and will continue until September 2016, when a decision to continue the programme will be made after an evaluation. It is estimated that the childcare subsidy scheme will require a total budget of 600 million baht.
In an attempt that is in line with the government's child-care subsidy programme, Unicef Thailand has been working with NGOs and the private sector for more than three years to study the importance of such a subsidy. Unicef Thailand proposed that the government increase the subsidised allowance to 600 baht per month, which is to be given to all families — instead of those with low income — with children aged up to six years old.
Financial aid should be spent on food, health and education, said Wisoot Tantinan, project officer for social protection at Unicef Thailand.
"This [the government's child-care subsidy] is a good kick off," said Wisoot Tantinan, project officer for social protection at Unicef Thailand. "However, in order to make this policy effective, we believe that children up to the age of six should be supported for best child development and 400 baht a month is a bit too low."
There are currently 5.5 million children below the age of six in Thailand. Only 1.3 million of these have parents who are supported by the social security programme, which means that around 76% of these Thai children lack support from the government.
"Children below the age of six are at the most significant age in terms of development," Wisoot commented. "But in Thailand, many kids this age face problems in terms of physical and skill development, especially in Northeastern provinces, where poverty is already a challenge."
Wisoot added that Thailand has been recognised as a model for many developing countries when it comes to its social welfare system, as the country's education system, health coverage and social pension are all well-supported. The biggest gap that needs to be filled, however, is with regard to child support. In most developed countries, as well as low-and middle-income countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, China, South Africa, Brazil and Kenya, childcare subsidies are included in welfare systems.
The government's plan to provide childcare subsidy has led some to query whether the money will be spent on the right purposes. According to the Unicef study, only 1-2% of parents tend to use this financial aid in the wrong way.
Bags of bamboo shoots are stored for both consumption and for sale in Tippawan’s straw house.
"We need to stick to the belief that parents love their kids, and would therefore spend money for the sake of their children," explained Wisoot.
"Parents are the ones who know the best what their kids need. However, parents also need to be educated on how to bring up their kids properly."
TDRI Research Director of Inclusive Development Somchai Jitsuchon suggested that the programme be started with a universal subsidy, not selective. This means that the help should not be limited to families with a low income.
Somchai suggested that the government should pay every family to make sure that the subsidy reaches everybody in need and the government could later decrease this number by cutting families whose parents have high incomes or whose parents benefit from the social security programme.
"With many selective-subsidy policies, we've seen cases in which the poor never receive the money, while those who do register to receive the money are actually families who do not need financial support," Somchai said.
All of Tippawan's children are now over a year old, which means that when the government's project policy does begin, her family will not benefit from the subsidy scheme. If Unicef's proposal was to be applied, however, at least Tippawan could register her youngest daughter (the only one below the age of six) for financial support.
"I would be glad if my daughter receives the subsidy as the money could help us survive for a few more days," she said.
Children at a school in Nhong Chan village.
Tippawan Jommanee and her children.
