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Date: 16th April 2001, Bangkok Post

Bang Sue recreation plan for children

Anucha Charoenpo

The railway police is expanding its programme to try to keep children and youngsters off the streets, this time at a community in Bang Sue district.

The programme will provide playground activities, school classes, as well as other recreational activities.

Three old train carriages provided by the State Railway of Thailand will be renovated into a library, a recreational room and a computer room. They will be placed in a vacant plot at Bang Sue railway station to allow easy access to underprivileged children and youngsters from Tuek Daeng slum community.

Pol Maj-Gen Jarumporn Suramanee, railway police commander, said the programme is aimed at providing education for slum children. Railway police will donate their time to counsel and teach the children for a few hours each day.

The Bang Sue project is the continuation of a successful programme launched at the Hua Lamphong rail terminus about 1-1/2 years ago, when the railway police converted two old train carriages into a library and study/computer room situated in a park-like area.

Since then, more private and state agencies have expressed interest in the project and encouraged the railway police to launch similar programmes in other areas of the city, Pol Maj-Gen Jarumporn said.

He said he chose Tuek Daeng community because he learned that a large number of children there were addicted to drugs while the majority of residents were unemployed and under-educated.

The railway police commander hopes the project will help reduce crime and drug abuse. The children will be taught how to stay away from drugs and to lead a more productive life.

Railway officials have offered to help beautify and develop the land on which the classroom and library carriages will be located. The Siam Cement Foundation will provide funding for the purchase of necessary equipment including books, games, stationery and drawing materials, as well as providing a librarian. The Bang Sue project is expected to be in operation in a few months. Similar projects would be started in other slum communities if the railway police is able to obtain additional support from the private sector and other state agencies, he added.

The railway police is working in conjunction with the city police, which has launched the "street police teachers" programme intended to help police forge closer relations with street children and lead them away from crime.