Prateep Ungsongtham Hata (; ; born 9 August 1952) is a Thai activist noted for her work with slum dwellers in the

Khlong Toei District Khlong Toei (also Klong Toey, , ) is a districts of Bangkok, district in central Bangkok, long known for its slum. It is bordered by the Chao Phraya River and contains major port facilities. It is also the site of a major market, the Khlong Toei M ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Among her supporters, she is known as ''Khru Prateep'' ("Teacher Prateep"), the "Angel of Khlong Toei" or "Slum Angel". She was awarded the

Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...

for Public Service in 1978, founded and became the Secretary General of the Duang Prateep Foundation. She was one of the leaders of the 1992 oppositional movement. In 2000, she was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, representing Bangkok.

Life

Prateep Ungsongtham was born in a slum in Bangkok's

Klong Toei Khlong Toei (also Klong Toey, , ) is a districts of Bangkok, district in central Bangkok, long known for its slum. It is bordered by the Chao Phraya River and contains major port facilities. It is also the site of a major market, the Khlong Toei M ...

district. Her father was a fisherman emigrated from China, her mother was Thai. As her parents lived in an illegally erected home, she had no birth certificate and was denied admission to a public school. For four years, she could visit a relatively cheap private school. She had to drop out when she was 12 years old and her parents ran out of money. She started working on the docks of the

Bangkok port Bangkok Port () (BKP), popularly known as Khlong Toei Port (), is an international port on the Chao Phraya River in Khlong Toei District of the Thai capital city, Bangkok. It is operated by the Port Authority of Thailand. Until recently, Bangkok P ...

, packing firecrackers and scraping rust off ships' hulls. She saved money from her meagre wages (about one

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

per day) and at 15 she was able to pay for secondary education at an evening school. Because most slum children, like her, could not go to a regular school, Prateep opened her own ''One Baht a Day School'' at her home. She spent much time helping children and their families to cope with the conditions of slum life. When the slum dwellers were threatened with eviction by the

Port Authority of Thailand The Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) (, ) is a government agency of Thailand, responsible for the regulation and governance of the ports of Thailand, primarily the ports of Laem Chabang and Bangkok Port, the country's two largest. PAT operates Th ...

(PAT) which wanted to expand its facilities in 1972, a

Bangkok Post The ''Bangkok Post'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount ...

reporter interviewed Prateep and her cause was publicly known. Her school received donations from private individuals, foreign embassies and the

Bangkok Bank Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (, Royal Thai General System of Transcription, RTGS: Thanakhan Krung Thep) is one of the largest commercial banks in Thailand. Its branch network includes over 800 branches as of May 2024, within Thailand, wit ...

Thammasat University Thammasat University (TU; ; , ) is a public university, public research university in Thailand with campuses in the Tha Phra Chan area of Bangkok, Rangsit, Pattaya and Lampang Province. , Thammasat University has over 39,000 students enrolled in ...

students came to support her as voluntary teachers. Eventually, the PAT had to agree to a compromise solution and made a new site available 1 km away. In 1974, the school opened a real school building, and in 1976 it was officially recognised by the

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is the local government of Bangkok, which includes the capital of Thailand. The government is composed of two branches: the executive (or the Governor of Bangkok) and the legislative (or Bangkok Metro ...

, which also revised its policy towards children without birth certificate. In the same year, Prateep received her diploma of education from Suan Dusit Teachers College. In 1978 Prateep received the

for Public Service. She used the prize money to establish the ''Duang Prateep Foundation'' (DPF; "flame of hope") and became its secretary general. Now, she began to also receive recognition from the establishment. Queen

Sirikit Sirikit (born ''Mom Rajawongse'' Sirikit Kitiyakara; 12 August 1932) is a member of the Thai royal family who was List of Thai royal consorts#Rattanakosin Kingdom, Queen of Thailand from 28 April 1950 to 13 October 2016 as the wife of King Bhum ...

congratulated her upon receiving the Magsaysay Award. In 1980, the Ministry of Education (which once had opposed her efforts) named her the most outstanding teacher of Thailand. In 1981, she became the first

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n citizen to receive the John D. Rockefeller III Youth Award for "outstanding contribution to Mankind". With the prize money she established the ''Foundation for Slum Child Care''. In the same year, Prime Minister

Prem Tinsulanonda Prem Tinsulanonda (, , ; 26 August 1920 – 26 May 2019) was a Thai military officer, politician, and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1980 to 1988. During Prem’s tenure as prime minister, he was credited with end ...

visited the slums and her school. In 1992 she became a committee member of the Confederation for Democracy and one of the leaders of the opposition to the then ruling military-sponsored government of General

Suchinda Kraprayoon Suchinda Kraprayoon (, ; 6 August 193310 June 2025) was a Thai army general and politician who was Prime Minister of Thailand for several weeks in 1992. As the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army (1990–1992), Suchinda led the 1991 T ...

, that led to the bloody clashes of " Black May" and the eventual resignation of Suchinda. In Thailand's first direct election of the

in the year 2000, she won a seat in this chamber of parliament. She used her position to advocate the rights of the poor and discriminated people on political level. In 2004, she received The World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child from

Queen Silvia of Sweden Silvia (born Silvia Renate Sommerlath; 23 December 1943) is Queen of Sweden as the wife of King Carl XVI Gustaf. She has held this title since her marriage to Carl XVI Gustaf in 1976. The king and queen have three children: Crown Princess Vict ...

. After the coup d'état in Thailand 2006, she became a supporter of the

United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship The United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD; , alternatively translated as National Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship), whose supporters are commonly called Red Shirts, is a political pressure group opposed to the People' ...

("Red Shirts"). During the protests of 2010, she belonged to the more moderate wing of the movement and was concerned to see the militant tendencies within the group. Her commitment to the "Red Shirts" and the political polarisation in Thailand led to a decline of donations for her ''Duang Prateep Foundation'' from within the country. Some regular donors who are affiliated with the opposite political camp refused to give to an organisation headed by a "Red Shirt" and stopped their payments.

Personal life

In 1987 she married the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese citizen Tatsuya Hata, a

Kinki University is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university based in Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan with campuses in five other locations: Nara, Nara; Ōsakasayama, Osaka; Uchita, Wakayama; Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima; and Iizuka, Fukuoka. The E ...

professor for international studies and charity activist.

References

External links

Duang Prateep Foundation

* ttp://www.fscc.or.th the Foundation for Slum Child Care {{DEFAULTSORT:Ungsongtham Hata, Prateep 1952 births Living people

Prateep Ungsongtham Hata Prateep Ungsongtham Hata (; ; born 9 August 1952) is a Thai activist noted for her work with slum dwellers in the Khlong Toei District of Bangkok, Thailand. Among her supporters, she is known as ''Khru Prateep'' ("Teacher Prateep"), the "Angel of ...

Ramon Magsaysay Award winners