Confirmation of the increased contributions came at the ‘14th Phuket Community Welfare Assembly’ held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel yesterday (Aug 26).
PPAO President Rewat Areerob chaired the event, which was held under the theme “‘Together the Power of Community Welfare to Change the City’ to create good health, a happy society", further dubbed “power to change lives”.
Two leading members of the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI), operated by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, were also present as special guests: CODI Director Kritsada Somprasong and CODI’s Chairman of Board of Directors Kobsak Pootrakool.
Mr Kobsak gave a speech on the topic of the role of CODI in strengthening community welfare, while Warunee Sakulratanathara, President of the Phuket Community Welfare Organisation Network, explained that the objective of the event was “to exchange knowledge at the local, provincial and national levels, leading to increasing the level of the fund to be strong and sustainable”.
“This is the foundation for permanent and sustainable development of the country. Sustainable development requires cooperation from all sectors, including the public and private sectors, to help each other to support the government’s policy to support community welfare through the Institute for Community Organization Development [CODI],” Ms Warnuee said.
The Phuket Provincial Government established the provincial community welfare fund in 2006 to help support all 18 tambon administration organisations (OrBorTor) and municipalities [tessabaan] across Phuket, she said.
Since its launch the fund has provided welfare assistance to 31,876 members and non-members, amounting to B50,551,800.
In total the fund has received B93,278,442.59. There are currently 17,569 fund members and the fund currently holds B28,223,647.45, she added.
“In Phuket, the public welfare system has been provided via OrBorTor, municipalities, mosques and temples as the base. They help to create savings discipline among members, expand group activities to develop various areas such as improving the quality of life of members and supporting social development in various aspects,” Ms Warunee explained.
“Most importantly, there is the development of community welfare, through the important community welfare fund,” she said.
Mr Rewat explained that the PPAO has supported the operation of the fund since 2014, initially contributing B200,000 baht per subdistrict.
In 2015, the PPAO continued its support by contributing B300,000 per year, and in 2020 increased its contribution to B410,000. This year, the PPAO can afford to contribute B400,000 to the fund.
Local projects launched through the community welfare network this year included the "Kin Chang Muang" project, which aims to exchange local goods and produce to simultaneously help poor communities in several provinces.
The first group of provinces, Phuket, Phatthalung and Chaiyaphum, launched an exchange on Jan 27, through an event held at Phuket Rajabhat University.
“There is a direct link to the market for products from farmers in the network of the National Farmers Council and CODI, starting with organic rice from Chaiyaphum Province,” Mr Rewat said.
“It is a pilot product and a community welfare network in Phuket,” he added.
Central Festival Phuket and a network of community business organisations in Phatthalung Province jointly held the 2nd "Kin Plearn Mueang" event on July 28 - Aug 3, Mr Rewat continued.
“They were able to contribute 2% of the sales at the event to the Phuket community welfare network,” he said.
“Projects like this allow people in the community who do not have the opportunity to access welfare from other sources. This creates a wider variety of welfare and is a base to connect people in the community together,” he said.