The Thai Red Cross Society (; ) is a major

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

organisation in Thailand, providing services as part of the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. The society was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in

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 ...

. It is governed by the Act on Thai Red Cross Society, Buddhist Era 2461 (1918), and is supervised by the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

. Its expenses are borne by the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. Its president is appointed by the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

upon

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in List of enacting formulae, enacting formulae of bill (proposed law), bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive ...

of the council of ministers. The current president is 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 ...

who has held the position since 12 August 1956.

History

The origin of the Thai Red Cross Society dates to the Franco-Siamese territorial dispute of 1893 in which no organised aid was available to assist military casualties. Lady Plien Pasakornravongs assembled a group of female volunteers and asked Queen Savang Vadhana for royal permission to establish a humanitarian organisation. Permission was granted by King Chulalongkorn, who also granted permission to raise initial funding, 443,716 baht. The society, then known as the Red Unalom Society (สภาอุณาโลมแดง), was founded on 26 April 1893, with Queen Savang Vadhana as maternal patron. Queen Saovabha was appointed the first president, and Lady Plien acted as the society secretary. The society's name was later changed to the Siam Red Cross Society and, following the renaming of the country, the Thai Red Cross Society. The society was officially recognized by the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...

on 27 May 1920, and membership in the

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

(then the League of Red Cross Societies) was granted on 8 April 1921.

Services

Following the statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the Thai Red Cross Society provides humanitarian aid and relief services in times of war and disaster, which is handled by its Relief and Public Health Bureau. The bureau offers public health services in remote areas of the country. The society also provides other medical and charitable services. In total the Thai Red Cross Society has 14 bureaus, 6 specialized centers, and 5 special affair offices. Key focus areas are holistic public health services, disaster relief assistance, supply of blood products and transfusion, and improving quality of life in impoverished communities.

Medical services

The Thai Red Cross Society operates the King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in Bangkok, with 1,479 beds, one of the largest hospitals in the country, and Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital, a 500-bed general hospital in Si Racha District, Chonburi Province. The Red Cross Rehabilitation Centre in

Samut Prakan Province Samut Prakan province (, , , sometimes rendered Samutprakan or Samutprakarn) is one of the central Provinces of Thailand, provinces of Thailand, established on 9 May 1946 by the ''Act Establishing Changwat Samut Prakan, Changwat Nonthaburi, Cha ...

, provides physical medicine and rehabilitation services for long-term patients.

Blood donation

Blood donation A 'blood donation'' occurs when a person voluntarily has blood drawn and used for transfusions and/or made into biopharmaceutical medications by a process called fractionation (separation of whole blood components). A donation may be of wh ...

services provided by the National Blood Centre are one of the society's most visible activities. Founded in 1952, the centre collects, processes, and provides blood and blood components to hospitals in Bangkok and nationwide through 147 regional chapters.

Organ donation

The Thai Red Cross Organ Donation Centre began operation in 1994 and is the sole national coordinator of

organ donation Organ donation is the process when a person authorizes an organ (anatomy), organ of their own to be removed and organ transplantation, transplanted to another person, #Legislation and global perspectives, legally, either by consent while the d ...

s. The Thai Red Cross Eye Bank, in operation since 1965, provides eye tissue for

corneal transplantation Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue (the graft). When the entire cornea is replaced it is known as penetrating keratoplasty a ...

, and has 10 regional offices.

AIDS programme

In 1991, the Thai Red Cross Society AIDS Research Centre opened the first HIV-voluntary counselling and testing clinic in Asia. The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre offers HIV testing and counseling services through its Anonymous Clinic, and runs education and awareness campaigns to battle the spread of the epidemic and better the lives of those living with HIV. The centre conducts research on HIV and clinical interventions under HIV-NAT and SEARCH units, and offers many services to help those living with HIV.

Vaccines and rabies prevention

Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute The Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute (QSMI) (; ) in Bangkok, Thailand, is an institute that specialises in the husbandry of venomous snakes, the extraction and research of snake venom, and vaccines, especially rabies vaccine. It houses the sna ...

produces BCG and

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

s and snake antivenins for national distribution. The institute provides rabies prevention and immunisation services. Its snake farm is open to visitors and tourists, providing education in addition to its research activities.

Medical education

The Srisavarindhira Thai Red Cross Institute of Nursing is one of the country's major professional nurse training centres. King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital serves as the

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

for both the college and also the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University.

Child welfare

The Thai Red Cross Children's Home takes care of abandoned children at King Chulalongkorn and Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospitals, and attempts to reunite the families or provide the children with suitable adoptive homes.

Transgender services

On November 27, 2015, The Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre in Bangkok opened the first clinic in Asia to target services exclusively to the transgender community. The Tangerine Community Health Centre is funded by the US Agency for International Development.

References

External links

The Thai Red Cross Society website
{{Authority control Red Cross and Red Crescent national societies Medical and health organizations based in Thailand Blood banks Organizations established in 1893 1893 establishments in Siam Pathum Wan district