Bangkok Post - July 12, 2003

Why do people leave the comfort of their home for a precarious life in the streets?

It is often believed that the emergence of homeless people is a result of the country's modernisation policy. Some say that the development direction, which began with the implementation of the first National Plan in 1951, has led to a rich-poor gap, rural to urban migration and city slums. When public land was no longer available for squatters, the phenomenon of people sleeping in public places emerged.

Boonlert's thesis, however, found that while poverty is usually the underlying factor in homelessness, a variety of causes work together prompting people to leave their home and not return. Some are structural; for example, unemployment or discrimination against people who have been imprisoned. Others have to do with individual personalities and shortcomings, drugs abuse or family problems. One of the major causes that propels people out of their homes is the instability of the family unit and family conflict. Older people are especially prone to fall victim.

Wat, 68, who frequents Sanam Luang, used to have a family in Chumphon. He lived in his wife's house. When she died of cancer, he left the house and wandered around looking for jobs. He went back to his house after the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration forbade people to sleep in the park. But he returned to the streets shortly after that.

"I couldn't stay there [at his old house]. It felt uncomfortable. My sister-in-law complained all the time. I will not return home again. I would rather die here at Sanam Luang," he said.

Another homeless woman in her prime gave similar reasons. "I actually had a house in Suphan Buri. I just didn't want to stay there. I don't get along well with my brother," she said.

Younger people also leave home because of family conflicts. Many of these youngsters come from broken homes. They often become drawn into other problems - drugs, hooliganism and prostitution.

"I don't return home because my brother is a drunkard. He always hits me," a homeless woman said.

Some homeless believe they don't deserve to be in anybody's company.

"My life is wretched. I don't want my relatives to despise me. I eat at temples. It is the great monks who allow me in," said one homeless person.

The second reason Boonlert said people leave home is migration into town in hopes of finding a better job and quality of life. When they can't find a job, or are cheated (fishing boat crews and security jobs are notorious for this) or lose their jobs somehow, they can no longer support themselves in the city and become homeless.

The third reason that leads people to homelessness is the stigma of being in prison. For some people, the family institution is not strong enough to support them in a time of crisis - when they become unemployed or face serious problems such as imprisonment. Quite a few homeless people who were formerly imprisoned do not want to go back home for fear that their relatives will not accept them.

"Nothing is wrong with my family. It's me who screwed up. I used to take drugs and went into jail. When I got out, I just went around looking for jobs. I don't want to go back home because I don't want anybody to say that I mooch off them for a living," said a homeless man who recycles garbage around Hua Lamphong.

Boonlert said that the fourth group of people who leave home comprises people with disabilities and those with HIV. These people sometimes leave their homes because they are stigmatised or because they don't want to burden their families.

The last group of people who find themselves homeless are those who willingly embrace this type of life because it suits their desire or occupation. For these people, permanent residence is indeed a burden. This category includes people who would rather roam free, those who sell second-hand goods and alcoholics.

Getting to know the homeless

To do justice to his thesis, Boonlert Wisetpreecha temporarily entered the world of the homeless to get an idea of what it is really like.

"I started to mix with the homeless two years ago. I told people I lost my job. I slept in public places and ate free food along with them," said the graduate from Thammasat University's Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology.

He noted that unlike some conventional anthropologists who embed themselves in the community they study for a long stretch of time, he stayed only temporarily, crossing back and forth between his world and that of the homeless.

Boonlert had to do many things to win the trust of the homeless. He ate with them and drank the same water. He helped them sell their plastic sheets and sort trash. He sat huddled by the street at night when it rained along with other homeless people.

"I had to be careful to establish trust. It could have been dangerous if they suspected me of being a police officer in disguise or a spy. I couldn't become too close to the women either for I never knew whether they had partners or husbands. The men could get very jealous," he said.

He said that despite an attempt to blend in with the homeless, he could never quite fit in. "Even my oldest clothes were too clean compared to theirs because mine were washed with tap water, not canal water. I used polite language. In many ways, I represented a member of the middle class. I couldn't change that."

Boonlert would like his research to shed more light on the life of the homeless, so that the public will understand them better. As his research shows, homeless people are not a homogeneous group. They consist of different types of people who come to this nomadic existence for different reasons. Boonlert said that it would help if the society look at them as such and not make a wholesale assumption that all of them are bad.

"People who sleep in public places are not felons. They do not do so because they want a chance to commit crimes. They already have a harsh life, without society's suspicion and stigmatisation."

What's the solution?

Many people believe that the homeless constitute only people who are disabled, mentally unstable or beggars. The fact is, however, that homeless people are diverse. Boonlert Wisetpreecha wrote that some of the homeless have nothing wrong physically or mentally, and they dress and go about their business just like everyone else but opt to sleep in public parks.

For that reason, it is useless to wish for the homeless to be swept off the streets. While some of the homeless would jump at the chance to have proper housing again, Boonlert asserted that there will still be certain people who would rather stay nomads because they like it that way.

If the government aims to pull some of the homeless off the streets, it might consider setting up transition houses for people who would like to go back into mainstream society. The house must act as both a shelter and training centre for these people.

For those who overstay their time at the transition house, the government could offer low-cost housing with reasonably priced daily rent.

030712
BP030715

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2003. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2003. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .