As part of various events marking its 120th anniversary last year, Osotspa Co has launched a series of charity campaigns aimed at improving the life quality of needy villagers in the provinces, relying on the selfsufficiency principle to make them selfreliant in the long run.
The Network of Do-Gooders in 12 HUBs project, under the Life Is Better umbrella scheme, covers basic public health service, career building, farmland development, relying on a number of personnel in relevant fields selected for their voluntary spirit. This project commenced early last year and was kickstarted with an initial Bt40million budget donated by Osotspa.
Executive chairman Ratch Osathanugrah said the project was aimed at encouraging and supporting good people to have a foothold in Thai society while teaching those with the potential to help others to be better helpers, through skill and career training. “This will all lead to sustainable development throughout the country, to ensure a future society in which members help out each other through a new culture full of courtesy among Thai people,” he added.
Osotspa will provide Bt25 million for this project each year. The HUBs are attached to 12 selected hospitals: Pang Mapha Hospital in Mae Hong Son, Um Phang Hospital in Tak in the North: Kaeng Khoi Hospital in Saraburi and Pha Chee Hospital in Ayutthaya in the Central: Phanom Sarakham Hospital in Chachoengsao in the East. Located in the Northeast are Somdej Phra Yuppharat Kuchinarai Hospital in Kalasin, Khu Khan, Ubolrat and Nam Phong hospitals in Khon Kaen. In the South, there is the La Ngoo Hospital in Satun, Ka Pho Hospital in Pattani, and a health promoting hospital at tambon level in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Bang Khan district.
In addition to the Network of DoGooders in 12 HUB projects, Osotspa is also conducting a post-flood restoration campaign in six heavily inundated provinces and has donated Bt50 million to support the activities and assist those affected.
After the first event held on December 24 in Ayutthaya, the campaign will continue in Bangkok, Lop Buri, Pathum Thani, Phitsanulok and Nakhon Sawan, with schedules to be announced later.
The campaign, titled “Osotspa Uniting To Help Flood Victims, For Better Life”, has been conducted jointly with the Royal Thai Army, which provided the personnel to give assistance, and Office of the Vocational Education Commission, which assigned vocational students to help with free repairs of electrical appliances and tapwater pipes.
The first event in Ayutthaya was a success, said Ratch, the head of the entire Osotspa campaign, who presided over it together with local authorities in Phachi district. He also initiated an idea to set up a team of Osotspa staff based on their volunteer spirit to take part in earlier corporate social responsibility projects and also in the restoration campaign.
Based purely on their voluntary efforts, the staffers of the O Power team have contributed without receiving any incentive, even certificates of appreciation, said Ratch. All they receive are travel expenses and CSR work hours in line with their regular duties. “This, in Osotspa, is all about our corporate principles; we have given back to the society more than we have gained,” he added.
In the Ayutthaya events at 157 communities, one house has been built to replace a completely damaged unit, while repairs were underway at five flood-damaged homes. In total, more than 900 units are undergoing free repairs. There were many celebrities and sporting figures taking part in the Ayutthaya events.
“Under Osotspa’s initiative, our assistance projects involving many organisations will enable restoration and return of happiness at faster pace, and more thoroughly in flood-affected areas,” Ratch said.
The O Team, with the O standing for Osotspa, Osathanugrah, and Okas [a Thai word for opportunity], has also renovated and repaired Bang Pahan School, which was built by Osotspa and under its patronage.
Prior to the post-flood events, Osotspa also launched the Osotspa Boat Doctor campaign at the height of the floods to make visits to areas where residents could not travel. “When the flood-stranded residents were sick and could not travel to seek treatment, we dispatched mobile medical units to meet and care for them,” said Sutida Siamharn, corporate communications director.
The Osotspa Boat Doctor campaign made visits to various locations in four Bangkok districts and three Ayutthaya districts throughout December, after the first launch on December 34 in Ayutthaya’s Bang Ban district.