Sébastien, in Thailand, Baan Dek focuses on the predicament of children and families living in construction sites camps. What does life look like for the child of a family working in Thai construction sites?

Baan Dek’s key focus is on improving the well-being of children and their families. In early 2010, as a result of strong economic growth, Thailand experienced a boom in the construction business, which since then has attracted a wave of migrant workers. Around 600,000 came predominantly from Myanmar and Cambodia; approximately 60% are men and 40% are women. Such a gender composition means that children are also affected by conditions in the construction sector.

Both workers and children alike are living in temporary worker housing, often called construction camps. BDF and UNICEF’s evidence-based study found that around 60,000 children live in such camps. Life there is quite challenging. The environment is not child-friendly, lacks appropriate space for homework, play, or sport, for example. Hazards related to machinery or material storage are the norm. Many children are not officially registered, which puts them at risk. Their parents normally work all day long, six days a week, so the children are often left unattended. Accessing health and education is also a huge challenge.

It’s a tough transition as most of these children left behind their communities, families, and friends, and most of them attended school in their countries of origin. Once in the campsites, they lose all their social capital and have to adapt to a new environment. This drew Baan Dek’s attention and highlighted the need for action.

Too often, rather than through one’s own effort and talent, educational attainment is defined by place of birth, family wealth, ethnic background and gender. Could you explain how such ‘intersectionality’ affects the educational prospects of children in Thai construction site camps?

In Thailand, in theory, every child has the right to access free education, regardless of origin and legal documentation status. In practice, children of migrant workers face very harsh challenges. When they arrive in the country, language is a barrier, but in a few weeks, they learn very fast. It should not really be a problem, but many school authorities push back, expressing concerns about exceeding the optimal class size or slowing down the programmes.

Many migrant children don’t arrive at the beginning of the school year but only when their parents’ jobs start. These families move often, following the work available in various construction camps. There’s also an economic barrier. It costs around €200 to enrol each child and buy uniforms and school materials, and these costs multiply if they change construction sites and schools more than once a year.

How is Baan Dek tackling the problem? Can you share how you connect with the various stakeholders around the children?

To address the inequalities and discrimination faced by migrant children, it is crucial to ensure access to multidimensional elements such as health, education, and a safe living environment. Our approach is structured in three key programmatic pillars.

Through pillar 1, BDF provides immediate support to tackle the most urgent needs of vulnerable families. We identify if there are major struggles in the family, such as domestic violence or mental health issues, which could seriously compromise young kids’ key development milestones with potential repercussions throughout their lives.

Under this pillar, and thanks to the support of the Julius Baer Foundation, Baan Dek’s ‘Critical Care Nursery’ is a registered nursery located within our office premises in Chiang Mai. Here, the kids are supported by specialised teachers to ensure they meet their early childhood development milestones. Additionally, social workers support the families to solve the most pressing issues and provide them with training on positive parenting. The Julius Baer Foundation is also providing financial support to ensure more needy children can attend school. 

Through pillar 2, we aim to empower communities and their leaders to tackle the issues that are commonly faced in camps and solve them autonomously. To this end, we work with Youth Peers. Around 30 of them, who went through the same challenges as the migrant children, are trained and work to identify critical situations in the camp, provide guidance to new families arriving, help them enrol the kids in school, help with homework and organise social activities. Soon, they become role models in the community, and some of them even aspire to attend high school; one of them said she wants to become an architect. This shows that, through the work we do together, they learn, gain self-confidence, see themselves differently and develop new aspirations. They inspire as well as support the kids in the community.  

We also work with Adult Peers, in particular women, who are powerful agents of change.

Once such networks are stable and strong, Baan Dek can progressively exit and leave the community in their hands.

Schools are also key stakeholders. We developed strong relationships with 70 public schools to facilitate children’s enrolment, but also trained teachers to identify child protection risks and make referrals. They are all involved in creating a protective environment for vulnerable kids.

Pillar 3 is our strategic approach to generate systemic change within the Thai construction sector by changing the practices of companies toward migrant workers and their children living in the camps.

What were Baan Dek’s main reasons and challenges in engaging with companies in the property and construction sector?

The companies rely on and attract migrant workers, making them live on their own properties. They have a responsibility toward them.

A key challenge has been the high fragmentation of the supply chain in this sector, where sub-contracting is the norm, causing dilution of responsibility.

Most of the big companies were unaware of the real situations in their camps. Our first action, in 2010, aimed to raise their awareness. Together with UNICEF, we published a study on the situation of the camps, highlighting figures and risks.

Together with three pioneer companies, we developed a Framework of Action comprising 12 recommendations. We developed a self-assessment tool to help the companies understand the real conditions in their camps. The tool provides automatic recommendations for action and a monitoring dashboard. These reports can be used to track the companies’ performance for the social dimension of their sustainability reports.  

Building on this experience, in 2022, we launched the Building Social Impact (BSI) initiative, aimed at further engaging key stakeholders in the property and construction sector and improving social sustainability in this industry.

How did you convince the companies to come on board?

We conducted research on the social return on investment resulting from the implementation of the BSI Framework for Action. Our findings demonstrate that every unit invested in the well-being of children and workers in the camps generates a social return on investment of 7 units.

This social impact in the camps also generates direct benefits for the company’s business, supported by three compelling arguments: 

• Risk mitigation: the companies often become aware of the security risks in their camps only through the BSI assessment tool. Once they have the full picture, they also understand the high reputational risks that they run if they do not act fast.
• Labour retention: workers not only value their wages, but also the environment where they live and the opportunities for their families. Improving conditions in the camps increases worker retention, ensuring more stable productivity for employers.
• ESG performance: Thailand was the first country in Southeast Asia to lay down a National Action Plan for Business and Human Rights. All listed companies must report on their ESG sustainability performances. The BSI tools allow them to track and easily report their social performance and meet reporting requirements.

In 2022, we launched the BSI initiative with the three original pioneer companies: today there are 17 companies on board.

The companies involved have made great progress. They are now active in finding solutions to send the children to school, renovating camps and providing key information on how to access essential services - all these things represent a major improvement.

It’s not just about financing. In your experience, what kind of contribution would Baan Dek need to call the project a success?

The engagement and expertise of various public-private stakeholders. As an NGO, we need support to better access all the different groups and open the right doors. While we have developed good relationships with real estate developers and construction companies, an important step would be to connect with investors in the sector. It would be valuable to ensure that the BSI framework becomes part of the financing conditions of any construction work, maybe through incentives related to lower interest rates. We need to learn more, and any expertise and advice would be extremely welcome.

What needs to happen so that in 5-8 years, Baan Dek closes its operation in Thailand and exits the mission?

Baan Dek is an NGO with a clear exit strategy: our systemic change pillar aims to change the practice of the sector from the inside. If the sector takes ownership, embracing BSI as their standard practice, ensuring work and living environments that are safe, securing the worker families’ integration and access to health and education – then Baan Dek no longer has reason to operate in the field and the project will be called a success.