Group+A

This is Group A's Essay

Human rights are the rights we have ingrained in us since birth that cannot be spent or taken away from us. Human rights are basic rights that all people should have regardless of nationality, sex, color, religion or any other status. We are all equal. Almost half the world, over three billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. The population of Thailand is estimated to be 63,430,000 people. 69 % are in rural areas, 15 % are Bangkok residents and the remaining 16 % live in other big cities. According to a United Nations report issued in 2000, there are 19 million people, or 29.9 % of the population that are poor inThailand and almost all of these people don’t even know what human rights are.

Poverty is an attack on human dignity and it also affects human rights by denying people of opportunities enjoyed by others. As equals, these opportunities should be available to us all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, set up in 1948, states that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”- Article one. Poverty directly affects this and at least six other articles of the UDRH including article 17 (section 1), article 21 (section 2), article 22, article 23 (section 1), article 25, and article 26.

For our debate class case study into poverty in our area we visited Thasadej market, Nongkhai. Nongkhai is in the Isan region which is the poorest region of Thailand. In 2002, average wages were the lowest in the country at 3,928 baht per month. While walking through Thasadej, we met the many people that come to beg every single day. All of these people have various disabilities such as physical disability, visual disability, hearing and speaking disability which influences their quality of life. A shopkeeper we spoke to said, “These people come to beg here everyday, they arrive at the same time I open my shop and leave as I close my shop. They rent a room near Thasadej and sometimes they can consist of families. It’s typical to see people begging in Thasadej, I’ve seen them here since I first opened my shop.”, she said. We met an elderly amputee who had an accident while he was working and he can no longer continue his job, so instead he begs at Thasadej. He rents a room for 100 bath per day and his family does not take care of him. He has the right to be able to provide for himself but his disability makes this almost impossible. We also met an elderly blind man who has begged all around Thailand. He comes from Loei, lives at his friend’s house and he said begging is his only source of income. These people don’t have enough power to change their situation.

Poor people are born into poverty and have no choice in being poor. Most poor people in rural areas cannot afford tuition for their children. As a result, their children lose their right to education. Article 26 of UDHR states the education shall be free for these people, this is their human right.

We can all help the poor people of this world by teaching them about their human rights and working to give them the opportunities that is their right. They are entitled to choices, to choose their job instead of having to beg. They can use their abilities and develop themselves to the advantage of our society. If we only give money to them when we pass them, we will have to give our money everyday. It's not the solution. Working empowers them, begging makes them powerless. The same idea applies for poor people that are not disabled, they should have the opportunity to work because t hey will take pride in themselves as valued workers rather than waiting for someone to help them by giving them money. Our Governments must work hard to protect the poorest in our society. We cannot ignore them any longer, it affects all of us. We are all human, we are equal.