V - Be Useful: Girl Guides Association of Thailand

Summary

Samakom Phu Bumpen Prayote, or the Girl Guides Association of Thailand (GGAT), is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) but it has also developed its own Thai identity. Rather than imparting leadership training only to school-age girls, it has included out-of-school young women and young men. Similarly, rather than merely being confined to moral training of good citizenship, it has extended its scope of activities to rural development. That is why the well known motto of scouts, Be Prepared, is translated appropriately in Thai as Bumpen Prayote (Be Useful) to correctly portray its wider range of activities. The association is today known for its expertise in leadership training. It, in fact, was active in development training for 15 years before it became in 1972 a full member of WAGGGS. It thus has a history, like NCWT, of more than 30 years of useful existence. Concentrating on the education of girls under 20 years old, it adds an additional dimension to the development programmes of women in Thailand.

Historical Evolution

In the late 1950s, a group of highly educated urban women raised their concern about the lack of training opportunities for girls. While boys in their schools received training in leadership and self-reliance through the boy-scout curriculum, Thai girls had no such opportunity. In 1957, a small group called the Benevolent Club (Chom Rom Phu Bumpen Prayote) was formed with the collaboration of a Thai women's weekly magazine called Satri Sarn and the Siamese Association of University Women (S AUW) in which two active young women, Nilawan Pinthong and Kanok Samsen, played key roles. Both women were members of SAUW and worked with Satri Sam. While Nilawan was the publisher and editor, Kanok edited the youth section, called “Damn Sarn”, with the ideas of Bumpen Prayote in mind. However, after realizing that the published media could promote only limited change, they founded an organization with its own plan of activities.