Pat Bourne, Ireland's ambassador to Bangkok, self-identifies as a part-time advocate for disability. Upon arriving in Thailand two years ago, he hit the ground running, making it a part of his mission to identify and champion businesses that support equal accessibility and inclusivity.
On his very first day at the Bangkok office, Bourne proudly prioritised and achieved full disability access for the embassy building, including installing a wheelchair ramp and ADA-compliant toilets, calling the feat one of his proudest achievements.
Bourne's personal journey with disability began long before his diplomatic posting. Diagnosed with Stargardt's disease during his early years in Europe, he was confronted with the prognosis of irreversible vision loss.
"At the grassroots level, there was still a lack of understanding and there was still a certain stigma attached to being disabled," Bourne said. "I feared that it might hinder my career advancement or mark me out as different."
Without a thick cane or big glasses, he was able to conceal his disability and initially hide his impairment; when he finally spoke out, it surprised people that someone in his position could have a disability.
"I have a unique opportunity to talk about being a disabled person and [about] how to achieve one's full potential as a person with a disability," he said.
Steps staff attend to customers in Bangkok. Courtesy of Steps
Founded in 2016 by inclusion specialist Max Simpson and diplomat-turned-pastry chef Uang Hokrakitya, Steps emerged from their struggle to meet the dietary and educational needs of an autistic family member. From the start, their focus was on creating a community space with an inclusive menu.
Now, more than just a coffee shop, Steps is Thailand's first vocational training centre focused on integrating people with disabilities into the workforce. Steps has earned numerous awards for its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility and collaborates with more than 20 business partners. It has served 51,536 coffees since it launched and focuses on a sustainable supply chain from everything up to their company T-shirts.
Steps has expanded to operate three cafes and two vocational centres in Bangkok, along with two cafes in Phuket. Over the next two years, they plan to establish a training centre in Kuala Lumpur and a sustainable business to support job training.
Bourne lauds the organisation as "amazingly clever".
"If you exclude [people with disabilities] from going to work… getting into shops… then you are taking all of that money, all of that productivity, out of your society," he said.
Steps employs a "place, train, fade model" to offer vocational training to neurodivergent individuals, then hire them full-time in their cafes, and finally place them, before stepping back, with secure employment through Steps business partnerships.
"We are still there to troubleshoot over the long term, but we step out," Courtney Konyn, communications director of Steps, said.
Courtesy of Steps
Steps is a self-sustaining project, bringing in money from the cafe and winning external grants to fund its research centre. Steps staff nearly doubled in the past year and revenue has grown by 30% over the last six years, despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Steps Neurodiversity at Work Research Centre, founded in collaboration with the Sasin School of Management, is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. Konyn stresses the value of research and also of working to put it to good use in Thailand.
The Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities reports that, in 2023, more than 2.2 million people in Thailand were classified as disabled, with nearly 9% being neurodivergent. Of these, fewer than 25% are employed.
"We find that in Thailand about 80% of the people who identify as having a disability leave the education system before they finish secondary school," she said. "Around the world, employers who are more diverse see a 14% to 20% increase in revenue annually."
So far, 100% of Steps graduates have found employment, many of them in the hospitality and business-service sectors.
Many companies, however, opt to pay fines rather than comply with the employment quota put in place by the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act.
"In Buddhism there can be a stigma -- if you give birth to a child who has needs, that is a manifestation of karma," Konyn explained.
But Steps continues to gain recognition and acclaim. In August 2022, IKEA began collaborating with Steps to create an inclusive office model, featuring accessible furniture and design elements, including more amenable lighting and easy-access chairs and desks.
Konyn says that, on one hand, as Thailand ages, one in three people will qualify as a person with a disability, and on the other, the current job market will not be able to support its citizens.
Bangkok's ageing society will urgently require improved accessibility. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has pledged to enhance sidewalk accessibility, including levelling building entrances, adjusting slopes and resurfacing pavements.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt has also brought attention to disability rights through public support for his son, who is deaf and uses a cochlear implant.
Ambassador Bourne says public figures standing up and using their platforms to share their own experiences with disability will be key in fuelling change. Meantime, he's doing his part. He's a regular participant in Lumpini Park's Run2gether event, which is held on the first Saturday of every month for individuals who are blind, neurodivergent or use wheelchairs.
"I'm never sure whether I should be the guide runner or the guided runner. It's the blind leading the blind," he laughed.
It is not always financial support that makes the difference, he added. "Sometimes it's standing shoulder to shoulder."
