“We help Thai Red Cross, Thai Red Cross helps us”: Looking back at how
the Royal Family has nurtured the Thai Red Cross Society’s humanitarianmission
Tej Bunnag
Secretary-General of the Thai Red Cross Society“#BeHumanKind: Believe in the power of kindness” was the theme
for this year when we celebrated the Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on 8May 2022. As we reflect on kindness, we wish also to remind ourselves of how
Thailand became a member of the International Red Cross Movement.
Since its inception in 1893, the Thai Red Cross Society has pursued ahumanitarian mission to provide medical care and social welfare support tothose in need. The Society was born from the conflict between Siam and France
over the Left Bank of the Mekong River, resulting in a number of injuries andfatalities. At the time, there was no organization to provide assistance or relief
for the casualties. Thanphuying Plian Phasakaravongse, a lady of the court,
urged Thai women to raise funds and collect items, such as medicines andmedical equipments, which could be sent to help the injured soldiers. Lady
Plian thought that there should be an organization to care for them and affectedcivilians in the way that the Red Cross was doing and proposed the idea toQueen Savang Vadhana, who submitted it to His Majesty King Chulalongkorn.
The King approved and commended the relief efforts as “a good initiative thatwas suitable as a national role model.” He granted permission for theestablishment of the “Red Council of Siam,” the predecessor to the Thai Red
Cross Society, on 26 April 1893. His Majesty also donated personal funds of
80,000 baht to help launch the first fund-raising for the “Red Council of Siam,”
together with an official statement declaring that “my life and property areunited with Siam.” This statement was closely followed by royal permission fora palace to be used for the construction of a Red Cross Council Hospital in June
1893.
Once the conflict between Siam and France came to an end, His
Majesty King Chulalongkorn asked one of his sons, Prince Nakornchaisri
Suradech, to develop and institutionalise the Red Cross Council of Siam andhospital as a permanent organization to further its humanitarian mission. His
Majesty sadly passed away before the project was completed. His Heir, KingVajiravudh, together with his siblings, saw the project through by making
donations to the existing Red Cross Council Fund to build a hospital on theKing’s private property on Rama IV Road. Prince Nakornchaisri Suradech
supervised the construction of this hospital. The King Chulalongkorn Memorial
Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, as it is known today, continues to be one of
the country’s best hospitals with state-of-the-art medical facilities to serve thegeneral public.

Office of the Siam Red Cross Society (1914-1932)
Source: Thai Red Cross Society Website

When asked about what comes to mind when they hear about
the Thai Red Cross Society today, most people would think of it as acharitable humanitarian organization. Starting from medical care forwounded soldiers and civilians during war time, the Thai Red Cross
Society has since expanded to include many other missions especiallysince Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, assumed thepresidency of the Society in 1956.
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit is devoted to the humanitarian
mission of the Thai Red Cross Society. In May 1979, when tens ofthousands of Cambodian refugees fled into Thailand’s Trat province, sherushed to Trat to view the situation firsthand. Then, in her capacity as
President of the Thai Red Cross Society, and against the government
policy of the time, she established the Khao Lan Thai Red Cross Centre toprovide shelter, food, and medical care for the refugees, which became
their refuge for many years, until peace returned to Cambodia in 1991.

Khao Lan Thai Red Cross Centre on Trat-Khlong Yai Highway at Km. 48, formerlya facility to assist Cambodian refugees from 1978 - 1986.
Source: Thailand Trip Tour Website

In addition to humanitarian assistance for refugees and displaced
persons, the Thai Red Cross Society also provides other services tostrengthen Thailand’s public healthcare. The government has assigned theSociety to be responsible for the National Blood Centre. Thai Red Cross
officials and volunteers also pack relief supplies to victims of natural
disasters whenever they occur.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Thai Red Cross Society
played an active role in the national vaccination drive. In joining thenational vaccination campaign, the society consistently encouraged
everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible, Thai nationals andforeigners alike, including migrant workers and other vulnerable groups inThailand, in line with the government’s policy of “leaving no one behind.”
As of May 2022, the Thai Red Cross Society has administered 1,816,316
doses of COVID-19 vaccines, free of charge, which cover migrantworkers, as well as displaced persons on the western border of the country,
underscoring Thailand’s long humanitarian tradition.

The Thai Red Cross Society and its network partners provide the proactive COVID–19
vaccination rollout for displaced persons at the Ban Mae La Temporary Shelter, Mae
La Sub district,Tha Song Yang District, Tak Province
Source: Thai Red Cross Society Website

In addition to the vaccination drive, Thai Red Cross officials
and volunteers open community kitchens in various parts of the country.
The aim is to alleviate people’s hardships from the pandemic by setting up
temporary kitchens in public areas in various provinces in a continuous
effort to distribute aid to as many people as possible.
“…The mission of the Thai Red Cross Society is not only toassist people in society who should receive assistance, but is related toassisting people who are in distress in general, whereby work is truly
undertaken for humanitarianism. We see it as the duty for all humanbeings to help their fellow human beings and those who work at the Thai
Red Cross Society understand this mission very well…”
Words spoken by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri
Sirindhorn, who has served as the Executive Vice President of the Thai
Red Cross Society since 1977 and has continued the Society’s legacy ofhumanitarianism, especially the sense of duty and compassion towards
fellow human beings, and has integrated community service into everyday
lives.

As the Thai Red Cross Society under the Royal Patronage ofHis Majesty the King celebrated its 129th anniversary on 26 April 2022, it
continues to expand and strengthen its humanitarian operations and tonurture the spirit of community service with faith in the power of kindness
in Thai society.
* * * * *Dr. Tej Bunnag is the Secretary-General of the Thai Red Cross Societyand former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. A former career
diplomat, he served as Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs, andAmbassador of Thailand at Beijing, Geneva, Paris, and Washington, D.C.
He was a Government Scholar and studied history at Cambridge andOxford University in the UK.